Andrew Cuomo is dropping out of New York's mayoral election, a move that could help consolidate the moderate vote in the general election and derail socialist extremist Zohran Mamdani.
While some speculate that Cuomo might run in the fall as an independent, his team sees no viable path forward after his stunning loss to Mamdani in Tuesday's primary, the New York Post reported.
Cuomo insists that he is still weighing his options, but "several insiders close to the Cuomo camp" say the ex-governor sees the writing on the wall.
“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 union leader.
The former governor's decision is encouraging news to those who want to see Mamdani fail in November, even if it means re-electing incumbent mayor Eric Adams, a conservative Democrat who is running as an independent.
The primary received nationwide attention, pitting a tarnished idol of the Democratic establishment against a 33-year-old far-left progressive newcomer.
Cuomo came with a scandalous past - he resigned as governor of New York in 2021 over sexual harassment claims and was accused of covering up nursing home deaths during COVID - that cast a cloud over his comeback effort, and his campaign was widely seen as an ineffective response to Mamdani's youthful challenge.
The previously obscure Queens assemblyman, who was born in Uganda and was only naturalized in 2018, triumphed with lavish promises of free stuff and vacuous, Obama-like optimism.
With Mamdani on the verge of governing the nation's largest city, moderates and conservatives are clinging to hope that it's not too late to stop him and his radical agenda.
The conservative New York Post published an editorial pleading with Cuomo to drop out and shore up Adams, a moderate Democrat who has cooperated with the Trump administration on immigration.
If Cuomo does not run in the fall, it is expected that Adams would benefit by gaining some of Cuomo's supporters. Business leaders in the world's financial capital are considering backing Adams, although some have concerns about the mayor's popularity rating, the New York Post reported.
Adams' coziness with Trump has made him a reviled figure to many in New York, and he is persona non grata with the Democratic establishment. Several prominent Democrats rushed to congratulate Mamdani on Tuesday, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul and former president Bill Clinton, who had supported Cuomo in the primary.
GOP operatives are also looking at ways to convince Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa to end his campaign - including by lining up a job in the Trump administration, in order to get Adams on the Republican line, the New York Post reported.
