For greater than a decade, Andrew M. Cuomo held sway over New York because the state’s chief govt and de facto Democratic chief, doing all that he may to maintain his occasion answerable for the governor’s mansion.
Even after he resigned in shame final yr, Mr. Cuomo made clear that he was not achieved exerting his affect, asserting the creation of a brilliant PAC that might again like-minded Democrats working for state and federal workplace.
But with just some days till Election Day, and with Democrats in New York dealing with fierce challenges from Republicans this midterm election, there are few indicators that Mr. Cuomo has achieved a lot to assist Democrats.
The tremendous PAC he promised to create has not materialized, with a spokesman saying it is not going to be up and working till the subsequent election cycle.
And though Mr. Cuomo left workplace with roughly $18 million in unspent marketing campaign funds, he has largely used the donated cash to cowl his authorized and image-building bills, to not dole out massive sums to native occasion committees or to help Democrats in aggressive swing districts.
With little obvious curiosity in instantly serving to a Democratic Party that shunned him after a number of ladies accused him of sexual harassment, Mr. Cuomo has, for now, discovered extra consolation providing political commentary from the sidelines — even when it’s criticism directed at his personal occasion.
On Tuesday, the previous governor was noticed taking selfies and conducting man-on-the-street fashion interviews with passers-by within the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan for an episode of his just lately launched podcast. The episode centered on crime and the midterm elections.
On Wednesday, he known as right into a radio station, WABC, to criticize Democrats for being “tongue-tied” on public security, one of many points that has outlined the races for governor and Congress. “I don’t know why they can’t be more aggressive addressing the issue of crime,” he said.
Mr. Cuomo additionally hasn’t precisely supplied a ringing endorsement of his successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul. Polls present that Ms. Hochul is in an more and more shut race towards her Republican challenger, Representative Lee Zeldin.
Mr. Cuomo told Cindy Adams, the New York Post gossip columnist, that Ms. Hochul was New York’s “best alternative” within the race. In October, he told The Associated Press that he hoped that Ms. Hochul would win, saying, “I’ll watch the returns. I just won’t have as much anxiety and stress and heartburn.”
Mr. Cuomo has steadily drawn down his marketing campaign battle chest since resigning in August 2021 — he has simply over $10 million left, in accordance with state filings from July. Much of it went towards rehabilitating his picture as he thought-about a political comeback earlier this yr: He spent over $93,000 in polling, tens of hundreds of {dollars} on his authorized protection and hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in television ads aimed toward a make over.
Since resigning, he seems to have made only two political contributions, every for $4,700 to Democrats within the State Assembly who had been dealing with major challenges from candidates backed by the left-leaning Working Families Party, a longtime nemesis of Mr. Cuomo.
One donation went to Assemblywoman Vivian Cook of Queens, one of many lawmakers who signed a letter in March 2021 urging the general public to attend for the conclusion of an investigation into the claims towards Mr. Cuomo earlier than calling on him to resign.
He additionally donated to Assemblywoman Inez Dickens of Harlem, who defended Mr. Cuomo final yr by questioning the motivations of a few of the ladies who accused him. In an interview, Ms. Dickens mentioned she reached out to Mr. Cuomo for assist, saying, “I had a socialist running against me and I had to raise money, so I reached out to everybody that I knew.”
Ms. Dickens mentioned that despite the fact that Mr. Cuomo seemingly felt “burned” by his occasion, she believed he would search to remain related by a brilliant PAC somewhat than by public workplace, saying that he “can be just as relevant by being a king and queen maker.”
A federal PAC that Mr. Cuomo created in 2018 to assist Democrats take management of the House has likewise been dormant, making no contributions this cycle.
In 2018, the PAC — known as “Cuomo NY Take Back the House” — raised $47,000 that it disbursed to twenty House candidates in battleground districts, together with 10 in New York. That included $2,700 to Antonio Delgado, the previous Hudson Valley congressman now working as Ms. Hochul’s lieutenant governor.
“Anyone who has asked for help, formally or informally, has received it and the governor, who is deeply concerned, is standing by to help any way he can in the coming days,” mentioned Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo. (Bulldog Strategies, Mr. Azzopardi’s disaster communications and public relations agency, has obtained $125,000 from the marketing campaign this yr, in accordance with filings posted in July.)
Even if Mr. Cuomo has retained good will amongst some Democratic voters, he stays largely a pariah amongst members of the occasion institution, most of which known as on him to resign final yr and rapidly turned the web page on his decade-long tenure. Indeed, his assist or presence on the marketing campaign path may quantity to an inconvenience for Democrats, resurfacing a blemish on the occasion’s model within the remaining stretch of the elections.
Nor is there any indication that Democrats are actively searching for assist from the previous governor, who has denied wrongdoing.
Ms. Hochul has said that she wouldn’t welcome his endorsement, saying that New Yorkers wished to “look forward.” And any involvement by Mr. Cuomo could possibly be assault fodder for Mr. Zeldin, who has sought to link Ms. Hochul, who served as Mr. Cuomo’s lieutenant governor for seven years, to his scandals, calling her “Cuomo 2.0.”
“The circumstances in which he left would make it really difficult for him to go out there and campaign for any other candidate at this point,” mentioned Mario Cilento, the president of the New York State AFL-CIO, a former ally of Mr. Cuomo’s, including that there was “a lot of enthusiasm” within the labor motion to elect Ms. Hochul.
Yet it’s unclear what number of Democrats would really eschew monetary assist from Mr. Cuomo. Representative Jerry Nadler, for instance, just lately told Politico that he would haven’t any downside taking his cash.
The New York Times reached out to 5 Democrats locked in aggressive House races in New York asking if they’d settle for marketing campaign contributions from Mr. Cuomo or welcome outdoors spending from a Cuomo PAC on their behalf.
Only one House candidate mentioned he wouldn’t settle for “any overt or behind-the-scenes help” from Mr. Cuomo, although he refused to be recognized.
Max Rose, who’s working in a New York City district that features Staten Island and elements of Brooklyn, and has obtained cash from Mr. Cuomo in previous campaigns, didn’t return a request for remark. A spokesman for Francis Conole, a Democrat working in Syracuse, declined to remark, including that “it’s not something we’ve even thought about.”
Laura Gillen and Robert Zimmerman, a pair of Democrats working on Long Island, additionally declined to remark.
Mr. Zimmerman, nevertheless, has obtained assist from one Cuomo who seems to be extra politically concerned this election cycle: Maria Cuomo, the previous governor’s sister, donated $2,900 to Mr. Zimmerman in April.
[my_adsense_shortcode_1]
Source link
[my_taboola_shortcode_1]
