NYC mayor Adams and former Gov Cuomo clash over 2025 mayoral bids

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and current New York City Mayor Eric Adams are each urging the other to drop their mayoral bids in the 2025 race against Democratic Party nominee Zohran Mamdani.

“I think that everyone should align behind the person who has won one as mayor,” Adams said Monday at a news conference.

Meanwhile, Cuomo’s top advisor argued in a statement that “we do not see any path to victory for Mayor Adams.”

Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist assemblyman from Queens, two weeks ago topped Cuomo by 12 points to win the Democratic Party mayoral primary. Mamdani instantly became the clear frontrunner in November’s general election in heavily blue New York City, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by roughly a six-to-one margin.

MAMDANI OFFICIALLY WINS PRIMARY, BUT CUOMO STAYING IN BATTLE FOR NEW YORK CITY MAYOR

Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani takes the stage at his primary night victory party on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in New Yor City. (Heather Khalifa/AP Photo)

With his victory over Cuomo and nine other Democratic candidates, Mamdani sent political shockwaves across the country, and took a big step towards becoming the first Muslim mayor of the nation’s most populous city.

Cuomo, the three-term governor who resigned from office in 2021 amid multiple scandals and who was aiming for a political comeback, had been the frontrunner in the mayoral primary race for months until Mamdani closed the gap in the closing weeks of the campaign.

MAMDANI’S POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE ROCKS DEMOCRATS 

Mamdani will face off in November against Republican Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the volunteer crime-fighting patrols known as the Guardian Angels. Sliwa is the GOP nominee for a second straight election cycle.

Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is the Republican nominee for New York City mayor for a second straight election cycle. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor running as an independent, is also on the ballot.

Adams, who won election as mayor in 2021 as a Democrat, is running as an independent. The mayor dropped his Democratic re-election bid earlier this year amid sinking poll numbers in the wake of multiple controversies.

While he acknowledged Mamdani’s victory on primary night, Cuomo left the door open for running as an independent candidate, which election rules in New York State permit.

REPUBLICANS USE MAMDANI BOMBSHELL VICTORY OVER CUOMO AS AMMUNITION TO BLAST DEMOCRATS AS EXTREMISTS

And Cuomo recently let a deadline pass for candidates who had already qualified to run as independents to decline that independent ballot line. 

“I think Andrew and Curtis should rally behind me. I won as mayor. You know, I’m the only one that’s in this race right now that has ever won as mayor,” Adams said at his news conference.

New York City mayor Eric Adams and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have each asked each other to drop out of the New York City mayoral race. (Andrea Renault/Star Max/GC Image; Alex Kent/Getty Images)

And in an interview with CNBC, Adams said that in a recent conversation, the former governor asked him to step aside. 

“I said, ‘Andrew, are you that level of arrogant? I’m the sitting mayor!'” Adams said of his conversation with Cuomo. “I’m the sitting mayor of New York City when you just lost to Zohran by 12 points.”

“They heard your message. You lost,” Adams added. “That’s the highest level of arrogance.”

THESE DEMOCRATS HAVEN’T ENDORSED MAMDANI, BUT THEY’RE DEFENDING HIM AGAINST TRUMP

Adams’ poll numbers were sinking even before he was indicted last year on five counts, which accused the mayor of bribery and fraud as part of an alleged “long-running” scheme to personally profit from contacts with foreign officials.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams won election in 2021 as a Democrat but is seeking re-election this year as an independent candidate. (NYC Mayor’s Office)

The mayor made repeated overtures to President Donald Trump, and the Justice Department earlier this year dismissed the corruption charges, so Adams could potentially work with the Trump administration on its illegal immigration crackdown.

“Mayor Adams did not run in the Democratic primary because he knew he was anathema to Democrats and unelectable. Nothing has changed,” top Cuomo advisor Rich Azzopardi charged in a statement on Monday.

And Azzopardi highlighted a proposal made last week by Walden that an independent study should be conducted to see which candidate would be the strongest to take on Mamdani, with the weaker contenders agreeing to drop out.

Azzopardi argued that Walden “correctly points out that if he, Mayor Adams, and Governor Cuomo all run, it all but ensures a socialist victory. Jim proposed a fair independent survey be taken in September to determine whose candidacy and vision for New York is strongest in a one-on-one race in November.”

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a speech to supporters, acknowledges that rival Zohran Mamdani ‘won’ the New York City Democratic Party mayoral primary, on June 24, 2025 in New York, N.Y. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

“This is the time to put aside the usual political selfishness and agree to do what is truly best for all New Yorkers,” Azzopardi added. “While we review this proposal, we call on other candidates to do the same.”

Walden on Monday said in an interview on Fox News Radio’s “Fox Across America with Jimmy Failla” that a Mamdani victory in November “would be terrible for the city and would sit us back a whole generation so I proposed a poll in either late September early October.”

“If the candidates agreed to this we would all agree on a poll that would happen and it would be winner take all,” he explained.

Mamdani surged to a primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living.

Endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — New York City’s most prominent progressive — and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the two-time Democratic presidential runner-up, helped Mamdani solidify support on the left.

Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores.

And thanks in part to the efforts of a massive grassroots army of volunteers, he rode a wave of support from younger and progressive voters to catapult into first place.

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Mamdani’s victory has reignited long-standing debates within the Democratic Party between its more moderate and progressive wings, and between outsiders and the establishment. 

And it’s reignited the debate over whether the party’s policy, or messaging, was to blame for last November’s election setbacks, when Democrats lost control of the White House and Senate, and failed to win back the House majority.