Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is staying in the race to become the next mayor of New York City after suffering an embarrassing loss to socialist Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary.
In a video posted Monday on social media, Mr. Cuomo said the Democratic primary did not go the way he hoped, but he is not done.
“As my grandfather used to say, when you get knocked down, learn the lesson, and pick yourself back up and get into the game, and that is what I am going to do,” Mr. Cuomo said. “The fight to save our city isn’t over — only 13% of New Yorkers voted in the June primary. The general election is in November, and I am in it to win it.”
He kept the focus on stopping Mr. Mamdani, a state assemblyman who rattled the national Democratic Party establishment with his socialist-inspired platform that includes free bus service and government-run grocery stores.
“My opponent, Mr Mamdani, offers slick slogans, but no real solutions,” Mr. Cuomo said.
Mayor Eric Adams, another Democrat running as an independent, is seeking reelection. Curtis Sliwa, a Republican, and Jim Walden, an independent, are also running.
Mr. Cuomo is expected to push for the other candidates in the race to rally in mid-September behind whoever emerges in the polls as the strongest alternative to Mr. Mamdani.
Mr. Walden came up with the idea. However, Mr. Adams and Mr. Silwa have said they plan to stay in the race through Election Day.
Mr. Adams dismissed Mr. Cuomo’s latest plan, saying he has a proven track record of not keeping his word, and saying he “had his opportunity.”
“You can’t trust the guy. The guy will say and do anything to get elected,” Mr. Adams told reporters this week. “Andrew should do for once in his life, do what is best for the city and not what is best for him.”
In 2021, Mr. Cuomo left the governor’s office in disgrace after a series of sexual harassment allegations. He denied that he mistreated women and said the pressure to oust him, which President Biden and most Democrats supported, was politically motivated.
Meanwhile, Mr. Adams was indicted on federal bribery and corruption charges last year, which weakened his re-election odds.
Seeing an opening, Mr. Cuomo announced in March that he was making a political comeback by running to unseat Mr. Adams, who caught a break earlier this year when the Trump Justice Department decided not to pursue the charges against him.
Mr. Cuomo enjoyed the support of the Fix the City super PAC, which had the financial backing of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other well-heeled donors, and spent more than $22 million on his behalf.
But his political baggage and ties to the party establishment proved to be too much to overcome in a Democratic primary in which Mr. Mamdani anchored his message in making the city more affordable, and caught fire.
Mr. Mamdani defeated Mr. Cuomo by nearly 13 points in the party’s ranked-choice primary.