Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo will reportedly remain on the ballot for New York City mayor in November, despite losing the Democratic primary on Tuesday. Cuomo qualified independently under his own “Fight & Deliver” line in addition to seeking the Democratic nomination.
Cuomo lost to Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in the first round of the city’s ranked-choice Democratic primary earlier this week. While a second round of results is expected to be released next week, Cuomo conceded the race soon after, stating that his campaign would use the time to determine whether to remain in the race on his independent ballot line, which was launched to broaden his appeal in the general election.
Following the primary, the New York Post reported that Cuomo would exit the race, citing unnamed sources close to his campaign who said he saw no path to victory. However, CNN reported Thursday that other individuals familiar with the campaign say Cuomo intends to remain on the ballot, consistent with his earlier statements that he would assess his next steps after the final allocation of primary votes.
Cuomo has until the end of Friday to decide whether he will remain on the ballot under his independent nomination. If he withdraws after that deadline, his name will still appear on the ballot in November.
If Cuomo remains in the race, he will likely face Mamdani on the Democratic line, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, and several independent candidates, including incumbent Mayor Eric Adams. Adams has been collecting signatures to qualify for re-election under his own “EndAntiSemitism” and “Safe&Affordable” ballot lines. Additional independent candidates include former Assistant U.S. Attorney James Walden, Abbey Laurel-Smith, Kyle Gutierrez, and Jean Anglade.
Candidates have also qualified under the Working Families Party and the Conservative Party of New York State, though it’s unclear if either will appear on the general election ballot. The Working Families Party previously stated that its candidate, Gowri Krishna, was a placeholder in the event its preferred Democratic candidates lost. Since that slate included Mamdani, Krishna is expected to withdraw.
Meanwhile, Irene Estrada sought the Conservative Party’s nomination, though it doesn’t appear the party went through with a primary. However, at least one county affiliate has endorsed Sliwa following Tuesday’s results.
In a statement on Wednesday, party chair Gerard Kassar said the party would “do everything in its power” to oppose Mamdani’s candidacy, though he didn’t specify what that would entail. The state party declined to endorse Sliwa during his previous mayoral campaign in 2021, and it remains unclear whether it will do so this year.
I don’t get the sense that Cuomo will be doing any slugging. As I can best currently tell based on what I’ve read he won’t be either having his name removed from ballots or actively campaigning. If he actively does anything else as the general election gets closer, it currently seems that it’s more likely to be to get his supporters to turn out for someone else, which at the moment would seem to be Adams. There’s also the power of incumbency, which should not be underestimated, even though it can sometimes be outweighed.
It’s been a number of years since I’ve either spent enough time in or paid enough attention to NYC to say for sure, but my general impression is that the Democrats as a party have less power than they once did. That is, most winning politicians by far are still running as Democrats, with or without the endorsement of additional parties (which are sometimes created for the sole purpose of endorsing them personally and thus giving them more ballot lines), but the institution of the party itself is less effective at turning out votes, vote herders, etc. than back in the day. So, not getting their endorsement, or even not seeking it, are not nearly as devastating to a candidate’s chances if that candidate is already well known and well financed, as any incumbent mayor is.
It hasn’t been that long since NYC had independent and Republican mayors – Giuliani, Bloomberg. I’m rooting for Sliwa, but I don’t see him as having much of a chance to win or even come in second unless something highly unexpected develops, or probably several such things. My best guess is Adams followed by Mamdani. Maybe Mamdani can beat Adams, but as of now I’d bet on Adams. I don’t see Sliwa or Cuomo as an inactive candidate beating either one.
Unless Cuomo actually gets his name removed or at the very least actively campaigns for (probably) Adams in the stretch, Cuomo as an inactive candidate will most likely still unfortunately come in ahead of Sliwa as an active candidate, and as of now I see Cuomo remaining completely inactive as the highest probability , followed by actively campaigning for Adams but not removing his own name from ballots , followed by actively campaigning for someone other than Adams or himself but not removing his own name, followed by actively removing his name in addition to campaigning for anyone other than himself, followed by actively trying to stage a surprise comeback of his own in the general, in that order.
My further, admittedly fading, recollection is that actually removing one’s own ballot line after successfully petitioning to qualify it, accepting endorsement, being certified etc in NYC mayoral elections is difficult to effectively impossible, but the rules may be different in practice for different people – that’s often the case in real word politics, and all the more so in the Imperialist City and State of NY.
Mamdani is gonna watch Cuomo and Adams slug it out with each other while he reaps the benefits, most likely.