Andrew Cuomo Launches Ad Campaign in Effort to Rehabilitate Image

(Bloomberg) -- Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo formally launched a digital and television advertising campaign on Monday aimed at rehabilitating his image, six months after he resigned over a damning report by the state Attorney General accusing him of multiple sexual-harassment allegations.

The first of the ads, a 30-second spot entitled “Politics vs. the Law,” features a montage of news clips and headlines that seek to suggest the AG's independent investigation into Cuomo that resulted in the report was politicized. Text at the end of the ad reads: “Political attacks won. And New Yorkers lost a proven leader.”

Cuomo's campaign account is spending $370,000 on the ads for the week of Feb. 28 through March 6, according to AdImpact, a media tracking firm. The bulk of the money is concentrated in New York City.

The ad drew immediate rebukes from victim and women's rights organizations.

“Instead of accepting responsibility, serial sexual harasser Andrew Cuomo continues to challenge the accounts of victims,” a group of nine women's rights and advocacy organizations, including Eleanor's Legacy, Amplify Her and Women of Color for Progress, said in a statement Monday.

Members of the Sexual Harassment Working Group -- a group of current and former legislative staffers who have said they were sexually harassed or assaulted in the workplace, and who organized a campaign to change sexual harassment laws in Albany -- said in a statement that Cuomo was “using taxpayer donations to fund his victim-shaming campaign after multiple investigations exposed him for what he truly is: a serial sexual harasser who fostered a toxic, hostile work environment.”

Cuomo, 64, has $16.4 million left in his campaign account, a sizable war chest that he's been using to pay for legal and consulting expenses. Cuomo spent $2.09 million in recent months, including $1.8 million on legal expenses, according to January filings from the state's campaign finance board.

He's faced an array of criminal and civil probes from local, state and federal investigators, and has fought against efforts by the state's ethics commission to claw back more than $5 million he received for a 2020 book about his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Seeking ‘Vindication'

The ad campaign comes after Cuomo told Bloomberg News this month that if he had it all to do over again, he wouldn't have resigned. Cuomo said he feels “vindicated,” after four different New York District Attorneys decided not to prosecute allegations, despite each saying they found Cuomo's accusers credible. A fifth, the Manhattan DA's office, dropped its own inquiry into sexual misconduct allegations.

Cuomo faces a civil suit from a state trooper who was on his security detail and has accused the former governor of harassment. He could face additional civil suits from other accusers.

In the Feb. 7 interview, Cuomo blamed his downfall on New York Attorney General Letitia James, who appointed the independent prosecutors who conducted the investigation.

Following months of speculation about a return to public office, he said he wasn't ruling out another run but that it was too soon to talk about a political comeback.

Recent public polling shows there's currently little public appetite for his return. A Feb. 22 Siena College poll showed 60% of New Yorkers have an unfavorable view of Cuomo, and 33% favorable. The poll also showed that 80% of New Yorkers believe Cuomo made the right decision last August when he decided to resign, compared to 13% who said it was the wrong decision.