Andrew Cuomo staying on the ballot in NYC mayor race for November general election, sources say
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will be on the ballot in the November general election for New York City mayor, sources tell CBS News New York's political reporter Marcia Kramer.
Cuomo faced a Friday deadline to withdraw his name from the November ballot.
Friday is the "last day to decline after acceptance if nominee loses party primary," .
The former governor has been considering whether to actively campaign, and sources say he will wait until next week when the next round of ranked choice voting results are released in the Democratic primary.
He previously announced he would run as both a Democrat and independent so he could be on the ballot in November, whether he won the primary or not.
"I am qualified. I have an independent line. That's done. I am right now assessing that landscape and looking at the information and talking to people," Cuomo told Kramer Wednesday.
He told Kramer he was still weighing his options.
"We're going to be looking at the numbers that come in from the primary, and then we have to look at the landscape in the general election, which is a totally different landscape," Cuomo said in the exclusive interview. "There are issues that came up -- the issue of affordability, which the assemblyman spoke to with offering a lot of free services -- and is that feasible? Is that realistic? Can that be done? So, basically, looking at the landscape in the general election, as it develops, and we'll take it one step at a time."
Cuomo's decision comes as Adams launches independent bid
Thursday, Adams formally announced his own independent bid, and immediately took aim at Mamdani's campaign positions, which includes free bus rides, opening city-run grocery stores, and freezing rent for stabilized tenants.
"This is not a city where you use idealism to state you're giving everything to everyone for free. There's no dignity in someone giving you everything for free. There's dignity in giving you a job," Adams said.
Mamdani now finds himself in the national spotlight after his triumph over Cuomo.
"I will be the mayor for every New Yorker, whether you voted for me, for Governor Cuomo, or felt too disillusioned by a long, broken political system to vote at all," Mamdani said.
A new poll by the Honan Strategy Group Thursday has Mamdani and Cuomo statistically tied, with the two both at 39% and Adams at 13%, followed by Republican Curtis Sliwa at 7% and independent Jim Walden at 0%.
The candidates have until the end of the day to withdraw from running on independent lines they qualified for, according to the New York state Board of Election calendar.
