NYC mayor polls: Andrew Cuomo's backers say ‘can't run a loser' after crushing loss; Will he exit or run as independent?

Mint

9 hours ago

New York City Mayoral Election: Andrew Cuomo is likely to drop out of the mayoral race following a crushing defeat to socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, sources told The New York Post. Insiders close to the Cuomo camp said on Wednesday that he is highly unlikely to continue as an independent in the general election, seeing little chance of winning.
Sources close to the development said the general consensus is that he is 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.'
The former governor blew a huge polling lead and burned through $25 million on a lacklustre campaign. However, his effort failed to excite New Yorkers, unlike Mamdani's energetic run. After Cuomo's defeat in the Democratic mayoral primary to left-wing underdog Zohran Mamdani, his supporters are now considering redirecting their backing either to Eric Adams or potentially to an independent candidate.
'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.'
However, Cuomo insisted, as reported by The Post, he was waiting to see the full results of the ranked-choice voting contest before making an official decision.
'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.
'It's one step at a time, and we haven't even gotten all the numbers from last night.'
While Mamdani enters the general election as the favourite in a city dominated by Democrats, the race is more unsettled than usual.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, is running as an independent after his popularity plummeted following his indictment on corruption charges and the subsequent decision by Trump's Justice Department to drop the case. Cuomo also retains the ability to run as an independent, though he has not yet decided whether to do so.
The Republican candidate is Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels. Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor, is running as an independent, as well.