AOC rallies against Cuomo ‘gerontocracy'
It is a choice, she said, between the 'gerontocracy' represented by the 67-year-old former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the change represented by Mamdani, a 33-year-old assemblymember.
'When I say that this is not just about New York City, but that this is about the United States, I mean that literally because Andrew Cuomo has made clear that if he wins this race, he wants to run for president of the United States,' Ocasio-Cortez, who's 35, said at Mamdani's event in Manhattan.
Cuomo has not publicly said he would run in 2028, but he told POLITICO in May he intends to be a national figure as mayor, organizing Democrats across the country.
'In a world and a nation that is crying to end the gerontocracy of our leadership, that wants to see a new day, that wants to see a new generation ascend, it is unconscionable to send Andrew Cuomo to Gracie Mansion,' she added, referring to New York City's mayoral residence.
Earlier this month, Ocasio-Cortez endorsed a slate of five candidates in the Democratic primary, making Mamdani her top choice under the city's ranked-choice voting system. On Saturday, she mentioned that Mamdani and Brad Lander had recently cross-endorsed, with both encouraging supporters to rank their respective ally second. During her speech, Ocasio-Cortez also praised two other candidates she has endorsed, Zellnor Myrie and Scott Stringer, but did not mention the candidate she herself ranked second, Adrienne Adams. She also specifically urged voters not to rank Cuomo on the ballot, becoming the highest-profile supporter of the movement dubbed DREAM: 'Don't Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor.'
'Not ranking Andrew Cuomo is the right thing to do in solidarity with survivors of sexual harassment,' she said on stage. Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 after a report from Attorney General Letitia James' office determined he sexually harassed 11 women, allegations Cuomo denies.
Cuomo's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday night.
Not ranking Cuomo, Ocasio-Cortez added, 'is the right thing to do to turn the page on the future of a Democratic party that does not continue to repeat the mistakes that have landed us here. We can never get past Donald Trump if we continue to elect the same people and make the same decisions that got us here in the first place.'
More than 2,500 people filled Terminal 5, a concert hall on the west side of Manhattan. The rally capped off the first day of early voting in the June 24 primary. Other speakers included Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen, the leaders of the New York Working Families Party and state Sen. John Liu. The Kid Mero, a media personality from the Bronx, emceed the event.
Mamdani also presented the race as having implications far beyond the parochial concerns of New Yorkers.
'We stand on the verge of a victory that will resonate across the country and the world,' he said from the stage. 'Make no mistake, this victory will be historic, not just because of who I am, a Muslim immigrant and a proud democratic socialist. But for what we will do: make this city affordable for everyone.'
Polling in the race has consistently shown Cuomo in the lead, though Mamdani is within striking distance.
His growing prominence has unleashed a torrent of spending against him, funded largely by business and real estate interests who oppose his lefty politics. After former Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed Cuomo and donated $5 million to a super PAC boosting his candidacy, the group started running ads accusing Mamdani of wanting to defund the police and move homeless people into subway stations, POLITICO reported.
Mamdani and his allies urged supporters to volunteer to counter the messaging.
'This election isn't just about the future of our city, it's about the future of our democracy, whether billionaires and massive corporations can simply buy our elections,' he said. 'But we know that this movement is more powerful than their money.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
21 minutes ago
- The Hill
Illinois lt. gov. responds to Texas redistricting: ‘Nothing will be off the table'
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton (D) said on Tuesday that 'nothing will be off the table' in response to the plan by Texas Republicans to redraw their congressional boundaries in a way they hope will give the state five more GOP seats in Congress after the midterms. 'We have a message for President Trump and Gov. Abbott: We are watching you,' Stratton told reporters during a press conference, which included Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Ken Martin, Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and Texas Democrats. 'In Illinois, we don't sit on the sidelines. In Illinois, we don't take kindly to threats, and in Illinois, we fight back. If Trump and Texas Republicans won't play by the rules, we will look at every option available to stop their extreme power grab, and nothing will be off the table,' Stratton, who is running for Senate next year, said. The Texas GOP at the behest of President Trump are redrawing the state's congressional maps to benefit Republicans. Redistricting was not originally on the agenda items for the special session Gov. Greg Abbott called but was added later. The move is a power play in that lines are usually not withdrawn until after a new census. Texas Democrats traveled to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts beginning on Sunday to deny Republicans quorum, or the minimum number of lawmakers needed present to conduct legislative business, as the GOP tries to pass the new congressional lines. Texas lawmakers are in a special legislative session called by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) over redistricting, among other agenda items. A Texas House committee passed the new GOP-friendly map last week, teeing it up for a vote on the House floor. With Democrats out of the state, however, those efforts are stalled. California and New York have signaled that they're exploring their options over how to pass new maps in light of Texas Republicans' move to redraw their map in the middle of the decade; Stratton's announcement suggests more blue states could follow. Though Democrats are criticizing Republicans in Texas for passing an even more gerrymandered map, Democrats have also been criticized for doing the same in states like Illinois and New York — in some cases even seeing their maps struck down because of it. Stratton, Pritzker, Martin and others convened in Illinois one day before the anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, which has been used to help ensure fair representation for communities of color in election maps. 'Republicans are running scared that voting for this monstrosity will make them lose their majority, and they certainly will, which is why they're trying to disenfranchise Texas voters by packing and cracking them into districts to dilute their voting power, a clear and blatant violation of the Voting Rights Act,' Martin said, referring to Trump's megabill.
CNN
22 minutes ago
- CNN
A California plan is likely the Democrats' best option in the redistricting wars
Congressional newsFacebookTweetLink Follow As Texas Republicans move ahead with redistricting to protect or even expand the GOP's slim majority in the US House, Democratic-run states, led by California, are pushing forward with their own efforts to draw new maps and add Democratic seats. No Democratic states can shift the balance of power as dramatically and quickly as Texas, where Republican lawmakers can enact new maps giving them as many as five more GOP-controlled seats as soon as they establish a quorum, which state Democrats have denied them by fleeing the state. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has urged lawmakers to draw a new map to put before voters in a November special election. The map could flip five of Republicans' nine seats in the state if voters approve it in a ballot initiative in November, sources told CNN. Newsom said the plan would go forward only if Texas completes its redistricting effort. 'Things have changed. We're reacting to that change,' the governor said at a news conference Monday. 'They've triggered this response, and we're not going to roll over.' Texas' mid-decade redistricting, undertaken at President Donald Trump's behest, has brought together a Democratic Party beset by infighting and facing historically low approval ratings. Even as party leaders vow to fight back against Texas and other Republican states discussing redrawing their maps, they are limited in how much they can retaliate. In several of the 15 states where Democrats hold the governorship and both chambers of the legislature, including New York, Washington and Colorado, maps are drawn by independent or bipartisan redistricting commissions, which are meant to thwart the sort of partisan gerrymandering Democrats are now seeking to advance. In other blue states — including Maryland and Illinois — Democrats have already drawn aggressively gerrymandered maps. Republicans have pointed to Illinois' map to argue they are within their rights to redraw lines in Texas. Meanwhile, Republicans, who have trifectas in 23 states, have more ground to gain in a redistricting tug-of-war. GOP lawmakers in states such as Missouri and Florida have also expressed openness to new maps. Ohio, where lawmakers must redraw their maps under state redistricting laws, could also yield additional seats. 'There's not a scenario where we don't have more seats that we can go flip than they do,' a Republican close to the GOP redistricting process told CNN. Those hurdles haven't stopped Democratic leaders from pushing ahead. 'I'll look at our laws, I'll find a path because we cannot take this lying down,' New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference Monday. 'We can't surrender when we have a fight for our lives.' Here's what Democratic leaders say they plan to do to respond to Texas' redistricting push: If voters approve Newsom's plan, California would retain its independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and new maps would stay in place only through 2030. Democrats hold 43 of the state's 52 congressional districts. A new map could endanger California Republicans such as Rep. Kevin Kiley, who said he would introduce legislation Tuesday prohibiting mid-cycle redistricting. 'Gavin Newsom is trying to subvert the will of voters and do lasting damage to democracy in California,' Kiley said in a press release, adding that his bill would 'stop a damaging redistricting war from breaking out across the country.' Other Republicans whose seats might be targeted include Reps. David Valadao, Darrell Issa, Doug LaMalfa and Ken Calvert, according to the sources. In New York, where legislative maps are drawn by an independent commission, Democratic leaders introduced a proposed constitutional amendment last week that would allow lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional map mid-decade if another state does so first. At best, New York Democrats wouldn't be able to change their maps until the 2028 election. The measure would need to pass in two consecutive legislative sessions and be approved by voters in 2027 before state lawmakers could redraw their congressional maps. Illinois' maps are drawn by the legislature and approved by the governor, which means Democrats in the state have a clear path to redraw their maps. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has expressed openness to redistricting, saying lawmakers must put 'everything on the table.' But the state's maps are already heavily tilted toward the party. Illinois' 2021 redistricting effort shifted additional seats to Democrats, who now hold 14 of the state's 17 congressional districts. Maryland House of Delegates Majority Leader David Moon has introduced legislation that would automatically redraw the state's map if another state redraws their own outside of the once-a-decade custom. But Maryland lawmakers face a similar dilemma as Illinois: While they don't face the same procedural hurdles as states like New York, they don't have much room to maneuver either. Democrats already control seven of the state's eight districts. It's also not clear a new map would be approved. A Maryland judge threw out a Democrat-backed congressional map drawn in 2021 that would have threatened the state's lone Republican lawmaker, Rep. Andy Harris. Harris won his 2024 reelection bid with nearly 60% of the vote. In New Jersey, where Democrats hold nine of 12 districts, they would need to change the state constitution to do off-cycle redistricting and disempower the state's bipartisan commission. In Colorado, the state legislature asked voters to approve the formation of an independent redistricting commission in 2018. The measure passed overwhelmingly. Additionally, the state Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that redistricting can happen only after the census. And in Washington state, it would take Republican votes to reconvene the state's bipartisan redistricting commission. It's unlikely Democrats in the state, who control eight of 10 districts, would be able to turn one more seat blue. 'There's literally no way to get the results they are talking about before the 2026 election,' Washington's state Senate majority leader, Jamie Pedersen, told the Washington Standard. 'We have already done our share to get Democrats in the House. There's no juice to squeeze in the lemon here.' CNN's Fredreka Schouten contributed to this report.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hochul vows to explore ‘every option' to redraw NY House maps
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) vowed Monday to explore 'every option' to redraw the state's congressional maps in response to Texas's midcycle redistricting push. 'There's a phrase, 'You have to fight fire with fire.' That is a true statement of how we're feeling right now,' Hochul told reporters alongside New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D) and several Texas Democrats. 'And as I've said, another overused but applicable phrase, 'All's fair in love and war.' That's why I'm exploring with our leaders every option to redraw our state congressional lines as soon as possible,' she continued, noting state legislative leaders were 'on board.' 'We're already working on a legislative process, reviewing our legal strategies, and we'll do everything in our power to stop this brazen assault,' she added. Texas state House Democrats fled their state Sunday to deny Republicans a quorum — the minimum number of lawmakers needed in order to conduct business — blocking the House from passing a map that would offer the GOP five additional pickup opportunities. The current maps in Texas already given Republicans a strong partisan advantage. A Texas House panel had advanced the maps last week, teeing up a vote on the House floor. Texas Democrats traveled to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, all of which are Democratic-led states. Speaking to reporters Sunday night, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said the state would protect Texas Democrats who are facing arrest — in addition to incurring a daily $500 fine — over breaking quorum. New York, where House maps were struck down by a court in 2022 for giving a partisan advantage to Democrats, faces a conundrum over middecade redistricting. For one, the Empire State uses a redistricting commission to draw its maps, though they are subject to the state Legislature's approval. A second issue is that any amendment to the state constitution requires it to be passed in two consecutive sessions before going before voters, meaning New York Democrats wouldn't be able to change their maps in time for the 2026 cycle. Hochul acknowledged those constraints, saying, 'it is not the timeline that I would have preferred.' 'We're going to also look at litigation strategies,' Hochul said. 'We're in close conversations about options there, and so I would say this — we're considering all options right now.' Hochul notably agreed with the idea that the redistricting commission approved by voters in 2014 should be disbanded or changed. 'I'm tired of fighting this fight with my hand tied behind my back,' she said. New York is not the only Democratic-led state to explore options over midcycle redistricting in response to Texas's move — California is also weighing several avenues over how to ultimately change its House map. Florida is doing so, too, on the GOP side. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
