My enemy’s enemy is my friend, an ancient proverb, is probably not taught in Civics classroom, and is at the core of realpolitik
The Mayor of New York City is a bully pulpit, you’re heard across the nation and is a possible steppingstone to national office. Bloomberg after three terms as mayor attempted a presidential run, his third term was a disaster, the former carpenter, and president the UFT, Michael Mulgrew refused to be drawn into contract negotiations and Bloomberg’s run for the White House never got out of low single digits.
Trump, not surprisingly, would want an ally or a handicapped mayor sitting in Gracie Mansion, when he saw Mayor Adams “troubles” offered a lifeline in exchange for help in a possible second term run. Adams, obediently, was a dog at the end of a leash, is he looking for a leash for Cuomo?
After his August 2021 resignation, in the face of impeachment, the three -term governor licked his wounds and fought back against his accusers. A run against Governor Hochul in the 2026 primary did not look promising; however, Mayor Adams chances for a second term increasingly seemed bleak, and with tons of campaign cash and Independent Expenditure dollars the NYC mayoralty was definitely possible. Since Cuomo announced his candidacy he has led in the polls, led by wide margins,
The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA between May 14 and 17 among 1,050 registered voters, shows that Cuomo is the first choice of 43 percent of likely Democratic voters with just over a month until the June primary.
Cuomo is followed by New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, who has 11 percent; former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who has 9 percent; current Comptroller Brad Lander, who has 8 percent; City Council speaker Adrienne Adams, who has 6 percent; and State Senator Jessica Ramos, who has 4 percent
Before Cuomo announced his candidacy the speculation was that Brad Lander, the current Comptroller and Scott Stringer, the former Comptroller would be the front runners, a virtual unknown Assembly member Zohran Mamdani is in second place with Lander and Stringer not in double digits.
Michael Lange, in a detailed examination of the race, opines on “The Only Hope of Stopping Andrew Cuomo: Can AOC rescue the progressive project in New York City? “
I guess Trump and his cohorts read Michael, maybe the only endorsement that could turn around the race would be AOC, who seems to be mulling between Lander and Mamadeni.
In 2021 the New York Times endorsement of Sanitation Commission Katherine Garcia, now chief of staff to Governor Hochel, almost won, she was eliminated in the final round of Rank Choice Voting. The Times now has a no endorsement policy.
Saturday was the annual UFT Spring Conference, over a thousand UFT activists and this year the contenders each had a chance to plead their case. Cuomo supported Fixing Tier 6, took a shot at charter schools, and released a 25-Point program that could have been written by the UFT, read here.
Trump, having swept Adams away now tries to eliminate Cuomo, with whom he dueled during Trump 1.0, it is highly unlikely an investigation will chase away Cuomo voters; however, down the road an investigation could lead to an indictment, especially when a bitter enemy may be leading the investigation.
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation of Andrew M. Cuomo, a front-runner in the New York City mayoral race, after Republicans accused him of lying to Congress about decisions he made during the coronavirus pandemic as governor, according to two people familiar with the matter.
That puts the Trump administration in the unusual position of having ended a criminal case against the leader of the nation’s largest city and opened one into his chief rival in the span of a few months. Mr. Adams is running for re-election as an independent, and Mr. Cuomo is leading the Democratic primary field in the polls.
The existence of the investigation is sure to fuel further criticism that President Trump and his administration are wielding the Justice Department as a cudgel to achieve political ends and punish his perceived enemies.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington is now run by Jeanine Pirro, a former Fox News host and prosecutor who has publicly accused Mr. Cuomo of criminal conduct surrounding the coronavirus in nursing homes.
In a 2021 segment on Fox News, Ms. Pirro excoriated Mr. Cuomo for what she said were criminal acts, saying he had given seniors “a death sentence.” She argued state prosecutors should investigate him for manslaughter and negligent homicide.
The two have a long history in New York politics — in 2006, Ms. Pirro unsuccessfully ran against Mr. Cuomo for state attorney general.
As soon as the media reported the investigation Cuomo’s opponents took different attacking paths, Politico New York Reports,
One of his campaign rivals, Brad Lander, pounced within minutes of the story posting, continuing his pace of lacing into Cuomo over the ex-governor’s approach to Trump. “New Yorkers cannot afford another corrupt mayor beholden to Trump — Cuomo should announce immediately that he will not seek or accept a pardon from the President.”.
Zellnor Myrie, another candidate, issued a statement saying “New Yorkers deserve better than more of the same” and accusing Cuomo of “silence while Donald Trump and his cronies were attacking New York City” with public funding cuts. “Now, New Yorkers know why: Cuomo was attempting to keep his failed legacy of nursing home deaths and Covid mismanagement off the front pages.“
And Zohran Mamdani, who is polling second to Cuomo, took a different tone in his statement, saying, “Andrew Cuomo’s career has been defined by corruption and deceit and his lying to Congress about his COVID response is no exception. But Donald Trump cannot be trusted to pursue justice. While I believe New Yorkers should reject the disgraced ex-Governor at the ballot box, the Trump administration’s actions are dangerous.”
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) attempts to encourage the endorsement of multiple candidates, encourage collaboration among candidates and endorsing organizations.
Can a number of candidates cross-endorse and run as a slate? A possibility: which five candidates?
If the UFT decides to endorse, and I have no idea, would they endorse a single candidate? or multiple candidates? and what would be the order of a multiple endorsement?
The chapter leader of the Retired Teachers Chapter, a member of an opposition caucus, made negative comments regarding Cuomo at the recent RTC Meeting. Others have told me that while they don’t like Cuomo he’s best equipped to fight Trump and others are Cuomo supporters from the day he announced his candidacy.
The new mayor will face unparalleled fiscal issues.
The “big, beautiful bill” passed the House of Representatives, by one vote, and now moves to the Senate side with a highly speculative July 4th date for approval. Meanwhile the NYS approved budget and the soon to be approved NYC budgets will face drastic changes: how do you find billions of dollars to replace Federal dollars? Do you cut services? And the unanswerable question at this time: which services?
The opposition caucuses, “…we could go on strike,” in other words commit assisted suicide.
Mulgrew and his team, and I emphasize team, have to navigate the political swamp, make whatever deals have to be made and constantly measure the temperature of the membership. For example, the second most powerful elected is not the Public Advocate, it’s a person elected by their colleagues, the 51 members of the newly elected City Council elect a Speaker after they assume office on January 1, and the union staff is engaged in the discussions now.
The Unity team is both smart and collaborative, they take the pulse of the members, not only the “screamers,” and craft policy from the bottom up.
Remember, the UFT not only represents our members, we are the voice of the families we serve, both in the classroom and in the thorny world of politics, for example cutting Medicaid and SNAP, kids coming to school hungry impacts teaching and learning.
Of course you’ve already placed the X in the Unity box and into the mailbox, if not, I wouldn’t tell anyone, just don’t tarry.
Ed in the Apple: Blogging on the Intersection of Education and Politics Title 