Disgraced former New York Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo is reportedly considering a political comeback from his sexual scandal by running against his replacement, Governor Kathy Hochul, in a bid to reclaim the role as the state’s governor.
“Cuomo, who reluctantly left office last year after denying the harassment allegations, has been fielding calls from supporters about a possible run against his former lieutenant governor,” CNBC reported. “His aides have been conducting their own internal voter polling on a potential matchup, these people explained.”
Polls conducted by Emerson College and The Hill showed that Cuomo wasn’t far behind Hochul, which sparked a slew of phone calls from political allies who started to push Cuomo to run again for the position, said a source close to him, who spoke anonymously.
The Hill highlighted the results from their poll last week:
The poll shows that if Cuomo, who resigned last year over sexual misconduct allegations, were to run for his old seat, Hochul would lead the primary field with 37 percent support among Democratic primary voters, while Cuomo would come in second with 33 percent. Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D) would come in third place with just over 7 percent, and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams comes in fourth with 4 percent.
Should Cuomo remain out of the race, Hochul would have a yawning advantage with 42 percent support in the field. Williams would jump up to just under 10 percent in the race, while no other contender breaks double digits.
CNBC noted that Cuomo would need to meet the threshold of voter petition signatures required to be on the ballot by next month, as the Democrat primary is scheduled for June.
CNBC added:
Although supporters are encouraging him to run, there have been many leaders within his party who have said publicly and in conversations with CNBC that they are hoping he doesn’t run, after multiple scandals followed him out of office. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that an audit shows Cuomo’s administration failed to publicly account for the deaths of almost 4,100 nursing home residents during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. …
Still, the person close to Cuomo, when discussing whether he’s ruled out running against Hochul, pointed to Cuomo’s recent speech at a church in Brooklyn, where he said, “I am blessed, I have many options in life and I am open to all, but on the question if I am at peace, No I am not.” Cuomo also used the speech to point out that multiple district attorneys did not bring criminal charges against him.
“As the Governor has said since the beginning this was the weaponization of politics to do what couldn’t get done at the ballot box, and it’s important to him and his family that the record get set straight and efforts to rewrite history don’t succeed,” Richard Azzopardi, Cuomo’s chief spokesperson, claimed in an email to CNBC. “As he has said all along, he has thoughts and opinions about the direction of this state and the Democratic Party as a whole and he won’t hesitate to make them known.”