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What's next for Marc Molinaro? GOP gubernatorial candidate mulls future

Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, ran a spirited race against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but was easily defeated Tuesday amid strong turnout across New York in a state with twice as many Democrats as Republicans.

ALBANY -- Ask Marc Molinaro about his political future, and he will ask for some time.

"I got a baby coming. Can I at least get past that?" he responded Thursday afternoon. His wife, Corinne Adams, is due in two weeks.

Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, ran a spirited race against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but was easily defeated Tuesday amid strong turnout across New York in a state with twice as many Democrats as Republicans.

Molinaro, 43, returns to his day job, though, as a more well-known figure in New York and as the Republican Party's flag bearer for the next four years, potentially setting him up to run for the post again in 2022.

First he has to decide whether to seek a third term next year as county executive.

Molinaro wouldn't say what his next political move would be, but he stressed he will remain a prominent voice in New York.

"I intend to remain exceptionally active in trying to ensure this state focuses on the real issues facing real people. And I’ll do that in a collaborative and sometimes not-so-collaborative way," he told the USA Today Network's Albany Bureau.

He added, "The best part of what I experienced was I was welcomed into communities, businesses and individuals’ lives, and I owe it to them to keep speaking on their behalf."

Losing to Cuomo

Cuomo got 1.3 million more votes in New York City than his little-known Republican challenger and that pretty well ended Molinaro's chances of an upset — even though he narrowly beat Cuomo in the rest of the state.

Molinaro tried to make the race about corruption in state government under Cuomo's watch or the troubles of the New York City subway system or failing upstate economic-development projects.

But none of those issues resonated enough for Molinaro to come close to winning, in part because Democrats came out in large numbers to vote in the midterm elections.

That led to a big year for Democrats in New York. The party picked up three congressional seats and won control of the state Senate for the first time in a decade.

Cuomo won 59 percent to 37 percent — a bigger margin than Cuomo won by in 2014 against then-Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.

"It’s just obviously a seismic turnout in the city, ignoring, in many ways, local issues," Molinaro explained. "Voting based on national concerns resulted in what was not only higher turnout, but higher partisan voting."

Molinaro, though, didn't express any bitterness this week. In his concession speech Tuesday, he talked about bringing New Yorkers together and ending the partisan divide.

Contrast his speech with Cuomo's victory address: The Democratic governor didn't even mention Molinaro's name and spent most of his time railing against Trump.

'Not frustrating'

Molinaro said he called Cuomo on Tuesday night to congratulate him, and he didn't take issue with Cuomo not even recognizing Molinaro for running.

"I’m not that person," Molinaro said.

"I’ve looked at what other people have said or done after they lose an election. That’s not me. It’s not frustrating. It’s a reality in 2018 that I had hoped to bridge. We didn’t bridge it. I get it."

Molinaro struggled with fundraising, which he contended during the campaign was in part due to Cuomo's campaign scaring off potential donors.

His campaign spent about $1.3 million, while Cuomo spent more than $30 million in the general election and his September primary win against actress Cynthia Nixon.

Cuomo, even Molinaro admitted, effectively turned the race into a referendum on Trump, even though Molinaro has sought to portray himself as a moderate Republican.

Cuomo's ads said Molinaro is anti-abortion and a Trump "mini-me." Molinaro is pro-life but said he wouldn't infringe on abortion rights if he were elected; he said he didn't vote for Trump in 2016.

The two had just one debate, a hastily organized Manhattan event that aired on a Tuesday night and focused little on upstate.

"I don’t know what it sets him up for down the road, but I think he ran a very, very credible race," state Conservative Party chairman Mike Long said of Molinaro.

"If he would have had the finances, I think Andrew Cuomo could have been in trouble. But he didn’t have the finances."

Next steps

State GOP Chairman Ed Cox praised Molinaro’s campaign, pointing to his extensive travel across the state and a series of dense policy papers he put out on everything from fixing the subways to improving services for the developmentally disabled.

Cox said he would “absolutely” like to see Molinaro run again for governor in 2022, but ultimately it will be “up to him.”

“I think he would be a terrific candidate,” Cox said. “He proved that he could single-handedly deliver a statewide message while underfunded and hold his own in a debate.”

About 3.8 million voters cast a ballot in the New York governor’s race in 2014. This year, about 5.7 million voted.

“That’s a huge difference and in a Democratic state, that means a lot more Democrats than Republicans,” Cox said.

Molinaro was first elected to office at age 18 as a trustee in his hometown of Tivoli and became mayor a year later, so politics has been with him his whole adult life.

He didn't suggest any signs of slowing down. He was first elected county executive in 2011.

If anything, he said the election made it clear he needs to continue to speak out.

Molinaro got 2.1 million votes, after all. That's more than Cuomo received when he won a second term in 2014, he points out.

Molinaro also won won 47 of the state's 62 counties.

"Nearly 2.2 million people will have voted for me, trusted me and will want me to continue to speak for them," Molinaro said.

"And I am going to do that. I want to use the encouragement I got during this election to continue to speak for people who often feel overlooked, and they have a right to feel that way."

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