Cuomo will stay on NYC mayor's ballot after conceding Democratic primary to Mamdani, sources tell CNN
CNN —
Andrew Cuomo will not drop out of the New York City mayoral race by the Friday deadline to remove himself from the general election ballot, sources tell CNN. That leaves in place contingency plans he had established before the Democratic primary to challenge Zohran Mamdani and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams in November.
The former New York governor, who quickly conceded the Democratic primary race on Tuesday night to Mamdani, has not fully committed to running an active campaign through the summer and fall. But Cuomo will keep the place he already secured on the 'Fight & Deliver' ballot line for the November election, three sources say.
Cuomo is calculating that the full city's electorate would be significantly different from Democratic primary voters who were energized by Mamdani's focus on affordability and his campaign's online videos. His camp also believes Mamdani and his policy ideas, from a rent freeze to city-operated grocery stores, will receive increased scrutiny now that Mamdani is positioned to secure a Democratic primary win once ranked-choice votes are allocated next week.
'Ultimately Andrew's decision and my decision matters less than the decision that voters already took on Tuesday night,' Mamdani told CNN's Erin Burnett on Thursday.
Asked about possibly running against Cuomo in November, he said on 'OutFront': 'We did it once and it turned out pretty well.'
Notably, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as well as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have praised Mamdani since Tuesday but declined to endorse him. And two House Democrats from swing districts in the New York suburbs criticized him after Tuesday's results put him in position to win the primary, while Republicans have sharply criticized Mamdani and tried to tie national Democrats to him.
Mamdani is poised to face Adams, who opted out of this year's Democratic primary and is running as an independent himself, as well as Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Cuomo staying on the November ballot leaves the door open for the former governor to resume his bid for a political comeback, four years after he resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment that he has denied. Cuomo was long considered the front-runner in the mayoral race but faced progressive anger over the sexual harassment cases as well as his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic while governor, driving much of the liberal enthusiasm for Mamdani.
Cuomo's bet would be that he could become a safe harbor for moderates and progressives concerned about Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, or Adams, who was indicted on federal bribery charges before President Donald Trump's administration moved to drop them.
He could also keep his ballot line without campaigning, as he did in 2002 when he dropped a Democratic primary bid for governor but remained on the ballot as the Liberal Party candidate.
For now, however, Cuomo has not set a timetable for making a final decision on whether to actively campaign or when to re-launch a prospective campaign.
'There's no clock ticking,' one source said.
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Veteran Democratic strategist Lis Smith, who once worked for Cuomo and is now a critic, told ABC News centrist Democrats are partially to blame for the former governor's loss and suggested they look in the mirror. 'It is baffling that they decided to cast their lot with a disgraced former governor who was run out of office and had no new ideas or inspirational message to offer New Yorkers. Spare us the freak out,' said Smith. 'This just seems like the last gasp of the establishment and the affiliated billionaires trying to stop a grassroots moment that, frankly, they helped fuel.'
