Cuomo elected New York governor

NEW YORK. November 3. KAZINFORM Andrew Cuomo was elected the 56th governor of New York on Tuesday night, according to results of several exit polls, Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

In a race which had been expected to be close, Cuomo, the current attorney general, slowly crept up in the polls to take a double digit lead over his Republican opponent, Carl P. Paladino, who was plagued by controversy in the final weeks of his campaign.

Cuomo will succeed Governor David Patterson who did not seek re-election.

Cuomo has vowed to pull together a broad coalition to reform Albany and confront a state budget deficit that is expected to rise to 15 billion U.S. dollars shortly after he takes office next year.

The state's sitting senators, Kirsten E. Gillibrand and Charles E. Schumer, easily won re-election. The results of the contests for New York attorney general and state comptroller have not been released yet.

In New York, recent polls showed State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, a Democrat, slightly led Daniel M. Donovan Jr., the Republican district attorney from Staten Island, in the race to succeed Cuomo as attorney general.

In the state comptroller's race, Thomas P. DiNapoli is trying to eke out a victory against his Republican opponent, former financier Harry J. Wilson.

New York voters will also decide whether politicians should be limited to two consecutive terms, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com