As Eric Adams Melts Down, Andrew Cuomo Forges Ahead

NEW YORK — As Eric Adams’ mayoralty unravels, Andrew Cuomo is fighting to secure the support of some of the incumbent’s most important allies.

The scandal-scarred Cuomo and his confidants have been making overtures to crucial New York City labor and business leaders, wooing Black and Orthodox Jewish voters and making inroads with the influential New York Post — amounting to a multi-pronged effort to capitalize on Adams’ pillars of political support as the mayor’s career withers.

The former New York governor is expected to enter the race within the next two weeks, as candidates begin to gather petitions for the June 24 Democratic primary and unions start holding endorsement screenings. Adams, whose legal case continues, has yet to establish a reelection campaign as lesser-known Democrats are busy fundraising and courting endorsements.

Cuomo’s supporters are already planning a reception for the ex-governor — a March 4 soirée hosted by investment banker and consultant Charles Myers, according to a save-the-date invite obtained by POLITICO. This past Valentine’s Day, Cuomo posted a campaign-style video that showed him taking selfies with an audience of mostly Black women, a critical voting bloc who warmly embraced him during the publicized visit.

And for months now, the shrewd politician has been courting influential labor leaders, many of whom helped catapult Adams to victory in 2021.

It all amounts to an aggressive effort to rewrite his political story after he resigned in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment from 11 women — accounts substantiated in a state attorney general’s report that Cuomo has vehemently denied. Multiple investigations have not resulted in his criminal prosecution. The mayoralty — a far less powerful job than the one Cuomo previously held in the state Capitol — would nonetheless restore the lifelong politician to a career in the public eye and give him a dose of vindication following a humiliating downfall. And it would position him to be in direct combat with President Donald Trump, who remains politically toxic in New York City.

“This is a race that’s going to be fast,” said former Gov. David Paterson, who frequently speaks with Cuomo and his allies. “The primary is in June, the petitioning period (ends) in April. It works to the more prepared candidates. I don’t see any of the other candidates being particularly prepared.”

Cuomo met with the Hotel Trades and Gaming Council president in a New Jersey confab and separately with leaders from 32BJ SEIU — the building service workers union — in December, according to several people with direct knowledge of the talks. Both labor groups supported Adams in 2021 and have since remained loyal to him — but they are assessing the crowded field as the mayor’s candidacy weakens considerably.

Cuomo has been in touch with the carpenter’s union and has reached out to Michael Mulgrew, head of the well-heeled United Federation of Teachers. His team is also in contact with the city’s largest public union, District Council 37, which is holding a mayoral forum next week, people familiar with those entreaties shared on the condition of anonymity.

As he’s not a declared candidate, Cuomo has not been invited to DC 37’s mayoral forum, a spokesperson said.

Cuomo’s team could include fundraiser Jennifer Bayer Michaels, who recently joined the public affairs firm that employs Charlie King, a longtime Cuomo ally who will hold a top-level role with the mayoral effort. Consultant Chris Coffey, CEO of Tusk Strategies, has been calling Orthodox Jewish and business leaders on Cuomo’s behalf, someone with direct knowledge of that effort told POLITICO.

But the major unions remain in a holding pattern given the deep uncertainty surrounding the mayoral campaign.

The backing of labor — all but a prerequisite in one of the most unionized cities in the country — is a hallmark of any successful mayoral bid. And their support for the ex-governor is not yet a guarantee. Many of these labor leaders remain tenuously in Adams’ camp, despite private and public polling that shows Cuomo well ahead of the crowded field and the mayor in single digits.

A major prize for any of the seven Democrats running for the party’s nomination, labor’s backing often translates to money, internal communication among union members who vote in city elections and support for voter turnout. But many union leaders remain in wait-and-see mode, a reflection of the unsettled state of the race. Voter surveys conducted over the last month have revealed a remarkably static field, which the governor has yet to officially enter. And Cuomo, who enjoys high name recognition, has the infrastructure in place if he decides to join the race.

“New York’s a labor town and labor endorsements can move the needle in many cases,” said Josh Gold, a former political director for the influential hotel workers union. “They can put boots on the ground in a crowded race, and when you’re thinking about Mayor Adams and the support he’s shown for working families, it’s a vote of confidence.”

Nevertheless, a series of modest early endorsements of Cuomo from moderate organizations have rolled out in recent days. He’s received the backing of a former foe-turned-longtime ally Carl McCall, the Staten Island Democratic Committee and the Asian Wave Alliance for a race he’s yet to formally enter.

A long-anticipated development, some of the city’s political elite are queasy about Cuomo’s return to politics. But they also acknowledge Cuomo is in an enviable position: A relatively short primary season, a commanding lead in every publicly available poll and an expansive rolodex of supporters.

Cuomo — a take-no-prisoners and exacting politician even by the sharp-edged standards of New York — could benefit from voters’ perceptions of an increasingly chaotic city. His team expects, too, that he will draw support from Black and Jewish voters — two blocs he has carefully courted, even out of office.

The circumstances — namely the incumbent mayor engulfed in crisis as voters shift away from far-left candidates — favor Cuomo as he racks up a spate of endorsements and quietly stitches together a campaign team.

Once a national political celebrity for his handling of Covid, Cuomo’s star quickly burned out following myriad controversies. He has been weighing a political comeback over the last two years.

And the unpredictable race is unlike one Cuomo — who has been in the public eye since his father, Mario Cuomo, ran for mayor in 1977 — has ever faced. At the moment, he would still be challenging Adams — the city’s second Black mayor who may still draw enough support from Black voters to hurt Cuomo’s chances in high-turnout parts of the city.

And Adrienne Adams, a Democrat who leads the New York City Council, is considering a last-minute entrance into the race as well — a move that could complicate a Cuomo comeback by drawing Black voters away from him. If elected, she would be the first Black woman in the mayor’s office; state Attorney General Letitia James in recent days has spoken with key New York Democrats to encourage Adrienne Adams’ bid.

Voter surveys have shown the former governor has a high favorable rating with voters, but similarly steep negative results — giving a potential opening to rivals. A super PAC has already dropped a six-figure ad campaign attacking him on his record.

Cuomo has strategically made few public appearances as Adams’ position erodes. Gov. Kathy Hochul, no fan of the former governor, has so far declined to use her power to oust the mayor and instead proposed a package of oversight measures with Adams in mind to prevent undue influence on city policy by the Trump White House.

Cuomo’s potential Democratic rivals have been eager to flush him out. One of the candidates in the race, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, knocked the former governor for lying low as the president rolls out an aggressive policy in Washington and seemingly co-opts Adams to do his bidding on immigration.

"Cuomo has been silent while Trump has proposed cuts to our students, our teachers, our schools, and our hospitals,” Myrie said. “Cuomo has remained silent while Trump has used the Department of Justice to control the mayor of the greatest city in the world.”

But so far the criticism has not had an impact on the former governor’s poll position while he and his allies have assiduously worked the phones to line up support.

Initially wary of challenging the mayor in a Democratic primary, Cuomo’s team has concluded the embattled Adams is a severely weakened incumbent who could be bested in a crowded field. Still, the race would be a gamble for the cautious former governor: Both men share an overlapping base of working-class, moderate voters of color.

They also share allies in outer borough neighborhoods who would be powerful validators in a closely waged primary fight. Rev. Ruben Diaz, Sr. — a Trump-supporting Democrat and Pentecostal minister who served with Adams in the state Senate — has been close with both Cuomo and the mayor.

“We have been with him,” Diaz said of Adams. “He was my partner in the state Senate, he’s a friend. I teach my children you don’t abandon friends when they are down. You stick with them.”

Diaz, however, added that it is “going to be hard” to pick between Adams and Cuomo.

“That’s what people are waiting for,” he said. “I’m not saying yes, I’m not saying no; very difficult to decide.”

Cuomo’s spokesperson has insisted the conversations about the ex-governor’s political ambitions are premature. But the former governor is already benefiting from the early endorsements.

McCall, a former state comptroller who Cuomo unsuccessfully ran against in a 2002 Democratic primary, has tried to prod his former rival into the race. Both men have a shared history of support since Cuomo’s disastrous bid more than 20 years ago. McCall insisted in a brief interview with POLITICO that neither the former governor nor his allies sought the endorsement.

“I did talk to them when I decided to do it and I wanted to have all the information that was necessary,” he said.