1,957,144 1,465,973 Start date November 4, 2014 | 52.65% 39.44% | |
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Winner Eric Schneiderman | ||
The 2014 New York Attorney General election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Attorney General of New York. The incumbent Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman won reelection to a second term in office, defeating Republican John P. Cahill with 53% of the vote.
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Background
Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo declined to run for reelection in 2010, instead successfully running for Governor. State Senator Eric Schneiderman narrowly won the Democratic primary and then won the general election by a wide margin.
Democrats hold all of the statewide offices in New York and Republicans believe that their best chance of taking one rests on defeating Schneiderman, citing Governor Cuomo's high approval rating and large campaign war chest and that Thomas DiNapoli is unlikely to be vulnerable because "Comptrollers seem to get re-elected as long as they do their jobs." They also cited Schneiderman's relatively unknown status and the fact that he comes from the Upper West Side of Manhattan, as opposed to DiNapoli, who comes from Nassau County. Schneiderman has used his designation as Republicans' "top target" to raise money.
Despite this, Governing does not think Schneiderman is vulnerable. A March 2013 article listed the election as one that was "not competitive", citing the high-profile cases Schneiderman has taken on, and a December 2013 article rated the race as "Safe Democratic", saying that "Schneiderman should have no problem winning a second term."
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Major third parties
Besides the Democratic and Republican parties, the Conservative, Green, Independence and Working Families parties are qualified New York parties.
Candidates
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Minor third parties
Any candidate not among the six qualified New York parties (Democratic, Republican, Conservative, Green, Independence and Working Families) must petition their way onto the ballot; they do not face primary elections.