Cuomo Campaign Rakes in Endorsements as It Tries To Re-Frame New York City Mayor’s Race as Winnable

The Cuomo campaign is raking in endorsements in its final push before election day, working to mobilize its base to the polls and suppress the Curtis Sliwa vote.Buoyed by high early voting numbers among New Yorkers more than 50 years of age, who tend to favor the former governor, the Cuomo campaign is framing this last week of the race as a turnout battle — and one they think they can win. This optimism may be helping convert Republicans — and those who thought the race was a done deal — to back Mr. Cuomo.A former New York City mayor, Mike Bloomberg, donated $1.5 million to a pro-Cuomo super PAC, Fix The City, on Wednesday and announced his endorsement of Mr. Cuomo on social media. This comes as pro-Cuomo super PAC bundlers asked supporters Wednesday for more donations to fund field operations on Staten Island and in the Bronx and to help get older New Yorkers across the city to the polls.Mr. Bloomberg had largely stayed on the sidelines of the general election before this week. He donated $8 million to help elect Mr. Cuomo in the Democratic primary. After Mr. Cuomo got trounced by Democratic Socialist state assemblyman, Zohran Mamdani, Mr. Bloomberg met with the Democratic nominee over the summer. Mr. Cuomo’s narrow path to victory, according to strategists, is only possible if enough Sliwa voters decide at the last minute to vote for Mr. Cuomo. A new Quinnipiac poll released on Wednesday shows 45 percent of likely Republican voters are backing Mr. Cuomo, while 44 percent are supporting Mr. Sliwa. This likely explains why even on Staten Island — a Republican stronghold — the vote is splitting roughly evenly between all three candidates.Another poll, this one by Emerson, released Thursday morning appears to put a wrench in the Cuomo campaign’s framing of the race as winnable. Mr. Mamdani breaks 50 percent in the poll for the first time. Mr. Cuomo trails at 25 percent, with Mr. Sliwa at 21 percent. Critics say the poll’s sampling, though, may be skewed because it only sought responses via text. The Quinnipiac poll shows Mr. Cuomo trailing Mr. Mamdani by 10 points, with Mr. Mamdani at 46 percent and Mr. Cuomo at 33 percent. The Cuomo campaign, though, is framing this as a win. “Make no mistake: the race is tightening, and Andrew Cuomo is closing in fast,” Cuomo campaign spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, said in a statement.“Most importantly — older voters are breaking hard for Cuomo, and they’re the ones showing up early,” Mr. Azzopardi said. “We’ve seen this movie before — in the Bloomberg and Giuliani races, late polls missed the surge of real, working class voters who turn out when it counts.”Mr. Cuomo reportedly called a Republican city council member, Vickie Paladino, on Wednesday to ask her to switch her endorsement from Mr. Sliwa. She is refusing. A Republican City Council member, Inna Vernikov, switched her endorsement from Mr. Sliwa to Mr. Cuomo earlier this week. “As a Republican, of course I supported the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa,” Ms. Vernikov said in a video posted to social media. “But as difficult as it is to accept, reality must set in. And that reality is that Curtis Sliwa cannot beat the danger that is Zohran Mamdani.”A New York Republican congressman, Mike Lawler, threw his support behind Mr. Cuomo on the Sid Rosenberg WABC radio show on Wednesday — but not before calling the former governor a “lying sack of s__t.”“This is about the s__ttiest choice I’ve seen in a mayor’s race — and that’s saying something,” Mr. Lawler said.The chairman of the Staten Island Republican Party, Michael Tanousis, tells The New York Sun there’s no way his base is going all-in for Mr. Cuomo. “All the people on the Democratic side that are calling on Curtis to drop out of the race should have worked harder in their primary,” he says.A moderate Democratic congressman from Long Island and outer Queens, Tom Suozzi, also endorsed Mr. Cuomo on Wednesday, breaking with some leaders of his party, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who endorsed Mr. Mamdani late last week. “I’m a Democratic Capitalist, not a Democratic Socialist. I endorse Andrew Cuomo,” Mr. Suozzi posted to X.Despite the polls, the Cuomo campaign seems to be messaging effectively now that the race is not over — a common perception a month ago. Strategists tell The New York Sun that this election will come down to turnout.Roughly 1.1 million New Yorkers voted in the 2021 mayoral election. Mr. Mamdani won nearly 600,000 votes in the Democratic primary. This means turnout — factoring in Mr. Sliwa and his votes — must surpass 1.5 million if Mr. Cuomo is going to win. High early voting numbers are giving anti-Mamdani Republicans, independents, and Democrats hope.Mr. Cuomo campaigned on Staten Island on Wednesday and in the Bronx on Tuesday. Those were the only boroughs he won in the primary. He also met on Wednesday with Jewish voters in Brooklyn and co-op owners in northern Queens who will be financially hit by Local Law 97, an environmental regulation Mr. Mamdani promises to enforce. These stops are about turning out the base.Others, though, have doubts. “Let’s be honest, how many Cuomo voters are excited, and how many are just voting against the other guy,” a Democratic strategist, Michael Hardaway, tells the Sun. “I think political elites, generally speaking, see this completely wrong. I don’t believe that many voters see Mamdani as radical.”The Democratic Socialists of America sent out a text Wednesday asking supporters to sign up to canvass. The DSA was instrumental in Mr. Mamdani’s primary win, recruiting 50,000 volunteers to knock on one million doors. Mr. Mamdani denied on Tuesday that he is worried about turnout and early voters skewing older.“In one week, Zohran Mamdani could be elected NYC’s socialist mayor. But we need your help to win big, with a governing mandate,” the DSA text said.

Cuomo Campaign Rakes in Endorsements as It Tries To Re-Frame New York City Mayor’s Race as Winnable

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