Team Trump credits Cuomo for easing his reelection bid

WASHINGTON – The Trump campaign Monday credited Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo for creating a smoother path for his reelection.

The campaign touted election changes in 37 states that will allow President Trump to have his preferred delegates seated at the Republican National Convention in 2020. The campaign mentioned a change in a New York law twice as an example of good news for Team Trump.

“New York is a big one,” a Trump campaign official told reporters. “Governor Cuomo signed into law Senate Bill 6374, which eliminated congressional district caucuses on the Republican side and implemented a campaign-submitted slate as the method of delegate selection.”

The law was sponsored by Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) and it mostly got attention for setting the presidential primary date for April 28, 2020. New York Democrats touted the later date because the Empire State will get a 25 percent bonus at the Democratic National Committee for a total of 327 delegates.

But Team Trump said the law will help the president by ensuring a more efficient process and allowing Trump to get his slate of delegates to the floor.

Trump campaign officials also said they had been working for months on electing 41 state GOP chairpersons that will help pave the way for Trump’s reelection – including NY GOP’s new leader Nick Langworthy. And Trump officials have been busy eliminating state rules that could create drama for Trump’s path to reelection.

Some states made headlines by canceling Republican primaries to formally shut down primary challenges to Trump. But most of the changes are nuances that determine how delegates will be seated on the convention floor in Charlotte, officials said.

“What this is about is ensuring that president is in the best position possible to win the general election and we do that by making sure Charlotte is a four-day television commercial to 300 million Americans and not an internal debate among a few thousand activists,” another Trump official said.

The governor’s office said the law will give political parties deference on running their convention processes, as is customary.

“New York routinely gives deference to the parties and how they seek to run their operations — ‎this bill, which was sponsored by Senator Gianaris, the number two Democrat in the Senate, and Assembly Member Blake, a vice chair of the DNC, was no different,” said senior advisor Rich Azzopardi.

The changes mean the New York Republican nomination process will resemble 2012 “where the campaign works in concert with the state and local parties to pick their delegates,” said NY GOP spokeswoman Jessica Proud. “It will be a smooth process where everyone will work to ensure that President Trump has great representation from his home state at the convention.”

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