Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who stepped down from workplace amid a sexual harassment scandal in 2021 is getting ready to announce a run for New York Metropolis mayor, 4 folks conversant in the planning advised CNN.
Cuomo is within the closing phases of establishing a run and a proper announcement is anticipated as quickly as this weekend, the folks mentioned.
Cuomo, who has largely stayed out of the general public eye since leaving workplace – has been working behind the scenes for months – calling lawmakers, assembly with labor leaders and convening a steady of seasoned aides and marketing campaign operatives who’ve beforehand labored with him, the sources mentioned.
Wealthy Azzopardi, Cuomo’s longtime spokesperson declined to remark.
Cuomo is alleged to be consulting along with his household, in accordance with an individual conversant in the governor’s pondering. His three daughters had been anticipated to satisfy with him within the metropolis final week as he continued to mull the choice.
Two folks conversant in the governor’s pondering warned Cuomo may nonetheless determine to not get within the race. Public flirtation with political workplace and last-minute choices about whether or not to embark on a high-profile run have been an indicator of the previous governor’s political profession..
Time is of the essence. The petitioning interval for candidates in search of to seem on the June main poll started on Tuesday. Candidates have to collect at the least 3,750 signatures from registered voters by April 3rd.
Though he has stayed away from standard media interviews and appearances in latest months, Cuomo has loomed massive over the crowded area of candidates difficult Mayor Eric Adams in New York Metropolis’s upcoming Democratic main.
Requested about Cuomo’s potential entry into the race, Adams was dismissive on Monday.
“That is early, that is the season. Folks are available in, folks get out, issues occur, stuff pops up. That’s simply the fact of this sport,” Adams mentioned throughout his weekly press briefing at Metropolis Corridor. “I need to deal with operating town and never get into the mayoral race, that’s going to be performed on the marketing campaign path.”
Though Cuomo has been noticeably silent on Adams’ political troubles, the mayor’s mounting scandal has led him to imagine he has an actual shot at taking Metropolis Corridor, two folks conversant in his pondering advised CNN.
Adams and Cuomo rely on largely the identical essential voting bloc – a coalition of union members, Black voters and reasonable Democrats within the metropolis who’re targeted on public security.
Though he isn’t but formally within the race, Cuomo has already secured a handful of endorsements – together with from one time political rival Carl McCall, the previous State Comptroller who ran towards Cuomo within the 2002 gubernatorial main. It was a humiliating loss in Cuomo’s political profession, which was simply starting on the time.
The New York Metropolis District Council of Carpenters is anticipated to announce they’re endorsing Cuomo in a matter of days, two folks conversant in the union’s resolution advised CNN. Congressman Ritchie Torres, a Democrat who represents a part of the Bronx, additionally mentioned he would help Cuomo’s bid for Metropolis Corridor.
Each Cuomo and Adams are seen as reasonable Democrats.
New York Mayor Eric Adams listens to questions from reporters throughout a press convention at NYPD’s fortieth Precinct on February 20, 2025, in New York Metropolis. – Michael M. Santiago/Getty Pictures
Within the final month, Adams has been underneath intense strain as lawmakers throughout town known as for his resignation after a Division of Justice memo directed federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop corruption fees towards him. In its directive, the DOJ explicitly cited the necessity for Adams’ cooperation with President Trump’s immigration agenda as one of many causes for the dismissal. The memo resulted within the high-profile resignations of prosecutors in New York and Washington D.C. and unleashed a days lengthy onslaught of criticism and requires Adams to be faraway from workplace.
Cuomo stored an in depth eye on the developments and he has dropped hints alongside the best way.
Final week, he posted a marketing campaign fashion video to X, exhibiting him talking earlier than an viewers of largely Black ladies who appeared to embrace him as he delivered a brief speech chock stuffed with campaign-ready strains.
“We’ve seen the ups and we’ve seen the downs, we all know how you can make this metropolis work and make this state secure for everybody and that’s precisely what we’re going to do,” Cuomo says on the video.
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