NY Teachers' Union Staying Out Of Governor's Race
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York's powerful teachers' union will sit out of this year's governor's race.
The union says Thursday it won't endorse Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his liberal primary challenger Zephyr Teachout, Green Party hopeful Howie Hawkins or Republican Rob Astorino.
The union has sparred with Cuomo over teacher evaluations, the Common Core standards and his support for charter schools.
Teachout and Hawkins both hold positions more in line with the union, but they're far behind Cuomo in name recognition and fundraising.
Union executive vice president Andrew Pallotta says members fiercely debated the endorsement but decided in the end to stay out of the race. The union also sat out of the 2010 gubernatorial race.
The union did endorse the re-election of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
Earlier this month, Teachout headed to court Thursday to defend her campaign to unseat Gov. Andrew Cuomo against claims that she hasn't lived in New York long enough to be on next month's Democratic Primary ballot. A judge later dismissed the claims and allowed her to stay on the ballot.
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