Scandal wary voters may turn away from Cuomo, opposing camp warns

NEW YORK — Scandal-fatigued voters will give former Gov. Andrew Cuomo a frosty reception if he runs for mayor to replace the indicted Eric Adams, a strategist for one of his potential Democratic rivals wrote Tuesday in a memorandum.

The memo from Alyssa Cass, an adviser to ex-New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, details vulnerabilities that could hinder a Cuomo comeback — a bid-rigging scandal that roiled the Cuomo administration a decade ago, and his management of nursing home residents during Covid, for instance.

“Before Cuomo even dips his toe into the race, the electoral water is ice cold,” Cass wrote in the memo.

Cuomo has been weighing a bid for mayor over the last year as Adams’ legal troubles have deepened. And he could be a strong candidate, particularly in a nonpartisan special election that would be triggered by an early Adams departure, given his near-universal name identification with voters.

Cuomo’s potential strength has alarmed New York Democrats who do not want him back in public office and are in the early stages of organizing against him.

But his baggage would complicate a political resurgence, Cass predicted.

Stringer — who is fundraising for a mayoral run but has yet to formally enter the race — and his fellow Democrats seeking the party’s nomination could bank on corruption fatigue weighing on voters as Adams is fighting a five-count federal corruption indictment .

And that exhaustion with Adams — who is accused of accepting travel benefits and campaign donations from the Turkish government — is at the heart of the argument against Cuomo’s appeal with voters.

The memo notably does not include the sexual harassment complaints leveled against Cuomo, which ultimately led to his resignation three years ago. Stringer himself has been accused of sexual harassment. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.

Nevertheless, the missive is a sweeping list of pitfalls that could hobble a potential comeback bid by Cuomo, a former three-term governor who resigned amid a torrent of scandal — issues that Stringer allies believe could be the most salient with voters.

The memo provides a potential roadmap for Stringer — or any of the candidates who would run against Cuomo — to defeat the scandal-plagued ex-governor.

Controversies that dogged Cuomo during his decade in office — including a lucrative book deal about the pandemic, his handling of nursing home policies in the early weeks of the public health crisis and the stewardship of the city’s mass transit system — could be enough for voters to not want him back in office, Cass wrote in the memo.

The memo also outlined issues that embroiled Cuomo earlier in his Albany tenure, including an anti-corruption commission he established to investigate the Legislature, but later shuttered when it began to probe his own administration.

And the memo takes aim at Cuomo’s own living arrangement. The former governor has said he has an apartment somewhere in New York City ; he remains registered to vote in suburban Westchester County.

“New Yorkers deserve better than a selfish suburbanite only looking to rehabilitate his image and resurrect his political career,” Cass wrote.

The memo could also serve as a reminder to left-leaning voters of strife during the Cuomo years. The former governor tangled with progressive activists while he was in office over taxes and spending in the budget.

Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi in a statement called the memo’s findings “premature” and listed the former governor’s accomplishments in office — including the legalization of same-sex marriage, abortion protections, stricter gun laws, paid family leave and numerous, large-scale infrastructure projects.

“After selling his soul to the DSA four years ago during a mayoral run that blew up in his face, Scott seems lost and is banging pots and pans together as hard as he can in a desperate bid for attention,” Azzopardi said, referring to the far-left Democratic Socialists of America. “I’m embarrassed for him.”

A Marist College poll released last week found 55 percent of voters do not want Cuomo to run for mayor. Still, Cuomo fared better with Black voters in the survey.

Cuomo’s political team also believes there is a silver lining in the poll, which found 30 percent of voters want Adams to serve out the remainder of his term. If he does leave office, Cuomo allies expect many of those New Yorkers to transfer their support to Cuomo, a like-minded moderate with strong ties in Black communities.

Cuomo has indicated he would not run for mayor if Adams is still in the race, likely because they share a base of working-class voters of color.

If Adams were to leave office, the vacancy would trigger a special election within 90 days. The race would also be open to all registered voters and Cuomo could have an advantage with New Yorkers not registered in a party.