NEW YORK — Scandal-fatigued voters will give former Gov. Andrew Cuomo a frosty reception if he runs for mayor to exchange the indicted Eric Adams, a strategist for one among his potential Democratic rivals wrote Tuesday in a memorandum.
The memo from Alyssa Cass, an adviser to ex-New York Metropolis Comptroller Scott Stringer, particulars vulnerabilities that would hinder a Cuomo comeback — a bid-rigging scandal that roiled the Cuomo administration a decade in the past, and his administration of nursing house residents throughout Covid, as an illustration.
“Earlier than Cuomo even dips his toe into the race, the electoral water is ice chilly,” Cass wrote within the memo.
Cuomo has been weighing a bid for mayor during the last 12 months as Adams’ authorized troubles have deepened. And he might be a robust candidate, significantly in a nonpartisan particular election that might be triggered by an early Adams departure, given his near-universal identify identification with voters.
Cuomo’s potential power has alarmed New York Democrats who don’t want him again in public workplace and are within the early levels of organizing towards him.
However his baggage would complicate a political resurgence, Cass predicted.
Stringer — who’s fundraising for a mayoral run however has but to formally enter the race — and his fellow Democrats looking for the social gathering’s nomination might financial institution on corruption fatigue weighing on voters as Adams is preventing a five-count federal corruption indictment.
And that exhaustion with Adams — who’s accused of accepting journey advantages and marketing campaign donations from the Turkish authorities — is on the coronary heart of the argument towards Cuomo’s enchantment with voters.
The memo notably doesn’t embrace the sexual harassment complaints leveled towards Cuomo, which in the end led to his resignation three years in the past. Stringer himself has been accused of sexual harassment. Each males have denied any wrongdoing.
However, the missive is a sweeping listing of pitfalls that would hobble a possible comeback bid by Cuomo, a former three-term governor who resigned amid a torrent of scandal — points that Stringer allies imagine might be essentially the most salient with voters.
The memo gives a possible roadmap for Stringer — or any of the candidates who would run towards Cuomo — to defeat the scandal-plagued ex-governor.
Controversies that dogged Cuomo throughout his decade in workplace — together with a profitable guide deal concerning the pandemic, his dealing with of nursing house insurance policies within the early weeks of the general public well being disaster and the stewardship of town’s mass transit system — might be sufficient for voters to not need him again in workplace, Cass wrote within the memo.
The memo additionally outlined points that embroiled Cuomo earlier in his Albany tenure, together with an anti-corruption fee he established to research the Legislature, however later shuttered when it started to probe his personal administration.
And the memo takes intention at Cuomo’s personal dwelling association. The previous governor has mentioned he has an residence somewhere in New York City; he stays registered to vote in suburban Westchester County.
“New Yorkers deserve higher than a egocentric suburbanite solely trying to rehabilitate his picture and resurrect his political profession,” Cass wrote.
The memo might additionally function a reminder to left-leaning voters of strife through the Cuomo years. The previous governor tangled with progressive activists whereas he was in workplace over taxes and spending within the price range.
Cuomo spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi in a press release referred to as the memo’s findings “untimely” and listed the previous governor’s accomplishments in workplace — together with the legalization of same-sex marriage, abortion protections, stricter gun legal guidelines, paid household go away and quite a few, large-scale infrastructure initiatives.
“After promoting his soul to the DSA 4 years in the past throughout a mayoral run that blew up in his face, Scott appears misplaced and is banging pots and pans collectively as laborious as he can in a determined bid for consideration,” Azzopardi mentioned, referring to the far-left Democratic Socialists of America. “I’m embarrassed for him.”
A Marist School ballot released last week found 55 p.c of voters don’t want Cuomo to run for mayor. Nonetheless, Cuomo fared higher with Black voters within the survey.
Cuomo’s political group additionally believes there’s a silver lining within the ballot, which discovered 30 p.c of voters need Adams to serve out the rest of his time period. If he does go away workplace, Cuomo allies anticipate lots of these New Yorkers to switch their assist to Cuomo, a like-minded average with sturdy ties in Black communities.
Cuomo has indicated he wouldn’t run for mayor if Adams remains to be within the race, seemingly as a result of they share a base of working-class voters of colour.
If Adams have been to depart workplace, the emptiness would set off a particular election inside 90 days. The race would even be open to all registered voters and Cuomo might have a bonus with New Yorkers not registered in a celebration.
