Andrew Cuomo to remain in NYC mayoral race, but with a catch

Andrew Cuomo has decided to stay in this year’s New York City mayoral race — but there’s a caveat.

After suffering a bruising loss to Zohran Mamdani in last month’s Democratic mayoral primary, Cuomo announced Monday he will mount an independent bid in November’s general election, vowing he’s “in it to win it.”

“As my grandfather used to say, when you get knocked down, learn the lesson and pick yourself back up and get in the game, and that is what I’m going to do,” Cuomo said in a kickoff video posted on social media.

Still, Cuomo left the door open to the possibility of bowing out of the November contest in a couple months.

In an emailed message to supporters provided to the Daily News, Cuomo confirmed he has accepted a proposal, first floated by independent mayoral hopeful Jim Walden, to commission a poll in September testing the strengths of each of the remaining mayoral candidates in head-to-head matchups with Mamdani.

Under that proposal, whichever candidate performs best would stay in the race, while the rest would drop out, a strategy designed to ensure there are no “spoilers” who could “guarantee Mamdani’s election,” Cuomo wrote.

“Our common goal must be to run the strongest candidate against Mr. Mamdani,” the ex-governor wrote.

Cuomo’s campaign didn’t immediately provide details on who will conduct the September poll.

But it looks unlikely any of the remaining mayoral candidates, besides Walden, will actually play ball with Cuomo’s proposal.

Mayor Adams, who dropped out of the Democratic primary amid fallout from his federal corruption indictment, has made clear he will stay in November’s race no matter what, running on an independent line.

Asked Monday about Cuomo’s proposed path forward, Adams called the ex-gov “a double-digit loser” who already “had his opportunity” in the primary.

“To even suggest that Mayor Adams, with his record of delivering for working-class New Yorkers and bringing the city to where we are today post-COVID, should somehow agree to a fakakta poll suggests either a delusion or arrogance. Maybe both,” said Frank Carone, Adams’ reelection campaign chairman and longtime political confidant. “Either way, it will not happen!”

Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa, meantime, has said only death would prevent him from running in November’s election.

Despite resigning as governor in 2021 amid sexual and professional misconduct accusations he denies, Cuomo has since the June 24 primary continued to poll as the strongest candidate to take on Mamdani in the general election.

A new survey from Data for Progress released Monday showed Mamdani winning the contest with 40% support, compared with Cuomo’s 24%, Adams’ 15%, Sliwa’s 14% and Walden’s 1%.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist who trounced Cuomo in the primary by a 12 percentage point margin, would likely benefit from Adams, Cuomo and Sliwa staying in the race, as they would fracture the city’s moderate and conservative voting blocs.

Speaking at a Monday afternoon press conference in Midtown where he was endorsed by the American Federation of Musicians Local 802 union, Mamdani said he welcomes “everyone to this race” and called Cuomo’s decision to stay in it a sign he’s still “struggling to come to terms” with the primary results.

“While Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams trip over themselves to make deals in backrooms with billionaires, we are focused on fighting for working New Yorkers,” Mamdani said, a reference to recent meetings the two men have taken with business leaders worried about the prospect of the socialist running City Hall.

Cuomo has faced criticism for running a lackluster primary campaign during which he largely stayed out of public view while relying heavily on a super PAC to spend tens of millions of dollars on ads and other messaging for him.

In his email to supporters, Cuomo admitted he “made mistakes” during the primary in not being “aggressive enough in communicating my vision for a fairer, safer more affordable New York.”

“In the next several months, I will run a very different kind of campaign. I am putting together a new team, communications plan, strategy, and field operation,” he wrote.

“And most important, I will be out there, every day in every corner of this city, meeting you where you are to talk about the struggles you face, and the solutions to address them.”

Mamdani won the primary after running a highly energetic campaign centered on affordability, deploying both an extensive street operation and a social media strategy that appeared to resonate with many younger voters.

Mamdani made big promises on the primary trail to freeze rent for stabilized tenants, drastically expand subsidized child care and make public buses free while paying for it all by jacking up taxes on millionaires and corporations.

Cuomo and other moderate critics of Mamdani have lambasted his promises as unrealistic, along with saying his positions on Gaza and Palestinians smack of antisemitism.

“I do not believe that New York City voters affirmatively voted for a socialist form of government that is hostile to business and economic growth, and I do believe that Zohran Mamdani poses a serious threat to the future of the city we love,” Cuomo wrote to supporters. “I will give it my all to stop him.”

Originally Published: July 14, 2025 at 12:01 PM EDT