Andrew Cuomo (D) is facing Carl Palladino for the seat of New York State Governor.

He was elected to New York State attorney general in 2006, succeeding Eliot Spitzer, who also became governor. In Albany, Curomo forced reforms in the student loan industry, in consumer protection, on Wall Street and in in the Capital through his corruption cases involving lawmakers.

With no Democrat publicly considering a challenge, his fame made him an immediate front-runner in the 2010 race for governor.

Andrew Cuomo was born in Queens, N.Y., and now lives in Manhattan. He earned a bachelor's from Fordham University and a law degree from Albany Law School.

Growing up, Cuomo developed a reputation as a street basketball player with a fascination in restoring old cars such as Mustangs and Corvettes. He also was into politics. In his early 20s, he put his legal education on hold to run the campaign of his father, Gov. Mario Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo has worked in government service and in the private sector developing low-income housing. 

Cuomo ran for governor in 2002, but was forced to withdraw from the race before the primary because of a lack of financial and political support. He struggled that year among black and liberal voters for his challenge to H. Carl McCall, then the comptroller, who many thought would be New York's first black governor.

Cuomo also made some unpopular remarks in 2002 that led to his leaving the race. Regarding September 11, Cuomo said then-Republican Governor George Pataki had simply held the coat of then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the aftermath of the attacks — thus dismissing Pataki's widely respected work restoring order to New York, working with Giuliani and comforting victims' families and all New Yorkers.

Cuomo was married to Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, but the couple is now divorced. They have three children.