New York City Mayor Eric Adams says former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has asked him to drop his re-election bid as the latter considers his next potential steps in the race.
Adams said, when asked, in an interview with CNBC that he had indeed spoken with Cuomo since the primary. The hosts asked the mayor if Cuomo suggested he step aside. Adams gave an enthusiastic response.
“Yes! I said, ‘Andrew, are you that level of arrogant? I’m the sitting mayor!” Adams said. “I’m the sitting mayor of New York City when you just lost to Zohran by 12 points.”
Zohran Mamdani’s win had been expected after he took a commanding lead when the polls closed June 24, falling just short of the 50% of the vote needed to avoid another count under the city’s ranked choice voting model. The system allows voters’ other preferences to be counted if their top candidate falls out of the running.
Cuomo ran a campaign centered on his extensive experience, casting himself as the only candidate capable of saving a city he said had spun out of control. He focused heavily on combating antisemitism and leaned on his name recognition and juggernaut fundraising operation rather than mingling with voters.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist and member of the state Assembly, was virtually unknown when he launched his candidacy centered on a bold slate of populist ideas. But he built an energetic campaign that ran circles around Cuomo as the older, more moderate Democrat tried to come back from the sexual harassment scandal that led to his resignation four years ago.
Cuomo, meanwhile, did not remove his name from the November ballot ahead of a procedural deadline to do so and has said he is still considering whether to mount an actual campaign for the office.
In a statement Monday, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi made it clear how the campaign feels about Adams’ chances.
“Mayor Adams did not run in the Democratic primary because he knew he was anathema to Democrats and unelectable,” Azzopardi said. “Nothing has changed. We do not see any path to victory for Mayor Adams.”
Adams, while still a Democrat, is running in the November election as an independent. He dropped out of the Democratic primary in April after he was severely wounded by his now-dismissed federal bribery case. Though he had done little in the way of campaigning since then, he reignited his reelection operation in the days after Mamdani declared victory, calling it a choice between a “blue collar” candidate and one with a “silver spoon.”
Curtis Sliwa, meanwhile, will be the mayoral nominee on the Republican side. He said Monday he won’t get out of the race either. He’s one of the four free-market candidates, along with Adams, Cuomo and Jim Walden), some have expressed concern may share votes, leading to a “socialist victory.”
In a statement Monday, Mamdani’s campaign pointed to his number of votes — more than 545,000, “the most votes any Democratic primary candidate has received in 36 years — as a mandate for change.
“In the coming months, Zohran looks forward to growing this coalition and reaching new voters with his vision for an affordable New York City and his plan to deliver universal childcare, fast and free buses, and a rent-freeze for more than 2 million New Yorkers,” the statement said.