Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has asked sitting New York City Mayor Eric Adams to drop out of the mayoral race.
Cuomo—who was forced to resign as governor in 2021 over allegations of sexual harassment—lost the Democratic primary to socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani on June 24, though he pledged in May to also run as an independent.
In an interview with CNBC aired Monday, Adams revealed that Cuomo had asked him to drop out of the race entirely to maximize the chances of defeating Mamdani.
“I said, ‘Andrew, are you that level of arrogance?’” Adams told CNBC. ”I’m the sitting mayor of the City of New York, and you expect for me to step aside when you just lost to Zohran by 12 points?”
Both Adams, 64, and Cuomo, 67, have called for each other to drop out of the race.
Adams alleged that Cuomo was picking a fight when he announced he was running as an independent in the mayoral race after Adams had already announced his intention to do so.
Referring to himself as a ”fresh set of legs” that could win, Adams claimed that Cuomo has “a real history” of losing to Black politicians, citing Cuomo’s electoral loss to former New York governor David Paterson as an example.
Both politicians have been dogged by controversy. Cuomo faced sexual harassment allegations while in office and resigned as governor of New York in 2021. In September, the Southern District of New York charged Adams with bribery and campaign finance offenses, accusing Adams of illegally accepting gifts worth over $100,000 from Turkish citizens and a government official. Adams has subsequently faced backlash for bending the knee to President Donald Trump, whose Department of Justice pressured prosecutors to drop the case.
Cuomo’s spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, declined to comment on the private conversation between Adams and Cuomo, but called Adams “anathema to Democrats and unelectable,” according to the New York Daily News.
“This is the time to put aside the usual political selfishness and agree to do what is truly best for all New Yorkers,” Azzopardi told the outlet. He also confirmed Cuomo’s intention to conduct a poll to determine who would be the best independent candidate to run against Mamdani.
An American Pulse poll conducted between June 28 and July 1 found that Mamdani would win with 35 percent of the vote in the general election, with Cuomo winning 29 percent and Adams winning just 14 percent.
