Cuomo Says NYC’s Mayoral Race Shows Democratic Party 'Civil War'

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo blasted his rival Zohran Mamdani's candidacy in the race for mayor of New York City as “abhorrent” and the competition as a “battle for the soul” of the Democratic party.

“This is a civil war within the Democratic party where the extreme left is pulling the Democratic party and the moderates are afraid,” Cuomo said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “The Democratic Party is not anti-business, it's not anti-police. That's not who we are.”

Cuomo, 67, is running as an independent and is polling in second place behind Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, in a four-way race that also includes Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams.

Cuomo, who as governor led New York through the Covid-19 pandemic, slammed the 33-year-old Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman, as inexperienced.

“He's going to run 300,000 employees, $115 billion budget. You wake up any morning, you could have a terrorist attack, you could have another COVID,” Cuomo said. “It just demeans government and demeans public service in a way that I just find abhorrent and I'm going to do everything I can to stop it.”

A Suffolk University CityView poll released Tuesday showed Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, leading Cuomo by 20 percentage points. The former governor lost to Mamdani by more than 12 points in the primary election.

Since then, Cuomo has shifted tactics, making himself more available to the media and stepping up campaign appearances in an effort to improve his visibility across New York City.

In the interview Thursday, he shrugged off concerns about the crowded race, saying voters will see there are only two viable candidates. He also denied accusations made by Sliwa earlier this week that he had intermediaries offer the radio talk show host money to drop out of the race.

“It would happen to be a crime,” Cuomo said of Sliwa's allegations, adding that Sliwa should publicly name the individuals who offered him money. “It's all malarkey.”

Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, endorsed Cuomo in the primary and has contributed to a PAC supporting his candidacy.