Former governor Andrew Cuomo announced his bid for mayor of New York on Saturday, ending more than a year of speculation. For months, polls by the Manhattan Institute and others have shown Cuomo dominating beleaguered incumbent Eric Adams and the crowded field of lesser-known Democratic primary candidates. The primary campaign between now and June 24 will revolve around the new frontrunner, a New York political titan.
As governor, Cuomo developed a reputation for building—and bullying. His tenure saw the replacement of the crumbling Kosciuszko and Tappan Zee Bridges, both completed on-time and on-budget using design-build procurement, an innovation in New York. As governor, Cuomo used his inordinate power during the annual budget process to force lawmakers to adopt most or all of his policy priorities. Strong-arming the legislature also allowed him to sign budgets by (or immediately after) the nominal April 1 deadline, unlike his predecessors, who let the process drag into summer. Having left office in August 2021 over allegations of sexual misconduct, Cuomo can distance himself from the years of weak governance that have followed and burnish his record with a nostalgic sheen.
Even before the unprecedented federal indictment of Mayor Adams, voters felt troubled by New York City’s anemic economic recovery, years-long migrant crisis, soaring cost of living, and elevated crime and disorder. Since Adams’s indictment some five months ago, the city has experienced extraordinary political turbulence, including the election and inauguration of President Donald Trump, the attempted dismissal of the federal corruption charges against Adams, and Washington’s announced cancellation of congestion pricing. The chaos works to Cuomo’s benefit.
Start with Trump. Cuomo’s tough-guy image gives New York City’s overwhelmingly Democratic voting population a chance to elect someone who can stand up to the president. Despite knowing one another for decades, the two Queens natives had a contentious relationship during their previous terms in office. Cuomo’s relative policy moderation also offers New Yorkers potentially constructive resistance to Trump, without the excesses of a far-left agenda that would harm the city’s economy and public safety.
Cuomo’s sharp political instincts were on display in the 17-minute video announcing his campaign. By decrying the city’s diminished quality of life, uncontrolled migration, mentally disturbed assailants, random violence, grimy streets, and anti-Semitic demonstrations, Cuomo anchored his campaign on clearly winning political issues. In contrast to the fatuous progressive proposals from some of his opponents, Cuomo is vowing to restore order and normalcy to the city.
Cuomo is thus running against Adams for the title of responsible and competent moderate. The scandal-tarred incumbent, whose administration lost four deputy mayors two weeks ago, is no longer the only broadly known moderate Democrat in the race. Cuomo’s entry will let many of the mayor’s supporters break ranks, especially unions and key black and Hispanic leaders alienated by Adams’s overtures to Trump.
After four years of an Adams administration that struggled to deliver substantial improvements in crime and quality of life, Cuomo’s campaign hinges on convincing voters that his hallmark competency will hold good in the city. He’s already found takers for this message in the carpenters’ and painters’ unions, which endorsed him on Sunday. The powerful 1199SEIU health care workers’ union is purportedly planning to endorse him, too, which would solidify the perception that Cuomo is unstoppable.
But the former governor will have to answer for his past faults, including the sexual harassment accusations still winding their way through court, the Covid-19 nursing-home scandal, and his signing bail and discovery reforms into law in 2019. Over the weekend, his primary opponents—including the mayor—attacked him on these and other grounds. Likely Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa recently called out the former governor’s 2017 executive order limiting state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. His signing the law to end cash bail for most crimes is another political liability, as 56 percent of polled voters support repealing bail reform. Many families who lost loved ones after the state directed nursing homes to accept Covid-positive patients also oppose Cuomo’s bid for mayor. And time will tell whether the Left can mount a united challenge by getting voters to select progressive candidates but exclude Cuomo on their ranked-choice ballots.
If voters look past his baggage and give Cuomo a second chance to deliver on the city’s basics, he may defy the New York mayoralty’s long-standing reputation as a political dead-end job. Rudy Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg, and Bill de Blasio—not to mention numerous historical predecessors—suffered crushing defeats in their presidential campaigns. As Democrats contend with Trump, they need to distinguish their vision both from MAGA and from the leftist identity and gender politics that contributed to their stinging defeats last year. Cuomo’s broad name recognition, track record, and experience as former HUD secretary, governor, and mayor could open a lane to the White House in 2028.
In 1977, Mario Cuomo ran for mayor of a New York City in shambles. He lost, but the campaign elevated his profile and planted the seeds for his eventual three-term governorship. Nearly five decades later, the Big Apple may be ripe for his son to pick.
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