Former Critics Who Demanded Cuomo Resign Are Now Endorsing Him For New York Mayor

Many of Cuomo’s former detractors have abruptly reversed course without publicly reckoning with his controversy-laden past, leaving little explanation as to why elected officials who once deemed him unfit for public office now want him to run the nation’s largest city.

Cuomo’s comeback is no accident — it’s the result of four years of steadfast campaigning behind the scenes to rebrand his image. Now, a roster of New York power players is throwing its weight behind his campaign, propelling him back into the political limelight.

A POLITICO review of Cuomo’s touted endorsers found that few of those top backers stood by him in 2021. As of Monday afternoon, his website featured a growing list of endorsements from unions, a wide range of community leaders and organizations and 42 current and former elected officials. Of those 42 politicians, 18 had criticized him four years ago — and many who did not simply weren’t holding office at the time and weren’t releasing public statements.

Just six endorsers were both in office four years ago and did not publicly criticize him at that time.

“At the time, there were accusations flying around, but not a lot of facts. Four years later, the facts have all come out,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said when asked why former critics are now supporting him. Five prosecutors who looked into the sexual harassment allegations opted against bringing criminal charges against Cuomo.

Today, Cuomo’s endorsers laud his experience and long career as a politician. But many of them had pushed to bring that very career to an end just four years ago.

In 2021, twin scandals engulfed the then-governor as New York Attorney General Letitia James released two damning reports: One found that the Cuomo administration had undercounted Covid-19 nursing home deaths by up to 50 percent and the other concluded that he had sexually harassed 11 women.

A week after the report on harassment was released, Cuomo resigned under immense public pressure, following threats of impeachment and widespread calls for him to step down.

That was then. Today, Cuomo is a front-runner in the mayoral race, a position he has held for months, though recent polling suggests a narrowing margin, putting him neck-and-neck with democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.

Now Democratic voters will decide whether, as Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) predicted, Cuomo’s political return will be the “comeback story of the 2025 election.”

Cuomo’s attempt at political redemption

Cuomo started plotting a political comeback just months after he resigned. He quickly said he regretted leaving office and felt vindicated after prosecutors declined to bring charges against him.

The ex-governor laid low for years as he waited for an opportunity to return to politics.

He quietly did some legal consulting work to pay the bills. He formed a group meant to promote federal action on firearms, but didn’t do anything with it, The New York Times reported. He created a nonprofit organization meant to counter antisemitism, but had very little to show for it in terms of results. Still, it was a cause he could promote and fundraise for among politically connected New Yorkers in the Hamptons and on the Upper West Side.

Legal issues from his scandals as governor continued to dog Cuomo. His lawyers, funded by the state, defended him against three sexual harassment lawsuits. One accuser has dropped her suit, the other two cases are still ongoing. And he was called to testify in September 2024 before a Republican-led House panel investigating the Covid pandemic. That resulted in a criminal referral and, reportedly, an ongoing federal investigation into whether he lied about nursing home data.

Throughout this time, Cuomo was clearly angling to run for office — and eyeing Gracie Mansion by late 2023. But the word among those who talked to him was he wouldn’t challenge the incumbent Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, whose views were mostly simpatico with his.

But late last year, things fell into place. Adams was indicted on federal corruption charges, and polling showed the unpopular mayor losing even more support. Donald Trump won the presidential race, which gave Cuomo an old foe to run against — and a new playbook for a political comeback. Then Adams embraced Trump, and while the Republican administration ended up dropping the charges, the saga made the mayor so politically toxic among Democrats that Cuomo saw an opening.

On March 1, Cuomo officially launched his bid for mayor of New York City in a 17-minute video. He acknowledged making “mistakes” as governor, without getting into specifics.

One by one, his former critics began to sing his praises. Soon, dozens joined the chorus of voices supporting him.

Most Cuomo endorsers have touted his experience

Cuomo was governor for 11 years and state attorney general for four before that, and he was a major figure in the Democratic Party, including serving as HUD secretary under former President Bill Clinton.

Many endorsement messages point to his track record, on both policy and politics, as a main reason for supporting him. Several used language describing the city as being in a crisis, or an inflection point.

Endorsers mentioned Cuomo rebuilding LaGuardia Airport, opening the Second Avenue Subway and other big infrastructure projects, but also his role leading the state during the pandemic.

The fact that he’s publicly battled with Trump before — over Covid, immigration raids and more — is a pillar of his campaign, and was held up by supporters as well.

Some played down allegations from his past or sought to move past them

When they backed Cuomo’s campaign, most endorsers didn’t acknowledge the fact that he had resigned under pressure four years earlier. Those that did made only vague references to the scandals.

State Sen. Jessica Ramos, for example, had been among Cuomo’s harshest critics for years and is running against him in next week’s primary. After the first mayoral primary debate just a few weeks ago, she said in an interview, “I wish I lived in a city where voters cared about women getting harassed.”

But with no path to victory herself, she endorsed her former rival this month — suggesting the good outweighed the bad.

Others said he deserved a second chance

Cuomo has said the sexual harassment allegations against him were political in nature and that people were caught up in the moment. But the #MeToo movement has lost momentum since 2021. And Cuomo, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence, has emphasized that he was never found guilty — or even charged.

That’s meaningful to some supporters like former Gov. David Paterson. After Cuomo resigned, he called him “a person who likes to bully people around.” But upon endorsing him in June, he noted that years had passed since the allegations surfaced.

“The one thing that did not happen during that time is he was never charged,” Paterson said. “So I'm a believer that until you have convicted someone, it's really hard to make judgments about what they do.”

And then there’s the politics of it, whatever they may say publicly

Everyone loves a winner, and Cuomo was a favorite in the race even before he jumped in. Here was a man who had been elected governor three times and whose father, Mario Cuomo, had been elected governor three times before that. And he’s running against a wide field of candidates who aren’t as well-known nor have his fundraising ability.

This was also a man who gathered power and knew how to wield it, and had a well-known streak for vengeance. Those qualities were another reason for legislators — who had battled with him for years — being so eager to oust him in 2021, with James’ sexual harassment report as the catalyst.

Those same qualities of power and vengeance may have inspired some endorsements this year, from people who wanted to stay on Cuomo’s good side.

“The truth always sets you free. People have always been able to examine the record, and they made their own choices,” Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesperson, said when asked about critics becoming supporters.

There’s also the Mamdani factor.

The 33-year-old democratic socialist’s campaign has surged in popularity, and he’s a serious contender for the primary. Many Cuomo supporters have made clear that they don’t trust the leftist upstart to lead the city and that the ex-governor is the only candidate strong enough to defeat him.

Even The New York Times Editorial Board, which called on Cuomo to resign in 2021, seemed to reluctantly advise voters that Cuomo “would be better for New York’s future than Mr. Mamdani.”

The steady stream of powerful figures going back to endorse the man they once demanded resign has shocked many New Yorkers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She has endorsed a slate of five mayoral candidates — and specifically asked supporters to not rank Cuomo on their ballots.

“For those same people who called on him to resign, to stand behind him and endorse him for mayor of New York City,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a Mamdani rally Saturday, “I will tell you: As a survivor of sexual assault, I will never unsee that ever again.”

Then and now: Cuomo’s critics-turned-endorsers, in their own words

Paula Friedrich contributed to this report.