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Andrew Cuomo just isn’t dropping out of the race for New York Metropolis mayor.
Cuomo, the previous three-term New York State governor who resigned from workplace in 2021 amid a number of scandals, has determined, for now, to maneuver forward and run within the common election as an unbiased candidate, two sources confirmed to Fox Information on Thursday evening.
The announcement by Cuomo got here two days after progressive upstart Zohran Mamdani shocked the political world, as he topped Cuomo and the remainder of the 11-candidate area in closely blue New York Metropolis’s Democratic Social gathering mayoral major and took a giant step towards changing into the primary Muslim mayor of the nation’s most populous metropolis.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist state assemblyman from Queens who initially hailed from Uganda, captured 43.5% of the primary spherical unofficial major outcomes, with Cuomo at 36.4%.
REPUBLICANS USE MAMDANI BOMBSHELL VICTORY OVER CUOMO AS AMMUNITION TO BLAST DEMOCRATS AS EXTREMISTS
Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani takes the stage at his major election get together on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in New York. (AP Picture/Heather Khalifa)
Whereas he acknowledged Mamdani’s victory within the major, Cuomo left the door open to a November run as an unbiased candidate, which election guidelines in New York State allow.
“I wish to have a look at all of the numbers as they arrive in and analyze the rank alternative voting. I’ll then seek the advice of with my colleagues on what’s the finest path for me to assist the Metropolis of New York, as I’ve already certified to run for mayor on an unbiased line in November,” Cuomo mentioned in an announcement earlier this week.
Cuomo was going through an end-of-the-day Friday deadline for candidates who had already certified to run as independents to say no that unbiased poll line.
The previous governor will preserve his place that he already secured earlier this 12 months on the “Battle & Ship” poll line. However the sources mentioned that Cuomo had not dedicated but to operating an energetic common election marketing campaign by means of the summer season and into the autumn.
If Cuomo drops out of the race at a later date, his identify will keep on the final election poll.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a speech to supporters, acknowledges that rival Zohran Mamdani ‘gained’ the New York Metropolis Democratic Social gathering mayoral major, on June 24, 2025, in New York, N.Y. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox Information)
As soon as a longshot within the race, Mamdani closed the hole with Cuomo through the closing stretch of the first race due to an brisk marketing campaign that centered partially on New York Metropolis’s excessive price of residing.
Endorsements by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive rock star and New York Metropolis’s most outstanding chief on the left, and by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the progressive champion and two-time Democratic presidential nominee runner-up, helped Mamdani consolidate a lot of New York Metropolis’s Democratic Social gathering base
WHAT MAMDANI’S STUNNING PRIMARY VICTORY MEANS FOR DEMOCRATS NATIONWIDE
And Mamdani rode a wave of assist from youthful and first-time voters to catapult himself into first place.
“I would be the mayor for each New Yorker,” Mamdani mentioned in his victory speech. “Whether or not you voted for me, or for Governor Cuomo, or felt too disillusioned by a protracted damaged political system to vote in any respect, I’ll struggle for a metropolis that works for you, that’s inexpensive for you, that’s secure for you.”
Since not one of the candidates topped 50%, counting technically now heads into rounds of ranked-choice elimination. However the mixed totals of votes Mamdani and different aligned progressive candidates gained are more likely to be greater than sufficient to topple Cuomo because the ranked-choice tabulations start on July 1.
Cuomo, seeing the writing on the wall, admitted defeat and complimented Mamdani because the preliminary major outcomes poured in on Tuesday, telling supporters that “tonight is his evening. He deserved it. He gained.”
However Cuomo, in an interview on Wednesday with CBS New York, famous that “within the common election, extra folks come out to vote. It is a broader pool, if you’ll, of New Yorkers, extra consultant pool of New Yorkers.”
“There are about 5 million voters in New York Metropolis, there are about 8 million folks in New York Metropolis, and about 1 million folks vote within the Democratic major. So it is not, essentially, consultant of the town at giant,” the previous governor mentioned.
Former New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the frontrunner within the race for the New York Metropolis Democratic Social gathering mayoral major, speaks to a big crowd of union supporters, on major eve, June 23, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox Information)
And a ballot from a consulting and lobbying group that was aligned with an out of doors group supporting Cuomo launched a ballot on Thursday that urged Mamdani and Cuomo tied in a potential common election matchup, with incumbent Mayor Eric Adams – a Democrat who’s operating for re-election as an unbiased – and Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa far behind.
Sliwa, the founding father of the volunteer crime-fighting patrols often called the Guardian Angels, is the GOP nominee for a second straight election cycle. Additionally operating this November as an unbiased is former federal prosecutor Jim Walden.
Requested if Cuomo ought to drop out of the race, Mamdani mentioned Thursday in an interview with Fox Information affiliate WNYW in New York that “I believe there’s room for everybody as a result of, in the end, we’ll win it.”
The 67-year-old Cuomo has spent the previous 4 years preventing to clear his identify after 11 sexual harassment accusations, which he has repeatedly denied, pressured his resignation. He was additionally underneath investigation on the time for his dealing with of the COVID-19 pandemic amid allegations his administration vastly understated COVID-related deaths at state nursing properties.
Final month, the Justice Division opened a felony investigation into Cuomo after Republicans accused him of mendacity to Congress in regards to the selections he made as governor through the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuomo, due to his identify recognition, was the front-runner within the polls even earlier than he introduced his candidacy earlier this 12 months. However he ran a secure marketing campaign that relied on union assist, and he shied away from typically partaking with native or nationwide media.
Mamdani, in the meantime, made sensible use of social media platforms, together with TikTok, as he engaged the first voters. He proposed eliminating fares to journey New York Metropolis’s huge bus system, making CUNY (Metropolis College of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, providing “free childcare” for youngsters as much as age 5, and organising government-run grocery shops.
New York Mayor Eric Adams speaks throughout a marketing campaign launch rally at Metropolis Corridor, Thursday, June. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Picture/Yuki Iwamura) (AP Picture/Yuki Iwamura)
Adams, in formally launching his marketing campaign on Thursday on the steps of Metropolis Corridor, mentioned “this can be a metropolis not of socialism,” in an apparent jab at Mamdani’s proposals.
“There is no dignity in somebody providing you with all the pieces free of charge. There’s dignity in providing you with a job, so you’ll be able to present for your loved ones and the alternatives that you just deserve. This isn’t a metropolis of handouts. This can be a metropolis of fingers up.”
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Adams’ ballot numbers have been sinking even earlier than he was indicted final 12 months on 5 counts, which accused the mayor of bribery and fraud as a part of an alleged “long-running” scheme to personally revenue from contacts with international officers.
The mayor made repeated overtures to President Donald Trump, and the Justice Division earlier this 12 months dismissed the corruption fees, so Adams may doubtlessly work with the Trump administration on its unlawful immigration crackdown.
He introduced in early April that he would run for re-election as an unbiased and forgo the Democratic major.
