AG Andrew Cuomo will announce today that he has selected Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy as his preferred LG running mate, according to a press release from the Cuomo campaign.

The announcement will come at 11 a.m. at the Sheraton in Manhattan.

Duffy is a former police chief and, according to sources I spoke with in the Rochester area, is “squeaky clean.”

He has been locked in a local battle of late over trying to take control of the public school system (a la Mayor Bloomberg), but other than that, there’s been no huge controversy in his administration that I’ve been able to discern.

His selection enables Cuomo to address the criticism, levied at his by Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, that he lacks executive experience himself.

Rick Lazio took a similar approach when he named Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards as his preferred running mate.

I’m using the phrase “preferred running mate,” because the ticket isn’t set in New York until after the primary. It’s possible Cuomo could – like his father before him – end up with a No. 2 he didn’t select.

That’s how former Gov. Mario Cuomo ended up with LG Al DelBello and not his chosen running mate, H. Carl McCall.

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