Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo revealed Monday that he will remain in the New York mayor’s race.
Cuomo joins a crowded field including socialist Zohran Mamdani, who beat him soundly in the June Democratic primary, incumbent Eric Adams, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. Independent Jim Walden is also running.
Cuomo will run with a caveat: If he is not the highest-ranked challenger to Mamdani by early September, he will drop out of the race in favor of whoever is and ask other candidates to do so as well.
Walden conceived the plan to give Mamdani’s opposition the best shot at beating the socialist, who has riled up conservatives and moderates with his plans to make buses and child care free and start government-run grocery stores.
But Cuomo’s collapse in the primary, during which he far outweighed Mamdani in spending and political clout and led him in the polls for much of the race before losing by double-digits, signals he is not headed to a better fate in November.
“Andrew Cuomo’s ego is doing the walking now, and anyone who has worked with Cuomo knows that when he’s in defensive mode, there’s no reasoning with him,” Democratic strategist Max Burns told the Washington Examiner. “He’ll have to learn this lesson the hard way. Again.”
By running in the general election on an independent line, Cuomo is gambling that the general electorate, which also includes independents and Republicans, will favor him more than Mamdani, though Democrats dominate the city anyway. Unlike the Democratic primary, the general election will not be ranked choice.
But Cuomo’s plan of dropping out requires Sliwa and Adams to comply, and neither has indicated that he will. Adams said Cuomo has already asked him to drop out, but he declined.
“New Yorkers are not that dumb,” Adams said when asked about Cuomo’s candidacy Monday. “I keep telling people New Yorkers got five fingers, and they love the middle one the most.”
Cuomo’s campaign has said he is a better fit to run against Mamdani because he received more primary votes this year than Adams did in 2021.
Without Adams and Sliwa dropping out, Cuomo has little shot to beat Mamdani. Adams’s and Cuomo’s bases cross, and they’d likely split the moderate vote in the city.
“Cuomo got 24,000 more votes three weeks ago than the mayor got four years ago, when he was at the height of his popularity and people actually wanted to give him a chance,” a Cuomo campaign spokesperson said.
Mamdani campaign personnel suggested that they are ready for a familiar fight against Cuomo.
“While Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams are tripping over themselves to cut backroom deals with billionaires and Republicans, Zohran Mamdani is focused on making this city more affordable for New Yorkers,” a Mamdani campaign spokesperson said in a statement. “That’s the choice this November.”
As in the Democratic primary, Cuomo’s biggest political problem remains his sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied, that led to his resignation as governor in 2021. Mamdani pointed them out early and often and has receiving the backing of those formerly involved with Cuomo.
ERIC ADAMS REVEALS CUOMO ASKED HIM TO DROP OUT: ‘HIGHEST LEVEL OF ARROGANCE’
“No means no, Cuomo,” Lindsey Boylan, Cuomo’s first sexual harassment accuser, said in a post on X. “And New York City already said no to you.”
The Cuomo campaign declined to comment for this article. The Washington Examiner reached out to the Mamdani campaign but did not receive a response.