Cuomo communications director Dani Lever said in a statement, “The Governor believes the best governmental practice is to consolidate the presidential, congressional and state primary elections on one day making it easier to vote and saving tens of millions of taxpayer dollars rather than holding multiple elections. That was the rationale for moving the September statewide primaries up to coordinate with the June federal primaries. The presidential primary of April 28 this year adds a new element and the easiest solution is to hold the state and congressional primaries on that date: April 28.
“Governor Cuomo believes we should want as many voters to participate in the process as possible, and everything we have done since Democrats have taken full control in Albany has been to make it easier for people to vote, including enacting early voting. A state and congressional primary election held two months after a presidential primary is an unnecessary obstacle to voter participation. At least 15 other states have a single combined primary for presidential, federal and state races for exactly this reason. Ideally New York would have an earlier presidential primary date to be more relevant to the national dialogue but that is not under consideration as it is not politically feasible at this point.”
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