Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo reentered the New York Metropolis mayor’s race as an impartial candidate final week after struggling a double-digit loss by the hands of Zohran Mamdani within the June 24 Democratic major.
Whereas Cuomo says he’s “in it to win it,” he comes into the overall election as an underdog — with a major drawback in comparison with the first.
The reasonable Cuomo has misplaced a lot of the institutional assist that buoyed him through the Democratic contest — together with a coalition of quite a few native and nationwide pols, the town’s strongest labor unions, and deep-pocketed donors. He was additionally supported by an excellent PAC that spent over $22 million on boosting his marketing campaign and slamming the democratic socialist Mamdani within the ultimate weeks of the race.
Amongst Cuomo’s major supporters, a number of have already declared for Mamdani, others are throwing in with incumbent Mayor Eric Adams — who can also be operating a longshot impartial marketing campaign, and plenty of extra are nonetheless holding their powder.
Cuomo is trying to run a distinct form of marketing campaign than he did within the major, through which he restricted interactions with the media and the general public and projected an air of inevitability round his candidacy.
Marketing campaign reboot is Cuomo’s final hope
This time round, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he’s targeted on hitting the streets and urgent the flesh.Barry Williams/New York Every day Information/TNS by way of Reuters
This time round, Cuomo says he’s targeted on hitting the streets and urgent the flesh. He seems to be following Mamdani’s lead in utilizing extremely produced social media movies to speak with voters.
“I played it safe, which is very uncharacteristic for me, as you know, but it was a mistake, and New Yorkers deserve a more vigorous debate,” Cuomo mentioned of his major marketing campaign on Fox5 final week.
However is Cuomo’s new technique sufficient to propel him to a win within the common election after Democratic voters, who maintain a 7-to-1 benefit within the metropolis, already rejected him within the major?
Democratic strategist Alyssa Cass, who ran former metropolis Comptroller Scott Stringer’s failed mayoral marketing campaign this yr, mentioned that if Cuomo couldn’t win the first with the entire benefits he had in that race, there isn’t any path for him within the common.
“There wasn’t a path for Andrew Cuomo with tens of millions of dollars, the support of most elected Democrats, and the business community,” Cass informed New York News. “If there wasn’t a path for him with it, I’m not sure how there could be any path without it.”
The foremost unions and several other elected officers who backed Cuomo have defected to Mamdani, whereas a few of the big-money donors who fueled his tremendous PAC, like hedge fund supervisor Invoice Ackman, are going with Adams.
When requested how Cuomo will forge forward with out the Democratic institution behind him, his spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi mentioned: “We’re running a more energetic and focused race where we’re speaking directly to New Yorkers and communicating the governor’s plans to make New York City a more affordable place.”
“Most New Yorkers are not hardcore Trumpers, nor do they believe socialism is the answer, and they are going to be the ones who decide this race,” he added.
Polls point out Mamdani momentum
Democratic Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks to supporters at a rally in Sundown Park, Brooklyn earlier this yr.Photograph by Gabriele Holtermann
Slingshot Methods, the place Cass is a companion, printed a ballot earlier this month displaying Mamdani main Cuomo by a 10-point margin in November’s common election.
A string of different latest public polls even have Mamdani with a major lead over Cuomo and his different rivals: Adams, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, and impartial lawyer Jim Walden. Cuomo has been polling second to Mamdani in these surveys — flipping the dynamic via a lot of the major, the place Cuomo held a major lead over Mamdani and each different candidate for a lot of the race.
After just a few weeks of inner marketing campaign deliberation, the previous governor reentered the competition with the proposal that the anti-Mamdani candidates decide to dropping out and consolidate round whomever is main amongst them come September. Nonetheless, that appears fairly unlikely as Adams and Sliwa have each made clear that they don’t seem to be going wherever.
Journey Yang, one other Democratic strategist who just isn’t working for any of the mayoral candidates this cycle, mentioned he believes Cuomo’s solely path is to persuade Adams and Sliwa to assist him.
“If these other two candidates could actively not fundraise and campaign and support Cuomo, or implicitly support Cuomo, so it’s more of a one-on-one with Cuomo and Mamdani, that is Cuomo’s best hope,” Yang mentioned. “The math just isn’t mathing for there to be multiple candidates against Mamdani.”
Cuomo borrowing from Mamdani playbook?
A part of Cuomo’s marketing campaign technique pivot post-primary is an try and enchantment to the youthful, social media-savvy voters that helped drive Mamdani to victory.
For Mamdani, clips posted on-line displaying informal interactions with voters, patronage of native companies, and rides on the Subway helped juxtapose the Meeting member towards Cuomo’s comparatively missing floor sport. Now, with Democratic major voters decisively favoring Mamdani, Cuomo is seeking to shake extra palms and garner traction on TikTok, X, and Instagram.
The previous governor relaunched his marketing campaign with a roughly 90-second video through which he wore a brief sleeve shirt, smiled on the digital camera, and interacted with voters on Higher East Facet streets. Cuomo’s marketing campaign has since posted different such vidoes, together with one which purports to point out him serving to a person jumpstart a automotive and one other the place he speaks to voters at a number of companies on Staten Island.
However Yang mentioned Cuomo’s embrace of social media movies looks like an inexpensive imitation of Mamdani’s method.
“He’s trying to copy Zohran Mamdani’s people-powered sunny style,” Yang mentioned. “It’s just not gonna work. It’s just not authentic. Why would voters choose a Dollar Tree version of that approach to campaigning, when Democrats have already elected Zohran Mamdani as their nominee?”
Azzopardi insisted that Cuomo’s try and extra successfully make the most of social media platforms is about reaching a higher variety of voters, quite than duplicating Mamdani’s playbook.
Cass equally mentioned the communication pivot is unlikely to be sufficient for the Cuomo camp.
“It wasn’t that Zohran just did social media. It’s that he did social media that both entertained and connected,” Cass mentioned. “Those are not things that have ever been Andrew Cuomo’s strong suit. So, they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. You certainly can’t teach a dog as old as Cuomo those new tricks. It’s not about checking the box. It’s about connecting with people, and he didn’t.”
Although Cuomo can alter his ways, Cass mentioned, it’s tough to show round his public picture at this level within the race.
“He didn’t lose because he didn’t do social media, he lost because who he is, what he represents, and what he is offering is fundamentally misaligned with the moment,” Cass mentioned. “You can’t change who you are.”
