Democratic Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is polling well above the current contenders for New York City mayor, including incumbent Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Cuomo, nicknamed the “Love Gov,” was accused of sexually harassing 13 women between 2013 and 2021, including Lindsey Boylan, who he allegedly asked to play strip poker. Nevertheless, he is currently dominating the Democratic New York City mayoral primary field in the polls, with 32% of likely Democratic voters choosing him when asked to choose a favorite candidate, according to Politico.
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Behind Cuomo is former city Comptroller Scott Stringer at 10%, current Comptroller Brad Lander at 8%, Democratic state Sen. Jessica Ramos at 7% and Adams along with Democratic state Assemblymen Zohran Mamdani at 6%, the outlet reported. Another 18% said they were unsure and 3% selected other.
Despite Cuomo’s apparent lead, he had just a 48%-44% positive response — the second-highest negative rating of all poll options besides Adams, according to Politico. Federal prosecutors indicted Adams in September after allegedly receiving campaign donations and free air travel from Turkish officials.
Cuomo, who served as governor of New York from 2011 to 2021, has not officially entered the mayoral race, though reports abound that he has been eyeing a run. The “Love Gov” resigned amid an impeachment inquiry regarding the sexual harassment allegations and was replaced by current Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
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“Cuomo never harassed anyone period,” a spokesman for the former governor told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Five DAs looked at that sham report and didn’t bring a single case and since then a mountain of evidence that has been released making it clearer and clearer.”
Criticism of Cuomo’s time in office extended beyond the sexual misconduct allegations.
In March 2020, the New York State Department of Health issued a one-page order prohibiting nursing homes from denying admission to patients “solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.” At least 4,000 nursing home residents died following the issuance of the rule, with a February report finding over 9,000 hospital patients recovering from COVID-19 were released into New York nursing homes during the early stages of the pandemic due to the directive.
The New York Department of Health quietly deleted the Cuomo administration’s original March 25 nursing home edict, Fox News reported. Cuomo went on to defend not reporting nursing home residents who died at hospitals in August, saying “if the hospital did a better job, they wouldn’t have died.”
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When asked for comment regarding Cuomo’s handling of the nursing home issue, a spokesman referred the DCNF to a Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General report he claimed showed “the federal government corruptly target[ing] the Governor on this issue to help the 2020 election.”
The Cuomo spokesman declined to comment on a prospective mayoral run.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.