Governor of New York


Governor of New York


Governor's Seal

Standard of the governor


Acting Governor Andrew Cuomo since January 1, 2011

Official seat	New York State Executive Mansion in Albany
Term of office	4 years (unlimited re-election possible)
Creation of office	July 30, 1777
Last choice	November 6, 2018
Next choice	November 8, 2022
Salutation	The Honorable (formal) Governor (informal)
Deputy	Lieutenant Governor of New York (currently Kathy Hochul )

website	governor.ny.gov

The governor of New York (Engl. The Governor of New York) is Heads of State and Head of Government of the State of New York and its highest representative. He is also commander in chief of the entire New York National Guard . The governor is entrusted with the management of government affairs in New York and also has representative duties. He plays a central role in the federal legislative process and is responsible for filling important state offices.

The governor is elected by the citizens of New York every four years; In contrast to many other states, re-election is theoretically unlimited. The current incumbent and 56th governor has been the Democrat Andrew Cuomo since January 1, 2011 . Governor Cuomo was elected in November 2010 and has been elected twice since then.

Position of the office

Position of the federal system

With federalism in the United States , all government powers are strictly divided between the national government in Washington and the states . The President and Congress are only responsible for those matters that are explicitly assigned to them by the US Constitution. All other competencies fall to the individual federal states, which are more extensive than, for example, the competence of the German federal states (although in Germany there is not such a clear separation of the competences of the federal and the federal states). As a result, all states in the USA have their own political systems, which are, however, mostly very similar. The governor is therefore not subordinate to the national government in Washington, but as head of the New York executive branch responsible for the independent execution of state law, while federal laws are executed independently by its institution. Since the political structure of the individual states is similar to the national system, albeit with various differences, the office of governor at the state level corresponds to the office of the president at the federal level. Because of this pronounced separation of competencies, cooperation between the federal government and the federal states is rare.

Duties and powers

The State Capitol in Albany, where the governor has his office as well as the legislature

The governorship corresponds to that of a head of state at the sub-national level. As the highest representative of the state, the governor represents the state of New York internally and externally.

The governor plays a central role in the state's legislative process. If a bill is passed by both houses of the New York State Legislature , which consists of the State Assembly with 150 members and the State Senate with 63 Senators, the bill must be submitted to the governor. The governor has three options at this point: If he agrees, he can sign the bill, which concludes the legislative process. The law comes into force either immediately or on the date that has been specified in terms of content. If the governor does not sign the bill and does not object, the bill will also become legally binding after twelve days (excluding Sundays). The third option allows the governor to object, in other words, to veto a bill. Like the governors of most other US states, the New York governor also has the option of rejecting only certain passages of the law, a so-called line-item veto . For example, the US President does not have this right at the federal level. He is limited to accepting a template or rejecting it completely. As in most other states and at the federal level, a gubernatorial veto can be overruled by two-thirds of both chambers of the legislature . This means that a law comes into force even without the approval of the governor. The fact that two-thirds majorities to reject a veto are achieved in both houses of the State Legislature is more the exception than the rule.

The governor also has the sole right of pardon in New York State. This includes all violations of the law that fall within the jurisdiction of the state. Since criminal law in the United States is primarily a matter for the states, this power is quite extensive.

In addition, the governor is responsible for appointing judges at the State Court of Justice. The appointments must be confirmed by the State Senate. The governor also has the authority to appoint to many other senior officials in the state. The approval of the State Senate is also required for these vacancies. If this does not take place, vacant offices can also be temporarily filled by the governor without a vote in the Senate. However, if the parliamentary chamber meets again, the corresponding votes must be made up.

As head of the executive branch , the governor determines the guidelines for politics. Although he does not have a cabinet in the strict sense, there are executive offices, such as the Attorney General , which correspond to ministers. These are also elected by direct election by the people, but are subordinate to the governor. The governor's own staff, on the other hand, acts as advisors and assistants, and the governor has a free hand in appointing them. It is also common to have a chief of staff to whom the governor can delegate tasks.

The governor is also responsible for command and control over all militia forces in the state. Like the other governors in their respective states, he is Commander-in-Chief of the New York National and State Guard . He can use them to combat environmental or natural disasters, or - since the governor is responsible for security in New York - give the order to restore public order (for example, if the police units no longer have a certain situation under control). Such missions have occurred several times in the history of New York and other states. Some governors have also deployed the National Guard to end strikes. The command over the National Guard, but not over the State Guard, is transferred to the US President if they are called in to serve on behalf of the federal government. At the end of a federal deployment, the authority goes back to the governor. Such cases, on the other hand, occur very rarely, since the national government maintains its own armed forces and their area of responsibility differs significantly from that of the national guards.

Election and term of office

Franklin D. Roosevelt takes the oath of governor (1930)

The governor's single term of office is four years. Unlike in most states, re-election is possible indefinitely. For example, George Pataki served as governor for three terms from 1995 to 2007.

In the run-up to the gubernatorial elections, the parties hold internal primaries . The nominee is who has the most votes in this primary . After the primaries, the winner will nominate his candidate for the office of lieutenant governor. The governor and lieutenant governor are elected jointly in New York.

The governor is elected every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The election is made directly by the people, which is referred to as direct election . At the same time, elections to other executive government offices in New York, the state legislature and Congress are held. Since Congress is a mid-term election , no presidential election will be held. These therefore always take place in the middle of the New York governor's term of office, who in turn is elected in the middle of a presidential term. The candidate with the most votes automatically emerges as the winner of the election. As in almost all other states, an absolute majority of the votes is not provided for the election to governor. It has therefore happened several times in history that governors were elected with less than 50 percent of the vote.

The governor's new term begins on January 1, which follows the election. So there are almost two months between the election and the swearing-in. The previous governor remains in office from the moment of the balloting until the handover. During this approximately two-month period, the election winner is also referred to as the governor-elect ("elected governor"). However, it is an informal designation, as an elected but not yet sworn governor has no constitutional significance as a public official. The rights and powers do not pass to the election winner until they are sworn in. However, a re-elected incumbent is not referred to as a governor-elect .

All citizens of New York State over the age of eighteen are eligible to vote. The passive right to be so chosen the law to the governor, every person with American citizenship who survived at least five years in New York and is 30 years old has. However, American citizenship is not required from birth.

Succession planning

Since an early election of the new governor is not possible by the New York Constitution (not even a recall ), the premature elimination of the incumbent, which may arise for other reasons, was regulated by law. If the governor dies in office, resigns or is removed from office by the state legislature for legal misconduct, the lieutenant governor automatically becomes the new governor for the remainder of the term. The lieutenant governor becomes the new governor and does not only exercise the office in an executive role. In addition to the Vice-Governor, there is a protocol that provides for other officials such as the Chairperson of the Chamber of Parliament, Secretary of State and Attorney General . However, they can only advance to the position of Acting Governor . However, since the governor can appoint a new lieutenant governor with the consent of both houses of the state legislature, it is very unlikely that anyone other than the lieutenant governor will replace a prematurely divorced governor.

Rewards and privileges

New York State Executive Mansion, residence of the New York Governor

The annual salary of the governor of New York is $ 179,000. This makes him the highest salary of any 50 governors in the United States. The governor's personal protection is provided by the New York State Police.

Like almost all other governors in the US, the New York head of government has his own residence. The New York State Executive Mansion was completed in 1860 and was initially owned by a banker. In 1875, New York State bought the building and four acre property. Since then, all governors have lived in the property, which has a swimming pool, among other things.

The governor's office is located in the New York State Capitol in Albany. There he has his own staff with a chief of staff and a public relations department.

Web links

Commons : Governors of New York - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Official Site of the New York governor (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Chistoph M. Haas, Wolfgang Jäger: Government System of the USA: Text and Handbook , Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2007 ISBN 978-3-486-58438-7 , pp. 459 ff.

^ CN Trueman: Federalism. Retrieved January 7, 2019 .

↑ Chistoph M. Haas, Wolfgang Jäger: Government system of the USA: Lehr- und Handbuch , Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2007 ISBN 978-3-486-58438-7 , pp. 459 to 475

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e New York State Constitution. Retrieved January 7, 2019 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Introduction to Governors. Center on the American Governor, accessed January 7, 2019 .

↑ Andrew Knapp: Govs' Salaries Range From $ 1 to $ 206,500. Pew Charitable Trusts, May 15, 2007, accessed January 7, 2019 .

[1] Chistoph M. Haas, Wolfgang Jäger: Government System of the USA: Text and Handbook , Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2007 ISBN 978-3-486-58438-7 , pp. 459 ff.

[2] CN Trueman: Federalism. Retrieved January 7, 2019 .

[3] Chistoph M. Haas, Wolfgang Jäger: Government system of the USA: Lehr- und Handbuch , Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2007 ISBN 978-3-486-58438-7 , pp. 459 to 475

[:1-4] New York State Constitution. Retrieved January 7, 2019 .

[:0-5] Introduction to Governors. Center on the American Governor, accessed January 7, 2019 .

[6] Andrew Knapp: Govs' Salaries Range From $ 1 to $ 206,500. Pew Charitable Trusts, May 15, 2007, accessed January 7, 2019 .