Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s remark that he would move to Florida if he loses the NYC Mayor’s race in November was only a joke, a marketing campaign spokesperson insisted Sunday.
Cuomo made the comment Saturday throughout a breakfast within the Hamptons with enterprise leaders and others that billionaire grocery store mogul John Catsimatidis hosted.
“It’s all or nothing. We either win or even I will move to Florida. God forbid!” Cuomo was quoted as saying within the New York Publish.
The previous governor appeared to channel the anxiousness amongst some reasonable New Yorkers over the prospect of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani doubtlessly being elected mayor in November.
Mamdani handily defeated Cuomo within the June 24 Democratic main, however Cuomo — who had already secured an impartial poll line within the November election — introduced final week he would proceed his bid at a political comeback following his 2021 resignation as governor.
Nonetheless, Cuomo’s spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi insisted the candidate was joking Saturday about relocating to the Sunshine State.
“It was a joke, and people in the room understood that and laughed,” Azzopardi instructed New York News. “Governor Cuomo would never give up on New York. That said, the line underscored the stakes in the upcoming election and the risk of electing a dangerously inexperienced hate-spewing 33-year-old socialist whose campaign consists of unrealistic bumper sticker slogans.”
New York News contacted each Mamdani’s group and Mayor Eric Adams for touch upon Cuomo’s quip, however didn’t obtain responses previous to publication time.
Nonetheless, Curtis Sliwa, the lone Republican within the race and operating on the first-ever Shield Animals line, shared with New York News his ideas on Cuomo’s “joke” and Mamdani’s possibilities of successful the election.
“Andrew Cuomo bailed on New York before and he’ll do it again because he never cared about fighting for New Yorkers, only about holding onto power,” he mentioned. “But he won’t have to worry about Mamdani winning because I will.”
In the meantime, though Mamdani has been main within the polls since successful the Democratic mayoral main in NYC on June 24, he seems to be dropping some luster.
A July 15 HarrisX ballot finds the race shaping as much as be a decent and aggressive contest. Mamdani is statistically tied with Cuomo and Sliwa in a four-way race that additionally consists of Adams. Different polls, nonetheless, have Mamdani with a transparent lead, however with a plurality of the vote.
On Sunday, in the meantime, Mamdani’s marketing campaign introduced on Sunday that the candidate is touring to his delivery nation of Uganda for the remainder of the month to spend time with household and buddies.
“He will return to New York before the end of the month and looks forward to resuming public events and continuing his campaign to make the most expensive city in America affordable,” the assertion learn.