Cuomo wins primary, but not as big a win as expected

NEW YORK (WABC) -- New York's Democratic establishment is assessing the damage from Tuesday night's surprising primary.

Yes, the governor and his running mate won, but his challenger did much better than expected.

It probably won't change things much for Cuomo, but it could have a negative impact on any future run for higher office.

Late Wednesday afternoon in Buffalo, Governor Cuomo thanked volunteers and his running mate for a campaign that we really didn't see that much of these last few weeks.

Cuomo virtually ignored his liberal primary opponent Zephyr Teachout who was outspent 10 to one.

Tuesday night she claimed to have taught the governor a lesson: that he ignores the party's left-wing at his own peril.

"I ran for an old-fashioned reason; I thought I'd be a better governor than the other guy," Teachout said.

On Staten Island Wednesday, the Republican candidate called Tuesday night's vote a watershed moment, reflecting trouble ahead for the incumbent.

"If Andrew Cuomo were really popular not only around the state but within his own party people would have flooded to the polls to support him. They didn't do that. In fact he was rebuked by 40% of his own party. That's amazing," said Rob Astorino, (R) Gubernatorial Candidate.

The latest polling shows Cuomo coasting to a re-election victory in November.

Wednesday, he didn't seem worried that quite a few voters apparently are unhappy with him.

A big question is will the governor do what he refused to do during the primary and agree to a debate between now and November 4th? Cuomo has said he would. So Channel 7 is teaming up with the Daily News, Univision, and the League of Women Voters inviting Cuomo and Astorino to our debate.