Cuomos, father and son, "reborn" in New York

The Cuomos are back.

Andrew Cuomo's victory over Republican Jeanine Pirro in the race for New York State attorney general represents a political resurrection not only for him but also for his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, experts said.

Twelve years after the elder Cuomo was dumped by voters and four years after his son's own gubernatorial bid ended in a flameout, both men now are basking in the adoration of Democrats and others.

"They are like a phoenix reborn," said Stanley Klein, a political-science professor at Long Island University's C.W. Post campus and Republican committeeman.

Still, the comeback wasn't easy, and the future has a certain peril since Andrew Cuomo is following Eliot Spitzer, one of the most high-impact attorneys general in state history.

After defeating Mark Green, the former New York City public advocate, in a bruising primary, Cuomo initially appeared locked in a tight race with Pirro, the Westchester County district attorney from 1994 to 2005.

Pirro attacked Cuomo's qualifications, saying he had spent only 14 months as a "low-level prosecutor" in the Manhattan district attorney's office.

But her criticism was overshadowed by revelations that she was under investigation for considering an illegal wiretap of her husband's boat, because she suspected he was having an affair. News accounts invariably mentioned Albert Pirro's conviction for tax evasion.

After the scandal broke, "she never again was able to get her message across," said pollster Mickey Blum of Blum & Weprin Associates in Manhattan.

Cuomo kept his cool, rarely mentioning Pirro's legal woes.

Such new reticence surprised some Democratic Party leaders who recalled an arrogant man who ran his father's first campaign for governor in 1982 and then enforced his orders as a top aide. That high-handed behavior, they said, doomed the son's attempt to wrest the gubernatorial nomination from H. Carl McCall in 2002.

"Andrew made a lot of friends because he showed he could change," Klein said, "and as the quiet one, the charming guy, he won over not only party leaders but the public."

Andrew Cuomo took the stage beaming to the music, "Ain't No Stopping Us Now," blowing a kiss to his supporters at Democrat headquarters in Manhattan. He introduced his family and "the greatest governor in the history of New York, Mario Cuomo."

"The New York attorney general can be New York's great equalizer, enforcing the law and balancing the scale of justice," Cuomo said.

He spoke of protecting New Yorkers from banks, insurance companies and Wall Street. He pledged to protect the environment and fight gun violence.