The late Gov. Mario Cuomo (D-NY), father of the embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), experienced a shocking defeat in his 1994 campaign for reelection in which he lost to now former Gov. George Pataki (R-NY), a lesser-known politician serving as a Republican state senator at the time. Mario Cuomo was seeking a fourth term in office — just like his eldest son is now — when he decisively lost to Pataki by five points, marking the first Republican gubernatorial victory in the Empire State in two decades.