With the 2025 mayoral race slowly coming into focus, one name has loomed over the growing field of candidates, and it’s not the incumbent.
Former governor Andrew Cuomo has been mulling a potential bid for City Hall as Mayor Eric Adams attempts to navigate a reelection campaign against the backdrop of federal criminal charges and slipping approval numbers. While Cuomo has yet to officially toss his hat into the ring, a new poll indicates that plenty of good will remains toward the three-term governor despite the tumultuous end to his tenure.
In the poll, obtained by Politico, 32 percent of likely Democratic voters named Cuomo as their preferred candidate in the race. Former comptroller Scott Stringer was second with 10 percent followed by current comptroller Brad Lander with 8 percent and State Senator Jessica Ramos at 7 percent. Adams was tied with little-known State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani at 6 percent, and State Senator Zellnor Myrie generated 1 percent. Eighteen percent of respondents indicated they were “unsure.” The survey was commissioned by Progressives for Democracy in America and conducted by Hart Research Associates from December 16 to 22.
Adams acknowledged the poll during his weekly press conference Monday by holding up a printout of a February 2021 poll that showed entrepreneur Andrew Yang leading him in the mayoral race that he eventually won. “So in February, Andrew was kicking my rear. And you know what? We don’t say Mayor Yang. We say Mayor Adams,” he said. “So, polls don’t make mayors. People do.”
In 2021, Cuomo resigned as governor following the release of a report by State Attorney General Letitia James alleging that he engaged in numerous instances of sexual harassment while in office. Cuomo has long denied all of the claims against him and recently indicated his plans to sue one of his accusers, Charlotte Bennett, for defamation. Though out of public office, Cuomo has remained in the public eye, speaking at neighborhood churches and weighing in on the political issues of the day such as the federal government’s handling of the migrant crisis.
The poll’s findings do not bode well for Adams, to say the least. And bad numbers are just one of his many problems at the moment. In recent weeks, members of the mayor’s top appointees have exited the administration after federal investigators conducted raids on their homes. In September, federal prosecutors indicted Adams himself, alleging that he knowingly solicited illegal foreign campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign. Adams has denied all charges; his trial is set to begin in April, just two months before the mayoral primary.
Despite his pending legal troubles, Adams made it clear at his recent State of the City address that he has no plans to leave office or drop his reelection bid. “There were some who said, ‘Step down.’ I said, ‘No, I’m gonna step up. I’m gonna step up,’” Adams said.
