The Last Stand of Andrew Cuomo - Alternate 2022 New York Gubernatorial RP

[The Blood]

August 10, 2021

"I admit that in the past, I may have been too handsy, and that might owe to my Italian heritage. But the depth of these accusations is ridiculous and false, and it reveals an organized plot to destroy me and good government in our state. Under this assault, I can promise you this, New York: I will not bend to Republican slander. I will serve out my elected term as governor, continuing my work on behalf of every New Yorker. And I will seek another term as your governor, to defeat this conspiracy against my administration and our progress for New York's families. To those who will continue pushing these lies against me, I leave it to the voters to vindicate me and humiliate you at the ballot box next November. Put simply, the truth will prevail."

 

 

RP Info: 

After an 11-month hiatus, Shady's back.

This RP will be run in the traditional quickshot style, with each candidate receiving three events per turn, and with each event's success determined by a D-10 roll. I plan on there being 10 turns for the primary elections, and 5 for the general election. The final 2 turns of the primaries will see debates, as well as the final turn of the GE. I also plan on the Democratic and Republican conventions being a special mechanic for turn 3 of the primaries, as both state parties endorsed candidates in February/March 2022. For the Lt. Gubernatorial primaries, each gubernatorial candidate can submit one Lt. Gov. "running mate" before the primaries begin. Then, using the gubernatorial primary results and rolls, I'll generate the Lt. Gov nominees as we head into the GE. You can basically run anyone for this RP, have fun with that, and ballot line shenanigans are not just allowed, they're mandated. 

 

Candidates: 

(I'm just listing actual candidates to start, but remember, I'll add player-chosen candidates here) 

Democrats:

Governor Andrew Cuomo - @Rezi

Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul - @Hestia

NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams - @Rodja

U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi - @ConservativeElector2

Howie Hawkins - @Fbarbarossa

Paperboy Prince - @Cenzonico

 

Republicans:

U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin - @Kitten

Donald Trump Jr. - @WVProgressive

Fmr. Gov. George Pataki - @Pringles

Curtis Sliwa - @Sean F Kennedy

 

Lt. Gubernatorial Running Mates (Non-Player) 

Cuomo - U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins

Pataki - U.S. Rep. John Katko

RFK Jr. - @mark2 (Yes, really)

Donald Trump Jr. - Andrew Giuliani 

Prince - Andrew Yang

 

Non-Candidates (still able to influence election): 

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore - @Dobs

 

Thank you! 

Edited June 25, 2023 by The Blood

[Fbarbarossa]

Could I play Howie Hawkins running as a Dem?

[Dobs]

I have a strange request- can I be Chief Judge Janet DiFiore as a non-candidates.

(I want to be a corrupt New York Judge)

[Rezi]

Give me the last bastion of the Rockefeller Republicans: Harry Wilson!

[Pringles]

Former Governor George Pataki please. As a Republican obviously.

[ConservativeElector2]

Give me Tom Suozzi. Trying to reform the Dems here towards moderate politics.

[Cenzonico]

New York needs Paperboy Love Prince!

[WVProgressive]

I’ll run Donald Trump Jr. as a Republican.

Edited June 18, 2023 by WVProgressive

[Rodja]

The best one-Jumanee Williams

[Sean F Kennedy]

Curtis Sliwa reporting for duty

[Kitten]

Zeldin please 🙂

[Hestia]

I'll take Kathy lmao

[The Blood]

We just need a Cuomo, and then the RP can start tomorrow evening. 

[The Blood]

Rezi's volunteered for Cuomo, so we can kick off later today.

[Rodja]

17 minutes ago, The Blood said:

Rezi's volunteered for Cuomo, so we can kick off later today.

Eagerly waiting 

[The Blood]

State of the Race - February 8th, 2022

 

Overview: 

With 20 weeks to primary day, the New York gubernatorial field has taken shape, with an array of both serious and nonserious competitors jumping into the major party primaries. 

 

On the Democratic side, Letitia James' decision against a run last week both settled the field and left uncertainty in its wake. Disgraced Governor Cuomo, impeached yet unconvicted, maintains a weak frontrunner status, buoyed by an aggressive base committed to his innocence, even as many statewide and national Democrats have distanced themselves from him. Behind Cuomo is his very own Lt. Governor, Kathy Hochul, who despite her low profile and initially weak polling numbers, has slowly climbed upwards as the non-Cuomoista establishment and monied donors discovered their candidate-of-last-resort. Close behind Hochul is NYC's Public Advocate, Jumaane Williams, who has assumed the role of the race's progressive champion and is notably the only major black candidate, even as Cuomo has secured the largest share of the demographic. Drifting towards the back of the field, Tom Suozzi is viewed as the last serious contender, with the archcentrist scraping together a base of white suburbanites concerned with crime and longing for the Democratic Party of a bygone era. Meanwhile, while largely ignored by the media and voters so far, politicos and every DSA activist in New York has noticed Howie Hawkins' run, breaking with the Greens for his first rodeo as an avowed ecosocialist in the Democratic Party. Finally, Paperboy Love Prince struggles at the bottom of the field, ignored by most, yet firm in their commitment to spread their middle name throughout the state. 

 

On the Republican side, the race is more certain, though destined for an epic clash of factions vying for control of the New York GOP. Leading the field is Congressman Lee Zeldin, who, with a pro-Trump voting record, relative youth, and early announcement last year, has rallied the conservative establishment behind his bid, promising he has a path to victory as a firm conservative in New York. However, disrupting Zeldin's march to the nomination is an unexpected competitor, Donald Trump Jr., who has leveraged his family name and father's MAGA loyalists to launch an insurgent run for the governorship, even as many doubt he has the political skills to make it past the primary. And from the opposite end of the party, former Governor George Pataki is running as last best hope for moderate Republicans, touting his experience and electable politics to lead a weakened yet alive faction in the New York Republican Party. Eating into Pataki's support among moderate voters is last year's NYC mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa, who offers an eclectic, populist alternative for anti-Trump voters, though Curtis' self-made lane is small and largely brushed aside as a serious path to the governorship. Finally, NY-3's 2020 Congressional nominee George Santos is running for governor, gathering the little support he has for his spellbinding biography. 

 

Democrats:

Cuomo - 24% @Rezi

Hochul - 16% @Hestia

Williams - 15% @Rodja

Suozzi - 8% @ConservativeElector2

Hawkins - 4% @Fbarbarossa

Prince - 1% @Cenzonico

Undecided - 32%

 

Republicans:

Zeldin - 29% @Kitten

Trump Jr. - 21% @WVProgressive

Pataki - 15% @Pringles

Sliwa - 6% @Sean F Kennedy

Santos - 3% @Cal

Undecided - 26%

 

Remember, 3 events per turn, which can be anything from ads to endorsement requests, and I'd like to aim for 2 turns a week. Thank you!

Edited June 19, 2023 by The Blood

[The Blood]

Also, as a reminder, candidates can send their Lt. Governor "running mates" to me anytime between now and Turn 10, if they desire, and then I can simulate the Lt. gubernatorial primaries heading into the general election. 

[Rodja]

1.Jumanee Williams will kick off his campaign in Brooklyn,focusing on his progressive activism,involvement in the Occupy Wall Street protests,his activism for rights of immigrants and African Americans.He will note that he "doesnt see himself as a politician in a traditional way,but rather an activist,who is ready to fight for better world through political institutions"

2.Jumanee will hold events with pro-choice groups throughout the NY state.

3.Jumanee will hold a healthcare-centered event in Albany with local chapter of National Nurses United,extending an invitation to Sen.Bernie Sanders to join him at this event and endorse his campaign there.

[Cenzonico]

1. In order to gain some publicity, Paperboy "Love" Prince will do a stunt outside of the Governor's Mansion. They protest, decrying the establishment and "MAGADemtards" who "dick ride Andrew Cuomo 24/7". They add on further by promising to restore "honor and dignity" to Albany. 

2. Paperboy "Love" Prince barnstorms Albany after, using their super energy they channeled from earlier to spread their message of love and progressivism.

3. Paperboy "Love" Prince takes their message to the internet, ratioing right-wing politicians on Twitter and telling their platform via song & dance on Tik Tok specifically to get their name out there!

[Kitten]

1. Zeldin will campaign throughout rural New York where he talks about inflation.

2. Zeldin releases ads promoting himself as the best Republican to take back the Governor's mansion. He talks about bringing honor and ending the Cuomo regime's grip on power.

3. Zeldin will campaign throughout Urban New York and talk about cutting taxes across the board. A 15% flat tax.

[ConservativeElector2]

1. Tom Suozzi kicks off his campaign in his native Glen Cove. "The state of our nation nowadays, eerily resembles the state of our parties. We can't fix our nation until we are able to fix our parties and held these very people in both parties accountable who tarnish our nation's political stage. Let's see what happened in recent weeks. Our state has a Governor whose moral conduct is on par with the former president also known as groper-in-chief. Our own party, however, doesn't seem to regard this as a big deal. Likewise we do not counter left-wing radicals who subvert our primaries and our entire party. These so-called activists, whether it be climate or racial justice hurt our chances at the polls massively and even worse they don't see the rising crime rates in our neighborhoods as a problem. In the age of MAGA the Democratic Party has easily the chance to look like the sane party, but by backing the wrong candidates we gravely miss this opportunity. It might be our last hope when looking at the mercilessly advancing MAGA crowd. Their leader sent his own son into the GOP's primary to turn our wonderful state into nothing more than a MAGA fiefdom mired in corruption and a ridiculous cult of personality. This campaign offers another way. A reboot of New York, where centrists and moderates will actually deliver for our people instead of listening to false prophets. That's why I am announcing my run for Governor of New York and I hope to have your support."

2. Suozzi holds a rally on rising crime in Manhattan, attended by leading NYPD officers voicing their concerns on Democrats turning both the state of NY and NYC into moshpit of crime.

3. Suozzi invites former MA Governor Bill Weld and former NJ Governor Christine Todd Whitman, both Republicans known for staunchly opposing Trump, to share the stage with him at a campaign stop in Staten Island. Their speeches focus on how to govern for the people effectively without succumbing to radicals. Something that is greatly missed in both parties today.

[WVProgressive]

1. Don Jr will launch his campaign by giving a speech in Manhattan outside Trump Tower attacking Andrew Cuomo as a corrupt rapist who has failed the people of New York by allowing inflation, and crime to skyrocket while wages stagnate, and traditional values are abandoned.

2. The Trump campaign will cut an ad attacking Zeldin as a Tax and Spend Liberal pretending to be a Conservative, pointing to his vote against the 20-17 Trump Tax Cuts.

3. Trump tours Western New York excoriating the incumbent administration for leaving the region behind, promising to bring jobs, and investment to rural communities.

[Sean F Kennedy]

1. Curtis Sliwa will stream a video announcing his bud for Governor, he will introduce all his cats he has and explain why each of them would be more competent than Andrew Cuomo or Donald Trump Jr.

2. Sliwa will endorse a new platform for crime prevention. Loosening sentences of nonviolent victimless offenders such as drug users, while strengthening sentences against pilot, criminal and repeated offenders.

3. Sliwa will seek the support of Adam Sandler knowing that if he gets plain clothes pickle eating funny man, he can make New York red again!

[Pringles]

1. Fmr. Governor Pataki announces his campaign in his hometown of Peekskill, where he also served as Mayor. 

"Ladies and gentlemen of New York. I come before you today to announce my candidacy once again, to seek the Governorship of the Great State of New York. Governor Cuomo has tainted our state with scandal after scandal, bad policies making people leave our once booming state, and dishonest governing. Take it from me folks, I'm the only Republican running that has beaten a Cuomo before. We can bring our state back if we stick to the right path of pragmatic, honest, and effective government. Not vanity projects of billionaire playboys trying to impress their fathers, or Congressmen toeing the line with no backbone in them. Much has changed in the Republican Party today. But I'm here to tell you in New York, if you, the great voters of our state entrust me to be the Republican nominee, I'll bring us back in numbers like never before. And I won't lie to you, or lead you astray if I come up short. But I'm in this to win it."  

2. Pataki will focus on the surrounding areas of New York City. The 6,5 Pataki will do some good old-fashioned retail politics like he used to. Visiting restaurants, shops, maybe a quick game of streetball. 

3. Pataki will head to Buffalo New York where he addresses the ongoing housing crisis around the state, pledging to reduce the Property Tax by 30% and fund new initiatives to build affordable neighborhoods in Buffalo, and elsewhere. Pataki promises a new commitment to rebuilding New York from the ground up in a post-pandemic world. 

[Dobs]

The chambers of Chief Judge Janet DiFiore

The Judge ruffles through her Prada bag, hand settling on a bottle of Chanel No. 5. She spritzes two large puffs into her perfectly inelastic golden hair, something about a quality fragrance has always held Janet's hair better than any hairspray ever could. On the television across from her desk is a constant barrage of attacks against Governor Cuomo, the man who had made her Chief. She rolls her eyes at Williams and sighs as Suozzi comes on. She just chuckles at the Republicans, members of her former party, before that became bad business in the practice of New York law. She might even feel a hint of genuine empathy for Pataki, if she's capable, trying to take back a party that once was. When she could win as a Republican DA in Westchester County and when her colleagues like Jeanine hadn't gone cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Those were the days, but she had left them behind. A loyal Cuomo Democrat now, business has continued unabated now as it had for years, regardless of her partisan affiliation. She looks over to the door, a silhouette. She had been expecting someone.

"Come in."

Through the door comes a buttoned-up man, glasses too small for his face. The Chief Judge offers him a seat, and a drink. He accepts the former. The man has beaded sweat on his forehead and looks like he hasn't slept in months. But his suit is perfectly tailored, with a pocket square to cut granite. 

He begins, "Nice of you to see me Judge, Dave Sirota."

"Yes, Ed Mangini tells me you grew up together in Brooklyn."

"Yeah, Colonial, poor Eddie, last kid picked for stickball. Guess he ended up alright, Clerk of the Chief Judge of New York."

DiFiore smiles, even laughs, "So what can I do for you Mr. Sirota."

"Listen, my 13-year-old girl has been hanging out with this lowlife, 15, real piece of crap. Excuse my French."

"I've heard worse in my courtroom," Janet assures.

"Couple months ago he boosts my deVille, takes my girl for a spin, totals the car. Put my baby girl in the hospital for 2 months, son of a bitch walks away without a scratch. My angel, she could have been killed. Cops come, bust him for joyriding and endangering a minor, get him tried and convicted as an adult. But now they're saying there's some sort of issue, something about a cop who didn't read him his rights or questioned him without a parent, I don't know. But, uh, they're saying the whole case could be thrown out on appeal. I just think someone like this shouldn't be able to get away with it."

"And what is it you want me to do," Janet inquires.

Sirota leans in closer to the desk, he can smell the perfume now coming off the statuesque head of the distinguished jurist, "Well, Eddie says you know how to deal with kids like him, you're not afraid, you know, give'm what's comin' to 'em. Even if the cops missed a step or two."

"I just serve the public good, Mr. Sirota," the Chief Judge replies neutrally.

"Well, trust me, you would be doin' a huge public service if you got this hump off the street for good. Now his name is Pauly Catalano and Eddie says that he's in your schedule for tomorrow for a hearing about what to do with the conviction."

"Hmm," the Judge intones, picking up a fuschia folder from her desk. Putting on her classes she inspects the contents. "So he is, first up on the docket. I'll read the case carefully," the Judge offers with a sharp smile.

Mr. Sirota extends his hand, "Thank you very much, Judge, I appreciate it."

"You can always show your appreciation with a donation to my legal foundation," Janet replies, warmly.

Mr. Sirota returns the smile and gets up to leave, but before he turns to the door, reaches into his jacket pocket. He makes a noise of surprise, feigning shock to find a thick manila packet wrapped in twine. "Huh," he says to the room, as if wondering who placed the packet in his suit, before casually dropping the packet on the Judge's desk with a thud. "Have a nice day," he concludes, before leaving DiFiore's chambers.

The judge purses her lips, turning her eyes down to the desk. She counts the contents of the packet.

---

The next morning, in the Hearing of the People of New York v. Paul Catano

"In this case, I have been presented with claim after claim from the defense on the question of vacating this conviction on grounds of Miranda, Mapp, and countless other precedents. It seems as though Mr. Catano's counsel has decided to raid the fridge for Jell-o and see what sticks. I'm sorry to inform you, Mr. Catano, but my kitchen walls are clean. 

In the case of The People vs. Paul Catano, it is the judgment of the New York State Court of Appeals that the vacation of the sentence by the New York Supreme Court should be reversed in finding no violation of the defendant's rights. Further, the defendant will be remanded without bail to Riker's Island in the custody of the New York City Department of Corrections. New York County Court Judge Hilda Marsden shall be instructed to issue a final sentence to Mr. Catano in a manner not inconsistent with this order.

Mr. Catano, for endangering the welfare of a child, for grand theft larceny, and for aggravated assault, I am recommending you for transfer to Sing Sing Correctional Facility's Maximum Security Division for a period not to exceed thirty years."

The defense erupts in protest, "The original sentence was only fifteen your honor!"

DiFiore raises her hand, "Then you should not have appealed on such flimsy grounds Mr. Martinez, you will find we are much less lenient here in Albany. Another outburst in like that in my courtroom and you will see just how rigid with the rule of law I can be. Court is adjourned."

The Chief Judge brings the gavel down, the sound bouncing off the wooden surfaces of the courtroom and ringing in Catano's ear like a metal drum. Chances are he will be 45 years old when he is once again a free man. Mr. Sirota, on the other hand, could not be more elated. The Chief Judge's face does not change from its stern and neutral tone until she has left the courtroom, when finally a smile graces her lips.

Janet walks peppily back to her chambers, greeting Ed Mangini at his desk. "More like that Ed, more like that," she encourages him with a slap on the back, before disappearing back into her chambers to review her next case. Oh, and mute those god-forsaken candidates for Governor on the TV.

Edited June 20, 2023 by Dobs