Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) speaks in the course of the The Jerusalem Put up New York convention on June 3, 2024 in Manhattan.
Photograph by Noam Galai/Getty Pictures
Democratic Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres has made his selection within the NYC mayoral race: former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has but to formally enter the competition.
Torres, in a press release, mentioned he’s endorsing Cuomo as a result of the previous Democratic governor has the “competence and courage” town wants in a frontrunner proper now.
“Andrew Cuomo has the competence to govern the city and the courage to stand up to the extremes of American politics — both the far-left and the far-right,” Torres mentioned.
Torres singled out mayoral contender Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who represents a part of western Queens within the Meeting, as a “far-left” determine whom he believes Cuomo can defeat.
“When it comes to confronting political extremism, what you need is not Mr. Nice Guy — what you need is Mr. Tough Guy,” he mentioned.
The endorsement was first reported by the New York Put up.
Will former Gov. Andrew Cuomo run for mayor of New York Metropolis and might he win?REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon
Torres’ early backing of Cuomo comes as Mayor Eric Adams’ hopes of successful reelection develop more and more dim. Adams is going through immense strain to resign, which he has resisted, following allegations that he engaged in a quid professional quo with President Trump’s Justice Division to have his corruption case dismissed.
Torres mentioned he believes Adams is compromised as a result of the DOJ moved to drop his fees with out prejudice, giving it the flexibility to convey them again at any time.
“I want a mayor who can govern independently of the far right, and Donald Trump represents the far right,” Torres mentioned throughout a Monday morning CNBC interview. “The fear of a re-indictment keeps Mayor Adams permanently under the thumb of Donald Trump.”
Nevertheless, the costs stay in place after federal Choose Dale Ho appointed an unbiased lawyer on Friday to argue for preserving the case alive as an alternative of instantly granting the DOJ’s movement to dismiss.
The Congress member mentioned his announcement is each an endorsement of Cuomo and an indictment of Adams’ administration, which noticed 4 key deputy mayors resign their positions final week within the wake of the quid professional quo allegations.
“New York City is in crisis,” Torres mentioned. “Four deputy mayors have resigned. The city is less safe than it should be…And what we need now more than ever is the stable and strong and steady leadership that Gov. Cuomo can provide.”
He cited large-scale infrastructure initiatives, just like the modernization of LaGuardia Airport and the constructing of Moynihan Prepare Corridor, as a few of Cuomo’s key accomplishments in workplace.
Cuomo is predicted to formally enter the race within the coming days because the interval through which candidates should begin gathering signatures for poll entry kicks off this week. Rumors of a possible Cuomo candidacy have circled the race for properly over a 12 months, but he has held again on formally leaping into the fray.
Cuomo has been seeking to make a political comeback since he resigned from his governorship in 2021 as a consequence of almost a dozen girls accusing him of sexual misconduct — accusations he denies.
The previous governor is predicted to be a frontrunner if and when he enters the race. In a sequence of public polls over the previous couple of months, he has constantly led the present subject, together with Adams, by double digits.
Torres additionally confirmed in the course of the interview that he eager about difficult Gov. Kathy Hochul in subsequent 12 months’s Democratic main for governor. If Cuomo wins the mayoralty, he presumably wouldn’t take part in that race.
A Cuomo spokesperson didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
