Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced July 14 that he would remain in the race for New York City Mayor following his decisive defeat at the hands of Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani in the party’s June primary.
Cuomo made the long-rumored run official in a video posted to X with the caption, “In it to win it.”
“I made mistakes in the primary,” Cuomo said in an accompanying press release. “I was not aggressive enough in communicating my vision for a fairer, safer, more affordable New York, or in debunking Zohran Mamdani’s unrealistic proposals and divisive agenda.”
Mamdani won the first round of ranked choice voting with 44% to Cuomo’s 36%, causing the former governor to make an unexpected concession on election night. The final round handed Mamdani a more than 12-point win.
“What we saw was New Yorkers’ hunger for a new kind of politics,” Mamdani said after accepting the endorsement of the American Federation of Musicians Local 802, a union that represents musicians on Broadway and elsewhere in the city. “I understand that it is difficult for the former governor to come to terms with that, because it is a repudiation of the kind of politics he has practiced and he has known for so many years.”
New York state does not have a so-called “sore loser” law that would prohibit a defeated primary candidate from running in a general election.
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The general election ballot will see both the former governor and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams on independent party lines, as well as Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, run against the democratic socialist state assemblymember.
Cuomo said in the press release that he accepted a proposal from former Governor David Patterson and longshot independent candidate Jim Walden to coalesce behind the candidate who appears most likely to defeat Mamdani.
“In mid-September, we will determine which candidate is strongest against Mamdani and all other candidates will stand down, rather than act as spoilers and guarantee Mamdani’s election,” Cuomo said.
Sliwa said that the two major independent candidates were playing “musical chairs on a sinking ship” in a statement provided to USA TODAY.
“Andrew Cuomo lost his primary and hides in the Hamptons. Eric Adams skipped his and fled to Fort Lauderdale. Now they’re both running as independents to cling to relevance,” Sliwa said.
Adams said at a news conference Monday that voters had already rejected the former governor, according to the New York Times. “Andrew is a double-digit loser in the primary,” Adams said, “He had his opportunity.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cuomo to run against Mamdani, Adams in NYC mayor general election
