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Politico
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
Working Families Party picks Mamdani first in ranked-choice endorsements for NYC mayor
NEW YORK — The Working Families Party ranked state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in the top slot for its mayoral primary slate Friday night, following hours of closed-door deliberations. The progressive organization picked City Comptroller Brad Lander second, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams third and state Sens. Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos fourth and fifth in the hopes of defeating frontrunner Andrew Cuomo. 'The polls and fundraising numbers tell a clear story about who is best poised to defeat Cuomo — that candidate is Zohran,' New York WFP co-directors Ana María Archila and Jasmine Gripper said in a statement. The party endorsed four candidates in late March, but did not rank them. The idea at the time was to eventually coalesce behind the person best poised to beat the former governor. That pronouncement led to speculation before Friday's endorsement vote whether the party would only anoint one person or go with a ranked slate. Democratic voters can pick up to five candidates in ranked order ahead of the June 24 primary. While Mamdani has been polling second to Cuomo — with an Emerson College survey this week placing him within 9 points of the former governor in the final round — Lander has a long history with the organization. He has been a longtime WFP member and was aligned with the group on legislation he pursued during his time in the Council. With the progressive standard bearer's position solidified, eyes are now turning to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who carries significant heft in New York City Democratic primaries and has yet to endorse with under four weeks until voters head to the polls. 'The Working Families Party has fought for a more affordable New York for decades and I am honored to lead their slate as their first choice for mayor,' Mamdani said in a statement. Lander's camp, meanwhile, expressed gratitude for the second-place nod. 'This is now a clear three-person race, and Brad is the only candidate with the bod progressive vision, the record and chops to actually get it done,' spokesperson Dora Pekec said in a statement.
New York Post
a day ago
- Business
- New York Post
Andrew Cuomo NYC mayoral campaign dealt another blow, loses out on $1.3M total over off-limits ad from PAC
Andrew Cuomo was dealt another blow by the city's campaign finance watchdog, which dinged him another $675,000 Friday over suspicions his mayoral campaign improperly coordinated with a super PAC. The New York City Campaign Finance Board has now denied the former governor a total of $1.3 million in public matching funds — which could hamper the frontrunner as the June 24 Democratic primary approaches and surging socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani nips at his heels. The ex-gov first lost out on around $622,000 in matching funds last month when the CBC said it believed a TV ad was created by 'Fix the City' — the super PAC supporting his candidacy — in coordination with his campaign. Advertisement But the PAC continued to run the potentially off-limits ad, leading to the latest sanctions. 'Shortly after (the last CFB meeting), Fix the City reported spending an additional $675,419.75 to continue airing the same ad,' said board member Richard Davis at the Friday morning meeting. 3 Former Governor Andrew Cuomo lost out on 675K, In the latest round of matching funds. Facebook/Andrew Cuomo Advertisement 'The board continued an investigation on this matter and, based on the findings thus far, continues to believe that the expenditure was not independent of the Cuomo campaign,' he said. The board also opted to dock that money from Cuomo's spending cap — reducing the amount he's able to spend on his own campaign advertisements to around $6.7 million from nearly $8 million. The limitation comes at possibly the worst time for Cuomo's political comeback bid, with just over three weeks to go to the primary, and Mamdani closing the gap between the two to single digits, according to a PIX11/Emerson poll this week. A source close to the thrice-elected Democratic gov's team told The Post the campaign's goal has been to 'survive' the primary by banking on Cuomo's name recognition, rather than try to mobilize a new voter base like some of the lefty candidates. Advertisement 3 Former Governor Andrew Cuomo's lead in the primary has been decreasing according to recent polls. Robert Miller Cuomo will still receive $1.3 million in matching funds, bringing his campaign total to around $7.3 million, according to his team. At the same time, Mamdani, who hit his fundraising max in March, has roughly $4.5 million on hand as the primary hits the final stretch. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who had yet to qualify for the city's generous one-to-eight matching funds program, received the highest payout Friday, bringing in over $2 million for her campaign. Advertisement The payment is a much-needed injection of cash into the speaker's campaign that has been handicapped by her late entry into the crowded field of Democrats, where she has so far failed to break out. 3 the ad by 'Fix the City' was found to have not operated independently from Cuomo's campaign. Fix The City Fellow mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie, who initially sounded the alarm on the allegedly coordinated Cuomo ad to CFB officials last month, lauded the board's move Friday. 'I applaud the Campaign Finance Board for heeding my calls to investigate Andrew Cuomo's campaign finances, and fining him for breaking the rules. While this news is troubling, it is not surprising,' the state senator said of the continued probe in a statement. Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo's camp, slammed the 'unfounded position' of the board and brushed off any suggestion of financial concerns. 'We look forward to making that clear and receiving the full matching funds to which the campaign is entitled. In the meantime, our campaign's momentum continues unabated.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NYC Campaign Finance Board withholds $1.3 million in matching funds from Cuomo, awards Adrienne Adams $2 million
NEW YORK — New York City's Campaign Finance Board dealt a blow to mayoral frontrunner Andrew Cuomo on Friday, withholding $1.3 million in matching funds from him — but gave a big lifeline to his opponent Adrienne Adams, clearing her for $2.4 million in critical public cash as the Democratic mayoral primary election looms weeks away. Adams, the City Council's speaker and a moderate Democrat with appeal among Black, outer-borough voters, is seen as having the potential to chip away at some of Cuomo's base, especially as her standing in the polls has increased lately. The infusion of matching funds, her first this election cycle, allows her to start spending heavily on things like campaign ads in the final weeks before the June 24 primary. 'With these funds, the campaign anticipates an aggressive, on-the-ground and over-the-airwaves blitz in the final stretch as momentum continues to build for Adrienne's effective leadership,' Adrienne Adams campaign spokeswoman Lupe Topp-Medina said. After voting to award the speaker $2.4 million in matching funds, the board members revealed they will withhold another $675,419 in public cash from Cuomo due to their suspicion that his campaign improperly coordinated with Fix the City, a super PAC boosting his run, on a television ad it aired earlier this month. That comes on top of more than $620,000 it earlier this month denied Cuomo for the same reason, meaning he's now being deprived of nearly $1.3 million in public money. 'The board continued an investigation into this matter, and based on the findings of this investigations thus far, continues to find reason that the expenditure was not independent,' board member Richard Davis said of the ad. Still, the CFB also voted to approve a fresh infusion of $1.76 million for Cuomo's campaign. The $1.3 million he's being denied corresponds to how much money Fix the City spent on the ad found to be the product of improper coordination between the campaign and the PAC. Earlier this month, the board gave Cuomo another $1.5 million in matching cash, meaning he has now raked in more than $3 million on top of the $3.9 million he has raised in private cash. That puts him close to the $7.9 million spending cap on the primary. The board's decision to give Speaker Adams matching funds could not have come at a more critical time for her campaign. While Adams' 11th hour mayoral bid has gained some momentum, with endorsements from Attorney General Leticia James and powerful municipal workers union DC37, she was denied matching funds at the board meeting earlier this month for not yet reaching the threshold, making it difficult to get the campaign fully up and running. Whether or not the speaker received matching funds was a key question heading into Friday's board meeting. If she didn't qualify Friday, she would not have gotten another shot until June 20, just four days before the primary. The paperwork she submitted in the previous filing period to the CFB was riddled with errors, with about 70% of the claims the speaker submitted rejected as 'invalid' because of paperwork snafus. Her team said this week they were confident she'd receive the money after raising nearly $400,000 in the latest fundraising period. Without the matching funds, Adams has so far been unable to significantly ramp up her campaign with TV ads. Spokespeople for Cuomo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The matching funds program is designed to put more weight on local campaign contributions by giving an 8-to-1 match for donations of up to $250 from city residents. Mayor Eric Adams sued the CFB on Tuesday for repeatedly denying him matching funds for his re-election bid in part because of concerns about his federal corruption indictment on campaign finance fraud charges. Adams, who has dropped out of the Democratic primary and is instead seeking reelection as an independent in November's general election, said in the suit those denials are in part the reason he's not running in the Democratic primary.
New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
Cuomo Loses Another $675,000 Over Suspected Super PAC Coordination
Andrew M. Cuomo was denied another $675,000 in public matching funds on Friday, as the New York City Campaign Finance Board said it continued to believe his mayoral campaign had illicitly coordinated with a super PAC. The penalty was yet another avoidable setback for Mr. Cuomo. He has now been penalized nearly $1.3 million in total, a significant loss of public funds that could have been spent in the final weeks before the June 24 Democratic primary. The sanction came as the board doled out the final tranche of matching funds before early voting began in roughly two weeks. Public polling shows that Mr. Cuomo, the former governor of New York who resigned in scandal in 2021, continues to lead, with a handful of more liberal alternatives vying to prevent his return to office. Several of them were awarded with hundreds of thousands of dollars in matching funds on Friday, multiplying what they had raised in private contributions. The most notable recipient was Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker and a late entrant into the race, who had yet to qualify for matching funds. Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who is polling second behind Mr. Cuomo and has already reached the city's maximum funding limit, had urged his supporters to contribute to Ms. Adams's campaign to help her meet the funding threshold. She walked away on Friday with $2 million, an infusion large enough to stage a television ad campaign before Primary Day. 'With these funds, the campaign anticipates an aggressive, on-the-ground and over-the-airwaves blitz in the final stretch, as momentum continues to build for Adrienne's effective leadership,' said Lupe Todd-Medina, her spokeswoman. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Campaign board fines Andrew Cuomo $675,000; awards rival Adrienne Adams millions
NEW YORK — New York City mayoral candidate Adrienne Adams on Friday qualified for $2.4 million in public matching funds Friday, while front-runner Andrew Cuomo was hit with a $675,000 penalty for improperly coordinating with a super PAC. The news out of the New York City Campaign Finance Board meeting was critical for Adams, whose late entrance into the race has been hampered by her low name recognition and insufficient funds. She's the only major candidate in the race yet to air TV ads ahead of the June 24 Democratic primary. As of last week, Adams had raised $521,000 and transferred $219,000 from a previous campaign account. She'd spent $445,528, leaving her with just $293,994 — not nearly enough to air ads. Friday's cash infusion gives her the funds necessary to do so. The board meanwhile fined the former governor for the second time this campaign cycle, charging that his campaign improperly coordinated with a super PAC backing him. The board fined Cuomo $622,056 two weeks ago over a commercial the PAC aired on Cuomo's behalf, which the board suspected was created via improper coordination with the campaign. On Friday, board member Richard Davis noted the PAC, Fix the City, spent a further $675,000 to continue airing the ad in question even after the first penalty. As a result, the board withheld that amount in public funds from the Cuomo team and also counted it against his spending cap — another embarrassing setback for a candidate running on his management bona fides. 'The board will continue to investigate the issue,' he said. The CFB's decision brings the total fines levied against Cuomo's campaign for improper coordination to around $1.3 million, a significant sum that will hamper his ability to run a fully functional campaign. Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi disputed the board's findings and maintained the campaign has had no improper contact with Fix the City. "We look forward to making that clear and receiving the full matching funds to which the campaign is entitled," he said in a statement.
