New York City Mayor Adams said Monday that ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo is privately urging him to drop out of November’s mayoral election, as their moderate wing of the party scrambles to find a way to maximize their chances of beating Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
In a morning appearance on CNBC, Adams said he has no intention of heeding Cuomo’s call — arguing the former governor’s the one who should end his campaign so he can take on Mamdani, a democratic socialist, in the Nov. 4 contest.
“I said, Andrew: ‘Are you that level of arrogance?’” Adams said, describing a recent conversation in which he alleged Cuomo encouraged him to drop out. “I’m the sitting mayor, 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?”
The mayor, who often claims he doesn’t discuss private conversations, continued: “They heard your message and you lost. Now let a fresh set of legs that has produced for this city [run the race].”
Sources familiar with the matter told the Daily News that the Cuomo camp’s outreach to Adams’ team has centered on a proposal to commission an independent poll testing each of them in head-to-head general election matchups against Mamdani. The idea, the sources said, would be that whoever between Cuomo and Adams performed best in such a scenario would stay in the race, while the other would drop out and endorse the remaining candidate.
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi declined to comment on private conversations, but confirmed the ex-governor favors running a poll to determine who should be the anti-Mamdani candidate. Specifically, Azzopardi said Cuomo wants to run that poll in September.
Azzopardi also took a shot at Adams, calling him “anathema to Democrats and unelectable.”
“We do not see any path to victory for Mayor Adams,” Azzopardi said. “This is the time to put aside the usual political selfishness and agree to do what is truly best for all New Yorkers … We call on other candidates to do the same.”
There have been no major polls of the general election yet, but some early surveys show Cuomo edging out Adams. That includes an American Pulse poll released last week that found Mamdani winning the race with 35% of the vote, while Cuomo finished second, holding 29%. In that survey, Adams finished fourth with 14%, behind Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa’s 16%.
Adams, who dropped out of the June 24 Democratic mayoral primary this spring, is running for reelection on an independent line in November.
Facing record low approval ratings and fundraising struggles amid continued fallout from his federal corruption indictment, Adams’ bid for reelection is widely seen as an uphill battle.
But Frank Carone, Adams’ longtime confidant who helps lead his reelection campaign, argued the mayor has a long runway to turn the political tides before November and signaled his team isn’t interested in the Cuomo camp’s independent poll proposal.
“To suggest a ‘poll’ four months ahead of the election should have any significance is ridiculous,” Carone told The News.
Though he lost the Democratic primary, Cuomo’s name will also appear on November’s ballot on an independent line no matter what, as the deadline has passed to remove it.
Cuomo hasn’t definitively said yet whether he’s going to mount a genuine general election effort. His team says he continues to consider his options after his stunning primary loss against Mamdani, who defeated him by a 56%-44% margin.
As the Democratic nominee, Mamdani holds a big advantage in November, given that registered Democrats vastly outnumber other voters in the city. He ran a primary campaign centered on proposals to increase taxes on the wealthy, freeze the rent for stabilized tenants, drastically expand subsidized childcare and make public buses free.
Cuomo, Adams and other moderate forces in New York, including business leaders, have sought to blunt Mamdani’s momentum by portraying him as too left-leaning, arguing his policy platform is unrealistic and slamming his criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza.
As they share similar moderate bases of support, Cuomo and Adams would likely hamper each other’s chances if they both actively campaign in November’s contest.
Responding to Monday’s back-and-forth between Cuomo and Adams, Mamdani spokesman Andrew Epstein noted his candidate received more than 545,000 votes in the Democratic primary, the most of any mayoral hopeful in 36 years.
“In the coming months, Zohran looks forward to growing this coalition and reaching new voters with his vision for an affordable New York City,” he said.
Former New York Gov. David Paterson, who endorsed Cuomo’s mayoral run, was the latest moderate Democrat to come out Monday in favor of local business and civic communities lining up behind one independent candidate in pursuit of beating Mamdani.
But Paterson declined to say whether Cuomo or Adams should be that candidate.
“Help us put together a search and an understanding of which one of these candidates not only would win the election, but could govern the city,” Paterson said at a press conference in Midtown held with right-wing radio host Sid Rosenberg and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis.
Former Gov. David Paterson speaks at press conference in Manhattan on Monday. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
In addition to Adams and potentially Cuomo, Sliwa — who netted nearly 30% of the vote in the 2021 mayoral election — is the Republican candidate in the November race. Attorney Jim Walden is also running on an independent ballot line.
“I’m not dropping out no matter who talks to me,” Sliwa said Monday, adding he hasn’t heard from either the Cuomo or Adams camps about coalescing behind one candidate.
Some on the right have urged President Trump to offer Sliwa a federal job to get him out of the mayoral race in order to shore up support for Adams, whose friendly relationship with Trump has endeared him to Republicans.
Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, told The News he wouldn’t be interested if Trump made such an offer. “Politely, I would say: Mr. President, I am only interested in one job and that’s being mayor,” he said.
Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid sexual and professional misconduct accusations, has largely stayed out of the public spotlight since his primary loss.
His team continues to maintain the ex-gov remains a prolific potential candidate in the November showdown.
In making that case, his team has noted Cuomo received 24,000 more votes in last month’s election than Adams did in the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary he won.