Cuomo may quit New York governor's race

Andrew Cuomo

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Trailing in recent voter polls and facing opposition from most party leaders, Democrat Andrew Cuomo is expected to withdraw from the New York primary for governor Tuesday, several New York Democratic sources said.

Cuomo aides are meeting Tuesday morning in New York City to discuss his departure and a possible endorsement of state Comptroller Carl McCall, sources close to the Cuomo campaign said.

A news conference in New York is scheduled for midday Tuesday.

Cuomo's expected withdrawal comes a day after U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, who has remained neutral in the gubernatorial primary, marched with McCall in the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, and a host of other state party leaders already have endorsed McCall.

The winner of the September 10 Democratic primary will challenge Republican Gov. George Pataki, who is making a bid for a third term.

Cuomo, a housing secretary under former President Clinton and son of former three-term Gov. Mario Cuomo, entered the Democratic race as the presumptive front-runner.

He relied heavily on a national network of donors, including the family of his wife, Kerry Kennedy Cuomo. She is a daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy.

But McCall, who would be the first African-American to win a major-party nod for governor in New York, has overtaken Cuomo in recent independent polls.