Albany

A national pro-Republican political action committee is preparing to ramp up efforts to oppose Gov. Andrew Cuomo — not in expectation of his likely run for a third term next year, but with an eye to his potentially seeking the presidency in 2020.

Cuomo, who is considered to be on the short list of Democratic candidates for the next presidential election, says he remains focused on being governor. But that isn't stopping America Rising, which digs up and spreads opposition research primarily for federal-level races, from building up its opposition to the governor early.

In an interview last week, America Rising Executive Director Colin Reed said the plan is to start messaging about Cuomo's negatives early. The super PAC plans similar efforts against Democratic U.S. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who also are on the 2020 short list.

"We've seen some of the actions that he's taken over the last few weeks — whether it be doubling down on the millionaires' tax or adopting Bernie Sanders' plan for so-called free college — he is clearly trying to make a play for the democratic wing of the Democratic Party that was so influential in 2015 and 2016 and appears to have no signs of waning moving forward," Reed said. "We want to make sure we are paying close attention to him from the get-go."

As they begin compiling more opposition files in earnest, America Rising plans to focus on New Yorkers in pushing their Cuomo narrative. Though the super PAC will follow 2018 election efforts, it is not involved with any of the potential 2018 Republican challengers for governor.

Meanwhile, a Cuomo spokesman dismissed the super PAC's efforts as just political business as usual.

While the super PAC does not spend on advertising or mailers, it does look to share opposition research through news accounts and an online presence, which others can pick up on for their direct voter outreach efforts.

The opposition narrative against Cuomo is likely to follow a similar arc to one that America Rising pushed against Democrat Hillary Clinton last year. Reed said ethics will be an area of focus for Cuomo, given the federal and state prosecutions related to the Buffalo Billion and other upstate economic development initiatives. While Cuomo has not been charged with any wrongdoing or implicated in the cases that have charged his former right-hand aide, Joseph Percoco or former SUNY Polytechnic Institute President Alain Kaloyeros, there are early areas of possible challenge like the millionaires' tax, which subjects wealthy New Yorkers to a higher income tax rate. Though the tax, which Cuomo wants to extend as is, is a progressive's dream, he faces stiff opposition from the right, with state Senate Majority Republicans maintaining vehement opposition to the tax.

"What's the news here, they do this every election?" posed Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi about the super PAC's efforts, adding that New Yorkers have "overwhelmingly" supported Cuomo's agenda items such as affordable college and stopping the millionaire tax breaks. "If some beltway hacks want to waste their special interest money to be on the other side of overwhelming support, that's on them."

With President Donald Trump not even through his first month in the White House, 2020 talk may seem premature.

"As we sit here in February 2017, we have no clue what the national political landscape is going to look like three years from now as we approach Iowa and New Hampshire," Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.

But Greenberg did cede that just as America Rising is compiling its opposition research on Democratic candidates, there likely already are Democratic PACs with an early eye toward Trump's re-election bid.

"Political organizations look to the future," he said. "So just as Chuck Schumer and the Democrats and Mitch McConnell and the Republicans are looking at Senate races in 2018, there are people who are looking at the presidential race in 2020."

For his part, Cuomo has tried not to feed into the 2020 talk directly, even if his leftward march has left pundits chattering. A December Quinnipiac University poll showed that while 50 percent of voters statewide believed the governor should become a national leader by challenging Trump's policies, 56 percent said he shouldn't run for president in 2020.

"We have a lot of good things going on right now and I want to make sure that we finish what we started," Cuomo said in January when asked to address the 2020 rumors in a radio interview. "So, that's the only plan that I have now, but the rumor is flattering, even if not true."

mhamilton@timesunion.com • 518-454-5449 • @matt_hamilton10