Rick Lazio Drops Bid for New York Governor

Rick Lazio, the former GOP congressman from Long Island, announced Monday that he is dropping out of the race for New York governor.

But even as Lazio announced his departure from the race, he made it clear that his move is not an endorsement of Carl Paladino, a Buffalo developer who beat Lazio in the state's Republican primary earlier this month.

"I believe strongly that [Democratic nominee] Andrew Cuomo cannot bring change, but I remain unconvinced that Carl Paladino will bring the improvement that New York needs," Lazio told the AP Monday. "I understand the anger, the primal scream, the frustration," Lazio said. "I want to see [Paladino and Cuomo] pull together to hold candidates accountable and have a real meaningful set of ideas."

Although Lazio lost the Republican nomination, he qualified to run for governor in November's general action on the Conservative Party ticket. Since then, GOP leaders in the state have urged him to drop his bid in order to clear the way for a two-way contest between Paladino, who is strongly backed by Tea Party supporters, and Cuomo.

The New York Daily News reported that Lazio had been in negotiations with the New York Republican Party about withdrawing from the race and that the state GOP will instead nominate him for Supreme Court judge at the party's nominating convention Monday night. New York law stipulates that the only way a name can be removed from the ballot is through a judicial nomination, death or a move from New York.