In next Thursday's gubernatorial primary, Democrats will choose between two candidates with clear differences. Will they pick a rather fiscally conservative, socially liberal, seasoned incumbent, or a more progressive but inexperienced newcomer?

It's ultimately that vast difference in experience that earns Gov. Andrew Cuomo our endorsement over actress and activist Cynthia Nixon.

Like many New Yorkers, we have plenty of complaints about Mr. Cuomo. But there is no denying his record of accomplishment over two terms: lower income taxes, a more progressive tax code, a cap on the growth of school property tax levies whose constant rise was unsustainable. He has worked, albeit slowly, to better balance school aid so that needier districts get a fairer share.

Under Mr. Cuomo, New York passed major laws on gun control and marriage equality that were no small lifts in the Republican-controlled Senate. The state is raising the minimum wage, and a law is now in place to provide paid family leave through a small payroll deduction.

Mr. Cuomo is arguably the first governor in decades to truly pay attention to upstate New York, with investments that he so far pegs at $36 billion, from the Hudson Valley to Buffalo, a focus he promises to maintain.

Where Mr. Cuomo has most disappointed citizens is on his pledge to clean up state government. The Joint Commission on Public Ethics is not the strong, independent watchdog the state needs. Mr. Cuomo says it's a start on which the state can build. We'll hold him to that.

Mr. Cuomo's watch has brought corruption cases reaching his inner circle, and an investigation is pending into campaign violations involving a company that received $25 million in state grants. Mr. Cuomo says he was unaware of the misconduct and, partisan guilt-by-association charges aside, there's no evidence to the contrary.

It's beyond frustrating that the governor has spent no political capital to rein in the influence of big money, or even to abide by his own vow to not take contributions from companies involved in certain kinds of state bids and contracts. It didn't help that Mr. Cuomo stood by while a group of breakaway Democrats helped Senate Republicans hold power and block campaign finance reforms. The governor offers an alternative: Give lawmakers a raise and ban outside income. It's a proposal worth debating.

Ms. Nixon is a smart candidate. She touts a strong progressive agenda — including increased education funding, comprehensive campaign finance reform, and a public, single-payer health care system. We don't doubt her sincerity, but we question whether her work as an activist has prepared her to oversee a $168 billion government and deal with a Legislature full of its own agendas. And she seems to have thought little about upstate.

Most importantly, this is a risky time to ask a political neophyte to lead a state that has been, and must continue to be, at the forefront of challenging the many harmful and inhumane policies coming out of the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress. By his aggressive temperament and his experience as a former federal Cabinet member and state attorney general, Mr. Cuomo may be uniquely up to the task of taking on Donald Trump.

We admire Ms. Nixon's run and the effect she has had on reminding Mr. Cuomo of his inner progressive. But tempting as a new face may be in an era of shake-up-the-status-quo politics, it's Mr. Cuomo who represents the Democrats' best choice.