Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign treasury paid about $68,000 to polling firms earlier this year to gauge his popularity as he plotted a return to politics, including a possible run for New York City mayor.
Cuomo, a former three-term governor who resigned in disgrace in August 2021 amid a string of sexual misconduct allegations he denied, paid $67,739 to Expedition Strategies on Jan. 20.
The purpose? “Voting costs,” Andrew Cuomo’s Friends of the Election Committee said in a semiannual report to the State Board of Elections.
He previously hired a polling firm for 2022.
Cuomo was a political exile in the months after his resignation but has managed to regain his presence by starting his own podcast, founding a pro-Israel group that runs ads condemning pro-Hamas protesters and making appearances at churches and civic groups.
“I think he’s going to run for mayor. I have a feeling that’s the case,” said the Rev. Ruben Diaz, a former city councilman and state senator who supports Donald Trump and who arranged for Cuomo to speak to a group of Hispanic pastors in the Bronx after he left office.
Some sources believe Cuomo could enter the mayoral race, even if it means challenging incumbent Mayor Eric Adams.
But Frank Seddio, a former Brooklyn Democratic representative who is close to both Cuomo and Adams, said the former governor is keeping his options open and would likely not run if the incumbent were to run for mayor.
“If Eric doesn’t run, Andrew is the front-runner,” Seddio said.
But Cuomo, who has spoken at Seddio’s Democratic club and dined with him, has “political ambitions” that extend far beyond Gracie Mansion and Albany, said a longtime ally.
“I believe his ultimate goal is to run for president,” Seddio said.
“I’ve known Andrew since he was a teenager, when I ran his father, Mario’s, campaign for mayor of Brooklyn in 1977,” Seddio said, referring to the late former Gov. Mario Cuomo.
“Andrew is one of the best people in politics. The best people in politics are also the most difficult to deal with,” he added.
Through a spokesman, Governor Cuomo declined to comment on the poll, instead pointing to questionable comments he recently made to The Washington Post. The announcement was made on the show “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
“Would you run for mayor or governor?” Maher asked.
“I don’t have a direct answer for you, but I just want you to be aware,” Cuomo said jokingly.
“We don’t have any plans to make any at this time.”
Aside from the sexual harassment scandal, some of Governor Cuomo’s decisions during his term have been criticized, including his decision to place recovering COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals in nursing homes during the peak of the pandemic, as well as his approval of unpopular cashless bail laws and congestion pricing.
Bronx Assemblyman Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said Cuomo has flaws but his return should be taken seriously.
“Andrew Cuomo will be an excellent candidate for whatever office he decides to run for. [But] “He’s missing something, and that’s ability,” Torres said.
“I am simply commenting generally about Andrew Cuomo. I do not comment on the mayoral election.”
