“There is no question this was personally a difficult decision for him,” said Charlie King, a longtime adviser who ran unsuccessfully with Cuomo in 2002 for the post of lieutenant governor and spoke to him repeatedly in recent days. “There were issues he wanted to keep discussing with the people and the legislature. He genuinely believed he had an argument to make, and if he argued it enough, he thought he could persuade some people. It was an open question to whether or not he could, and it could melt down the very institution of government, and he may not be successful in the end. What good comes of that?”

Source: Washington Post August 11, 2021 00:56 UTC