Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo will stay on ballot as independent for New York City mayor

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo will remain on the ballot in November as an independent after his stunning defeat Tuesday in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, as Cuomo lost two powerful labor endorsements.

Friday at midnight was the legal deadline to remove himself from the ballot, according to Vincent Ignizio, deputy executive director of the city Board of Elections, and no removal request for Cuomo was received by board staff. But it's unclear whether he'll actually mount an active campaign. 

Meanwhile, two labor unions that had endorsed Cuomo in the primary — the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and 32BJ — have switched to Mamdani.

Within hours of the votes being tallied Tuesday night, Cuomo, 67, conceded the primary to Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist who represents parts of northwest Queens in the State Assembly. “Tonight is his night," Cuomo said. "He deserved it. He won."

Mamdani has promised to push for higher taxes on the rich to fund social programs like free child care and buses and municipal-run grocery stores, as well as imposing a rent freeze on regulated apartments.

While the primary's winner won't be formally declared until July 1 under the ranked choice voting system, Mamdani seems to be insurmountably ahead, according to board tallies: 43.51% of first-choice votes to Cuomo’s 36.42%, and 11.31% going to city Comptroller Brad Lander, with 96% of scanners reporting. And because Mamdani and Lander cross-endorsed each other, Lander voters are likely to have ranked Mamdani second.

In an interview Wednesday with WCBS-TV/2, Cuomo explained why he had left the door open to staying on the ballot.

“There are about 5 million voters in New York City, there are about 8 million people in New York City, and about 1 million people vote in the Democratic primary,” Cuomo said. “So it's not necessarily representative of the city at large. That's why I qualified for an independent line in November.”

Cuomo, who resigned the governorship in 2021 amid scandals over his stewardship of the COVID-19 pandemic and allegations of sexual harassment, entered the race in March. He mostly shunned the public stage during his campaign, relying instead on endorsements, name recognition and super PACs funded mostly by corporations and billionaires. 

In the aftermath of the election, Mamdani told CNN that he wasn't worried Cuomo would win in the general election. 

“Ultimately Andrew’s decision and my decision matters less than the decision that voters already took on Tuesday night,” Mamdani said. As for whether he'd beat Cuomo in November, he said: “We did it once and it turned out pretty well.”

November's ballot will also list the incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams, whose popularity had tanked since he was investigated and indicted for alleged campaign finance crimes, a case the Trump administration ordered dismissed. 

On Thursday, he kicked off his independent run for reelection. 

Adams this week met with wealthy businesspeople — some donors to Cuomo — who are strategizing how to defeat Mamdani, according to The New York Times, potentially throwing support and money behind Adams.  

The race will also include Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder and talk radio host who won Tuesday night's primary unopposed; and attorney Jim Walden, who's running as an independent.  

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated which labor unions had endorsed Zohran Mamdani.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.