Andrew Cuomo is trying to hang on to support for a general election bid

Politico

02-07-2025

Cuomo received the backing of nearly every major union in the primary, which he used to generate an aura of inevitability. He then relied heavily on labor for his get-out-the-vote operation.
Adams dropped out of the primary in April on account of a criminal bribery case that was dismissed at the behest of President Donald Trump. He is now running in the general election on an independent ballot line. Fellow independent Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor, and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa — a perennial candidate who got 28 percent of the vote four years ago — will also be on the ballot. Cuomo's name, meanwhile, will appear on an independent line regardless of whether he mounts an active challenge.
Mamdani defeated Cuomo after three rounds of ranked-choice voting, 56 percent to 44 percent. Cuomo's campaign has credited Mamdani with expanding the electorate to include first-time voters and young people who cannot normally be counted on to cast a ballot in a primary.
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi in a statement said general election voters won't embrace Adams' Trump alliance or Mamdani's hard-left politics.
'Everyone is entitled to their own political opinion — we understand President Trump supports Eric Adams, and do not believe socialism is the answer,' Azzopardi said. 'Most New Yorkers are not Trumpers, and most New Yorkers are not socialists — the majority lies in the middle. We will continue to assess the current situation in the best interest of the people of the city of New York.'
Cuomo's general election pitch, in part, is that a November electorate will be different than a closed party primary. A general election will turn out independents and Republicans who could be persuaded to vote for the moderate former governor over Mamdani and Adams, Cuomo's team has asserted. Ranked-choice voting, which Cuomo did not utilize as a strategy after being endorsed by fellow mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos, will not be used in the general election.
Adams and Cuomo share a base that includes Black New Yorkers, Jewish voters and blue-collar people who live outside Manhattan. In one phone call with a state lawmaker, Cuomo acknowledged Adams' presence in the race would make a November victory harder to achieve.