AG Andrew Cuomo’s campaign just released a statement saying his name will not be submitted for the gubernatorial nomination this weekend at the Working Families Party convention in Buffalo. 

That does not, however, mean that he is rejecting the line, altogether.  Instead, the campaign is deferring until the fall.  Here is the brief statement released by campaign adviser Phil Singer.

“The Working Families Party Convention is this weekend and we will not be submitting Andrew Cuomo’s name for the nomination.”

“There are several open issues that need to be considered, including but not limited to an ongoing Federal investigation as well as policy and procedural issues.”

“We will revisit the question in September at which time there will be more information available.

Dan Levitan of the WFP released a follow-up statement leaving open the possibility that the party could offer Cuomo the line down the road.

“Andrew Cuomo has informed us that he will not be submitting his name for nomination at our convention,” Levitan said.

“We expect the party’s state committee will be nominating the best available candidate to stand up for working men and women and the party that represents them. If the occasion arises, we will of course revisit this decision.”

This doesn’t come as a big surprise.

Cuomo has been signaling for some time now that he would adopt a wait-and-see approach with the WFP, which is under investigation by the US attorney’s office in connection with work done by its for-profit arm, Data & Field Services, in the 2009 election cycle.

The party must have known this was coming, too, which explains why it released the Kaye report earlier this week.

The WFP has been discussing a Plan B for weeks now.

Some members suggest the labor-backed party should run a celebrity candidate or perhaps someone of color who could: 1) highlight the lack of diversity on the Democrats’ statewide ticket, and 2) run to the left of Cuomo’s fiscally conservative agenda.

Even as he hedges on the WFP’s Row E, Cuomo has accepted the state Independence Party line, even though it is in the crosshairs of the Manhattan DA’s office in connection with a $750,000 contribution passed through the party to GOP consultant John Haggerty (now working for Carl Paladino).

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