Candidate Jessica Ramos speaks throughout a Democratic mayoral main debate, June 4, 2025, in New York, U.S. Yuki Iwamura/Pool by way of REUTERS
Queens State Sen. and mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos made the stunning transfer on Friday of endorsing frontrunner Andrew Cuomo — whom she was a harsh critic of up till very just lately — within the June 24 Democratic main.
Ramos, a progressive lawmaker representing elements of western Queens, introduced the transfer to the New York Occasions on June 6. Whereas she instructed the Occasions that she’s going to nonetheless stay within the race—during which she has failed to achieve the cash or endorsements to run a aggressive marketing campaign—her assist of Cuomo was successfully an acknowledgement that he has a powerful likelihood of successful.
The senator instructed the Paper of Report that Cuomo is “the one best positioned right now to protect this city” from President Trump.
“With Trump threatening to bulldoze New York and take us backward, we need someone in City Hall who knows how to hold the line and deliver under pressure,” she instructed the Occasions.
Cuomo and Ramos are set to formally unveil the alliance throughout an occasion on the District Council of Carpenters’ decrease Manhattan headquarters on Friday morning.
The endorsement is a stunning about-face, provided that Ramos, lower than three months in the past, charged that “Andrew Cuomo can’t fight Donald Trump because he’s just like him.” She additionally blasted Cuomo for accepting contributions from donors who’ve given to Trump, accused him of disowning elements of his document as governor, and alleged he’s operating for mayor merely to redeem himself politically.
Ramos additionally repeated the claims throughout an April interview with the New York Submit Editorial Board.
She was additionally considered one of many lawmakers who referred to as on Cuomo to resign in 2021 following him being hit with practically a dozen accusations of sexual misconduct that he denies. Subsequently, her backing might assist sway some ladies voters reluctant to assist him over the scandal that introduced down his administration.
The senator’s determination to again Cuomo comes after she failed to achieve any significant assist among the many metropolis’s labor unions and progressive teams. A lot of the huge unions have backed Cuomo, and the New York Working Households Get together didn’t initially embody Ramos within the slate of candidates it unveiled in April and solely added her to its ranked listing in fifth place final week.
In a Friday assertion, the WFP mentioned, “We are sad and disappointed that State Sen. Jessica Ramos has decided to endorse the candidate favored by Trump’s billionaire donors. But we won’t be distracted by this desperate move.”
Nonetheless, a spokesperson declined to say whether or not it could rescind its fifth-place rating for Ramos.
The alliance additionally explains why Ramos gave the impression to be shedding Cuomo within the first debate of the race on Wednesday night time.
In the course of the two-hour occasion, Ramos skilled her assaults extra on Queens Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani—who’s polling second within the race—and different progressives as a substitute of Cuomo.
