Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Cuomo Staying in NYC Mayor Race
Andrew Cuomo lost the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York in June. He has decided that the primary voters are idiots and made the wrong choice. So, he is staying in the race and running as an independent. His hubris ensures that the man who beat him, Zohran Mamdani, will be the next mayor of the city. In the five-way race, Mr. Cuomo will wind up splitting the anti-Mamdani vote. A more humble man would have accepted the result of the voters, and as a result, the anti-Mamdani forces would have a better shot at prevailing. Yet, Mr. Cuomo (much like his father Mario) thinks he is bigger than the polity he wants to represent.
As Governor of the State of New York, Mr. Cuomo did a great many things that benefitted the citizens of the state. In particular, he did an exceptional job in communicating to the citizenry just what was going on during the Covid pandemic, in sharp contrast to the White House. As the same time, one must point out that his term ended early because he resigned over allegations of sexual misconduct that have never been disproved. He quit in disgrace. He does not deserve a come back, and this journal has never waivered from that. If he could not continue as governor given the charges, he should not take on being mayor.
The New York election law is rather convoluted and needs explaining. The state has four recognized political parties that get a line for their candidate on the ballot based on previous electoral successes. They are the Republicans, the Democrats, the Conservatives and Working Families (the leftish answer to the Conservatives.) One can also get on the ballot for other parties (e.g., the Libertarians) by collecting enough petition signatures. And a candidate can run as the nominee of more than one party. Mr. Mamdani will have both the Democratic and Working Families line while Curtis Sliwa (founder of the Guardian Angels vigilante group in the 1970s) has the Republican and Conservative lines. Incumbent Eric Adams and lawyer Jim Walden along with Mr. Cuomo will be independents using petitions for ballot access.
The latest poll from Data for Progress (a leftish think-tank) has Mr. Mamdani with 40% of the vote, Mr. Cuomo has 24%, Mr. Adams is at 15%, Mr. Sliwa holds 14% (Republicans are heavily outnumbered in the city), and Mr. Walden has 1%. That leaves about 5% unsure.
The problem for Messrs. Cuomo and Adams is that combined they almost rival Mr. Mamdani, but separately, they pave a clear path to Gracie Mansion (the official residence of the mayor) for Mr. Mamdani. Neither wants to get out of the race. Mr. Sliwa will not pull out; he has not had this much media attention in ages. Mr. Walden does not have the numbers to matter.
There has been a proposal from former Governor David Patterson who suggested that either Mr. Cuomo or Mr. Adams should drop out based on who has the weaker polling numbers on Labor Day (which in America is the first Monday in September and not May 1 like everywhere else). It makes perfect sense, except that it will run into political egotism. This journal does not expect either to withdraw, and even if they do, there is a question of whether a name can be removed from the ballot that late in the day.
Mr. Adams has already attacked Mr. Cuomo for trying to force a black elected official from office (one could add indicted to the list of adjectives) and he said, "This kind of political double-dealing is exactly why so many New Yorkers have lost trust in him. The people spoke loudly -- he lost."
Mr. Cuomo will counter with the charge that Mayor Adams has cut a sweetheart deal with the Justice Department to avoid jail in exchange for cooperation on deporting immigrants, from a city of immigrants.
This journal expects Mr. Mamdani to win with about 45% of the vote. And no worries about his democratic socialism. Governor Hochul controls what taxes the city can levy, so he will not have the money to do anything he has promised.
Forget Broadway. The real theatre is the mayoral contest, and this year it is a farce not a drama.
© Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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