Andrew Cuomo Enters Crowded Race for New York City Mayor

Andrew Cuomo apparently isn’t ready to say arrivederci to politics.

Entering a crowded Democratic field in which the former governor already holds a staggering lead over other candidates, Cuomo made good on suspicions that he would make a run for Mayor Eric Adams’s seat as the incumbent desperately fends off scandal after scandal.

Cuomo made his run for mayor official on Saturday morning, posting a 17-minute video on YouTube saying that the city feels “threatening, out of control and in crisis,” and blaming that on the “lack of intelligent action by many of our political leaders.”

Voters will be spoiled for choice in the June Democratic primary with more than nine candidates competing for Gracie Mansion, 10 if you include New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams taking tentative steps toward a run over the past week.

But despite resigning from office in 2021 after an attorney general’s investigation alleged Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, that hasn’t dampened Cuomo’s popularity with voters and the real estate industry. A Bold Decision poll of Democratic voters released Jan. 22 showed Cuomo had a significant advantage in ranked-choice voting, with a 55 percent favorability rate and 40 percent unfavorability compared to the three candidates with the highest name recognition.

Eric Adams showed a 23 percent favorability to 73 percent unfavorability rating in the poll.

And that hasn’t changed as the weeks went on, with a February Honan Strategy Group poll showing Cuomo leading the crowded field with 38 percent of the vote.

But he will still have to beat Adams; former city Comptroller Scott Stringer; current Comptroller Brad Lander; state legislators Zohran Mamdani, Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos; attorney Jim Walden; former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson; and former Bronx Assemblymember Michael Blake before Cuomo’s ritorno to public office.

While housing remains one of the most prominent issues in the mayoral race — an issue that Adams has scored major wins on — the incumbent in recent weeks has not created much of a re-election campaign presence. In fact, he came closer than ever to being removed from office by Gov. Kathy Hochul the week after Presidents Day.

Adams had a whirlwind re-election cycle that included being accused of a corruption scheme that involved Turkish business people and one government official — allegedly siphoning taxpayer money to his campaign through the New York City Campaign Finance Board’s matching funds programs — and an exodus of senior staff. As a result, Adams has not been able to access the program which is acting as a benefit for others in race.

While his legal troubles got slightly better when President Donald Trump directed the U.S. Department of Justice to drop the five-count indictment against Adams in February, the move didn’t win him more popularity as voters fear Adams was compromised since the Justice Department could reopen the charges at any time.

It should be noted that, while he has a long history of holding public office, Cuomo doesn’t exactly have a squeaky-clean record. The former New York attorney general became governor in 2010 but resigned in 2021 after state legislators sought to impeach him over a string of sexual harrassment allegations. Cuomo also faced congressional scrutiny for his requirement early on during the pandemic that nursing homes in the state take in people with COVID-19.

Still, Cuomo’s long political history — that dates back to his father Mario Cuomo’s three terms as governor — and name recognition may be a boost in the mayoral race as voters sour on Eric Adams. 

“It’s always good,” Jerry Skurnik, a political consultant with Engage Voters U.S., a marketing consultancy, previously told Commercial Observer about name recognition in political races. “It definitely would help him. The election would include people who don’t always vote in primaries who know who Andrew Cuomo is as opposed to City Council members or state senators running for mayor.”

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.