When Mario Cuomo first ran for governor, Andrew Cuomo was his father's campaign manager and political adviser.

Now, with Andrew M. Cuomo running for the office his father held for three terms, what's Mario Cuomo's role in his son's campaign?

Mario M. Cuomo, now 78, is not involved in the day-to-day political operations of his 52-year-old son's campaign, but is doing what any dad would do -- especially one who served as governor for 12 years, according to aides and campaign supporters.

"I would guess Andrew calls him occasionally, not on a regular basis; and Mario, if he sees something going awry, I'm sure he's on the phone," said former New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch, a one-time political rival of the Cuomos who is now actively supporting Andrew's campaign.

Mario Cuomo isn't talking, but he has, in fact, done plenty of politicking on his son's behalf over the years, whether it has been putting in a good word for him with the Clinton White House, or garnering support when Andrew ran for attorney general, or, in this case, governor.

While not involved in the daily machinations of his son's campaign, Mario Cuomo nonetheless has a presence. Many of those in the campaign brain trust have ties to the elder Cuomo, although the younger Cuomo has, over the years, claimed some of these mencq as his own, and then added others to the group.

Heading Andrew Cuomo's inner circle is Joseph Percoco, who began his career as an advance man -- setting up events -- for then-Gov. Mario Cuomo, but has spent much of his career working for Andrew Cuomo. Percoco, 40, served as special counsel to Andrew Cuomo during the years Cuomo served as federal secretary of Housing and Urban Development and then moved with Cuomo to the State Attorney General's Office, serving as an adviser.

Percoco is currently campaign manager but is also known as Andrew Cuomo's enforcer -- the man with a long memory, who remembers who did and said what for or against his boss, and encourages party leaders and other Democrats onto the Cuomo bandwagon.

"No matter what his title, the person who spends the most time with a candidate or elected official is the person with the most influence," Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, said of the relationship between Andrew Cuomo and Percoco. "[Percoco] is the most trusted, most loyal friend that Andrew every had. He's been with Andrew through thick and thin."

Others in Andrew Cuomo's inner circle are:

* Benjamin M. Lawsky, 40, general counsel and senior campaign adviser. Lawsky comes to the campaign from the Attorney General's Office, where he has served as Cuomo's deputy counselor and special assistant since 2007. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor, and as counsel to Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

* Michael J. DelGiudice, 67, an investment banker serving as informal campaign adviser. DelGiudice was Mario Cuomo's chief of staff from 1983 to 1985, during Cuomo's first term as governor. He previously served as deputy chief of staff to then-Gov. Hugh L. Carey and as chief of staff to the Assembly speaker.

* Andrew J. "Drew" Zambelli, also in his 60s, pollster, media consultant and general campaign adviser. Zambelli had been a top aide to Mario Cuomo, serving as director of communications for a couple of years before being named chief of staff during the governor's last term.

This inner circle is exclusively white and male. But the next levels of Cuomo campaign advisers are more diverse, include women and minorities, and come from different slices of the Democratic Party -- including Schumer faithful, as well as former members of the administrations of Govs. Eliot L. Spitzer and David A. Paterson.

There also is a policy adviser for and from Western New York. John B. Maggiore, 42, is Cuomo's main man in Buffalo.

Maggiore, a Buffalo native, worked as a personal assistant to Mario Cuomo until his governorship ended in December 1994. Maggiore then worked for Hoyt, serving as the assemblyman's chief of staff for about 10 years.

After a stint working for Buffalo State College, Maggiore took a job with Cuomo at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, then became Cuomo's policy adviser after Cuomo became attorney general in 2006, working in Albany and Buffalo. He is now on leave from the job to work on the Cuomo campaign.

"John is the epitome of a policy wonk," Hoyt said. "He is intellectual, well educated and has great experience in public policy, working for me, HUD and the [attorney general]."

While Maggiore is Cuomo's key staff member in Western New York, there are also plenty of others in the community offering advice, either to Maggiore or to Paul Francis, the campaign's budget and policy adviser, who comes from the Spitzer administration, or to Cuomo himself.

That list includes Richard M. Tobe, who has headed up the City of Buffalo and Erie County economic-development offices, and local developers Jordan A. Levy and Howard A. Zemsky, as well as Hoyt, an Andrew Cuomo supporter going back to Cuomo's failed gubernatorial bid in 2002.

"I talk to them about upstate urban issues," Hoyt said. "We've spoken about education reform issues, and we've talked about government consolidation and reducing the size and cost of government."

Others advising Cuomo include John A. Marino, a former state Democratic chairman and Mario Cuomo campaign manager; Howard B. Glaser, a housing analyst who was a senior adviser to Mario Cuomo before becoming chief of staff at HUD under Andrew Cuomo; and Jennifer Bayer Michaels, a fundraiser who previously worked for Schumer's campaign.

Another money person on Cuomo's campaign is Andrew L. Farkas, a developer whom Cuomo filed suit against at HUD, but years later befriended.

Farkas is now Cuomo's campaign finance chairman as well as being one of the candidate's biggest donors. Farkas and his family donated $88,000 to Cuomo's campaign in the last two years. One of Farkas' companies also kicked in another $37,500, campaign finance records show.

Farkas' relationship with Cuomo has come under criticism from Republican candidate Carl P. Paladino.

While Cuomo was secretary of HUD, the agency accused one of Farkas' building-management companies of paying kickbacks to building owners with HUD funds.

The Farkas company settled the lawsuit by paying the government $7.4 million, without admitting any guilt. The building owners, whom Cuomo said were the real targets of the suit, paid $10.2 million in fines and penalties, gave up all their properties, and were barred from doing any further HUD business.

Several years later, when Cuomo was no longer with HUD, he struck up a friendship with Farkas. Cuomo went to work for one of Farkas' companies, and earned $1.2 million in two years.

"Where I come from, this is called a payoff," Paladino said in a campaign ad released last month.

"Pay-to-play Paladino is now rewriting history with a mud pen," Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto responded at the time.

Others on Cuomo's team include Charlie King, executive director of the state Democratic Committee, and former New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., two of Cuomo's top advisers to the African-American community. In addition, Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, D-N.Y., whose district includes parts of three New York City boroughs, is an adviser on the Latino community.

He also has a communications team headed by Marissa Shorenstein, who left the Paterson administration in protest over how a domestic-abuse case involving a governor's aide was being handled. Two others on the team, Vlasto and Phil Singer, came from Schumer's office.

The campaign staff, Hoyt said, represents Andrew Cuomo charting his own course, but not ignoring the wisdom of his father's administration -- some of whom worked with, or for, Andrew Cuomo during their careers.

"You'd be a ... fool not to exploit the talent that existed in the Mario Cuomo administration," Hoyt said.

Hoyt, 48, also said that Andrew Cuomo is lucky to have his father to go to for advice. "I would love to be able to bounce things off my father," he said.

Like Cuomo, Hoyt followed his father's career path. His father, Assemblyman William B. Hoyt II, died of a heart attack in 1992 at age 54, and Sam Hoyt was elected to succeed him.

"It's an incredible luxury Andrew has to be able to seek advice from, and get the wisdom of, someone who happens to be a predecessor in the position, and someone whose political and government skill is really unparalleled," Hoyt said.

"That doesn't mean he accepts every bit of advice his father may offer, but what an incredible luxury to have the resource."

sschulman@buffnews.comnull