Details of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s alleged sexual harassment of female staff members and even a female bodyguard would be shocking if they weren’t so familiar.
But the accusations against Cuomo, detailed in a 168-page investigative report by New York Attorney General Letitia James that leaves the 63-year-old governor on the brink of impeachment, are only the latest in a list of sex scandals involving top Democratic officials in the nation’s fourth most populous state.
Cuomo is refusing to resign from his position over allegations he sexually harassed 11 women who worked for him, including a member of his security detail. The son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, a liberal icon during his 12 years in office after his 1982 election, could very well face impeachment. If convicted and removed by the state Senate and jurists who would sit on an impeachment court, Cuomo could become only the eighth governor in the country removed from office.
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Ironically, Cuomo previously criticized fellow Democratic officeholders for sexual foibles. Three years ago, Cuomo called on then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to step down over allegations of physical assault against four women. All the women who were romantically involved with Schneiderman said the interactions were not consensual.
Like Cuomo, Schneiderman was a rising star in the Democratic Party who styled himself a leader of the “resistance” against President Donald Trump’s administration. Schneiderman became New York’s attorney general at the same time Cuomo began his first term as governor. Both served as attack dogs against Trump during his term in office.
Right before Cuomo and Schneiderman, two Democratic New York governors saw sex scandals end their political careers.
Just 14 months into his term as governor, Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned from office in March 2008 after it was found through a federal wiretap he was a client of a high-end prostitution ring. Lt. Gov. David Paterson was sworn in immediately thereafter to replace him.
However, Paterson did not last long as governor of New York. While finishing Spitzer’s term, his administration became ensnared in a domestic abuse scandal of a longtime aide, which Cuomo, who was New York’s attorney general at the time, had opened a criminal investigation into.
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The scandal sank Paterson’s reelection chances and pushed Democratic primary voters to support Cuomo at the time. By February 2010, Paterson dropped out of the race, giving Cuomo an easy first-election win.
These scandals are not just restricted to statewide office. New York’s congressional delegation over the last decade has also been affected by a raft of sex scandals from both sides of the aisle.
Rep. Eric Massa, a Democrat, resigned in 2010 over allegations of sexual misconduct. Rep. Chris Lee, a Republican, resigned in 2011 after he solicited a woman on Craigslist. Rep. Vito Fossella, a 10-year Republican House member, did not run for reelection in 2008 when it was found he was living a second life with another woman and their child in Virginia while still married to his wife.
Most recently, Rep. Tom Reed, a Republican who had won Massa’s seat in 2010, admitted to sexual misconduct toward a lobbyist in March 2021 and announced he would not run for reelection.
