Governor Cuomo will speak today at the South Bronx, a community that has overwhelmingly supported the governor’s political efforts in the past, as the idea that he is considering a run for office in November gains traction.

Mr. Cuomo’s Saint Patrick’s Day visit will follow weeks of public attention over his record — which is the subject of a recent political ad by the former governor as well as an audit on Covid nursing home deaths released by the state comptroller.

Mr. Cuomo is heading to the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization at the South Bronx on the invitation of Council Member Rubén Diaz Sr., a former state senator and Pentecostal minister.

“We will respectfully hear what he has to say and what he would like to share with our community,” Mr. Diaz said of the event.

This will be Mr. Cuomo’s second public appearance since resigning as governor last August following allegations of sexual harassment.

Bronx County has been a bastion of support for the governor over the years. In the 2018 gubernatorial race he won with more than 90 percent of the vote in the general election and 56 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary.

Mr. Diaz himself ran to represent New York’s 15th district in Congress in 2020 as a Stetson-wearing conservative Democrat. He lost in the Democratic primary to Representative Ritchie Torres. Mr. Diaz won about 14 percent of the primary vote.

On Wednesday, a CNBC report from an unidentified source familiar with Mr. Cuomo said the governor is considering a bid for office in 2022.

Mr. Cuomo’s team is reportedly conducting internal polling on a matchup against Governor Hochul. Combined with a recent flurry of activity and new TV ads, many have speculated that he will run.

Mr. Cuomo would have until April 7 to submit a petition in order to appear on ballots in a party primary this June. If the governor ran as an independent he would have until May 17 to submit a petition.

Medium Buying reports the Friends of Andrew Cuomo have spent $2.74 million on ads since February 28. Mr Cuomo’s operation maintains a $16 million war chest from fundraising while he was governor.

A recent ad titled “The Record” focuses on Mr. Cuomo’s time in office, pointing to accomplishments such as raising the minimum wage.

A different record was called into question when the state comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, released an audit confirming that Mr. Cuomo’s Department of Health had underreported the Covid death toll in nursing homes by as much as 50 percent between April 2020 and February 2021.

“The public was misled by those at the highest level of state government through distortion and suppression of the facts when New Yorkers deserved the truth,” Mr. DiNapoli said. “Our audit findings are extremely troubling.”

“As the number of out-of-facility deaths were reported last January, this is not news,” Mr. Cuomo’s spokesman, Richard Azzopardi, said. “However, what is peculiar is the comptroller’s release of this audit now — but no one has ever accused him of being above politics.”

The governor’s previous ad was released shortly before an appearance at Brooklyn at God’s Battalion of Prayer at Crown Heights.

While there Mr. Cuomo signaled that he had been leaning on scripture in recent times and suggested he would be returning in some way in the future, saying, “God isn’t finished with me yet.”

Mr. Diaz, a member of the clergy himself, drew attention to Mr. Cuomo’s situation after comparing his electoral chances to Mrs. Hochul’s.

He suggested that Governor Hochul would require Mr. Cuomo’s support to win in 2022, referencing a poll showing Mr. Cuomo trailing Ms. Hochul by only four points in a theoretical Democratic primary.

“I imagine that those points will evaporate very soon and Governor Hochul will have to consider asking Governor Cuomo for his support, if she wishes to be officially elected by the people to the governorship,” Mr. Diaz said.

Mr. Diaz has been an outspoken opponent of LGBTQ activism and was the only Democratic member of the state senate to vote against the Marriage Equality Law in 2011.

Mr. Cuomo on the other hand often touts his role as “a tireless fighter for the rights of the LGBTQ community.” His scheduled appearance with Mr. Diaz has drawn ire from activists in the community.

“Obviously we don’t stand for intolerance of any kind, but what separates the public servants from the politicians is being able to work with people who we don’t always agree with,” Mr. Azzopardi told the Sun. 

“No one can credibly question this governor’s commitment to the LBGTQ community,” he added.