Andrew Cuomo to drop NYC mayoral bid after blistering primary defeat to Zohran Mamdani: ‘Can't run a loser'

New York Post

25-06-2025

Cuo-no more.
Andrew Cuomo will drop out of the mayor's race after his humiliating defeat against socialist Zohran Mamdani, sources told The Post — as the ex-governor's donors and backers desert him and weigh whether to boost Eric Adams.
Several insiders close to the Cuomo camp said Wednesday that the thrice-elected Democrat will almost certainly not run in the general election as an independent candidate, seeing no obvious path to victory.
'The understanding is he's not running, every indication is that he doesn't want to do it and the money wouldn't be there even if he did want to do it,' said one of the sources, a leader from a prominent union.
Cuomo's bruised backers are eyeing shifting their support — to Adams or even an independent candidate — after the former gov faceplanted in Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary to dark-horse left-wing hopeful Mamdani.
But Cuomo still insisted to The Post on Wednesday that he was waiting to see the full results of the ranked-choice voting contest before making an official decision about November.
3 Andrew Cuomo admitted defeat in Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary.
AFP via Getty Images
'I'm looking at the numbers from last night. I want to get an idea of what the general election looks like and what landscape looks like, and what the issues are, and then make the decision,' he said outside of his home in Midtown East.
'It's one step at a time, and we haven't even gotten all the numbers from last night.'
Cuomo's stunning admitted defeat to Mamdani has sparked frenzied talks among business and union leaders about whether to back the untested presumptive Democratic nominee or rally behind Adams — who is running on an independent line to be called either 'End AntiSemitism' or 'Safe and Affordable.'
One New York City business insider said it's unlikely the well-to-do will get behind Mamdani — who has vowed to get taxes raised on businesses and billionaires to pay for his $10 billion in proposed freebies.
But whether Adams receives their backing is also an open question, especially if Hizzoner's abysmal polling doesn't improve as the general race heats up.
'I think if Eric Adams is still polling awful, there has to be a reckoning,' the insider ominously warned.
Two real estate sources said they weren't sure they would back Adams because of how poor his polling was — and several meetings are expected to take place over the coming days among business industry leaders.
'You can't make something out of nothing,' one of the sources quipped.
Billionaire hedge fund titan Bill Ackman — who had backed Cuomo — is preparing to support Adams and hopes other candidates drop out to clear the lane in the fight against Mamdani.
Other business leaders told Post columnist Charles Gasparino that Adams, despite being politically tainted goods after his controversially dismissed corruption case, may well be their best option after Cuomo whiffed the primary.
'He got destroyed — our best shot is Adams,' said one prominent city business leader about Cuomo.
3 Zohran Mamdani is the presumptive Democratic mayoral nominee.
Stephen Yang
But one well-placed business insider said that well-heeled commercial leaders are unlikely to slam the door on Mamdani just yet by getting behind another candidate.
'It's a wait and see,' the source told The Post. 'He does deserve the opportunity, the benefit of the doubt that he will work with business. He does deserve that. He hasn't said he won't. I think jumping to conclusions would hurt business at this point.'
A Democratic source also told The Post that two unions are weighing throwing their weight behind Adams or Mamdani — but not a potential longshot independent mayoral bid by Cuomo.
Another source from a prominent union predicted Mamdani will reap support from labor groups that had backed Cuomo.
3 Mamdani's win created a political shockwave.
Whether or not Adams or Mamdani scoops up the spoils, one thing is clear: Cuomo's comeback is toast.
The former governor is widely seen as squandering an enormous polling lead — and $25 million — through an ineffectual campaign that failed to spark excitement among New Yorkers, unlike Mamdani's vigorous operation.
The humiliating result — a 7-point deficit to Mamdani even before ranked-choice voting tabulations — is likely to imperil Cuomo's past promise to run as an independent on a 'Fight & Deliver' ballot line if defeated in the primary.
'Cuomo reaped what he sowed,' said Ken Frydman, a Democratic political operative.
Another Democratic source told The Post Tuesday night that an independent Cuomo run was DOA: 'You can't run a loser against a winner.'
Whether Cuomo continues his run will have an enormous impact on November's election, which is expected to be unusually competitive for New York City.
Mamdani will face Adams, lawyer Jim Walden is also running as an independent and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.
Local Democratic bigwigs are already signaling they'll consolidate their support behind Mamdani — despite the progressive Queens assemblyman's outsider status within his own party.
New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, who had backed former city Comptroller Scott Stringer in the Democratic primary, endorsed Mamdani, the New York Times first reported.
New York Democratic bigs Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries all congratulated Mamdani on his apparent victory, but notably didn't yet endorse him in November's election.
The floodgates of establishment support in the city appeared to be opened by Brooklyn Democratic Party leader Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who posted on X that she'd support Mamdani in the general election after backing Cuomo in the primary.
'To everyone who had reservations, I ask you to put them aside in this moment and come together for the future of our city and our party,' she wrote. 'Mamdani has show he is committed to representing all Democrats from every neighborhood and borough, as evidenced by his overwhelming victory in Brooklyn and across the city.
'Let's unite as Democrats for a brighter future for our city.'
— Additional reporting by Matthew Fischetti