This blog post was originally published as the inaugural edition of Mayoral Spew, our limited-edition, election-themed email newsletter that is sent out every Tuesday afternoon. Subscribe to Mayoral Spew here and get these stories delivered straight to your inbox.
State of the Race in 30 Seconds
Former governor Andrew Cuomo remains the favorite. No poll has shown him doing anything other than convincingly winning the race since he entered it back in March. But that doesn't mean he's inevitable—State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani has closed within nine points of him in the final round of ranked-choice, according to recent poll numbers, while City Comptroller Brad Lander is in third place. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is brandishing different polling that shows her winning in a general election against Cuomo.
Tonight, Cuomo will finally have to share the stage with his fellow mayoral candidates at the first of two Campaign Finance Board debates sponsored by WNBC and Politico. The stakes are high. The action begins at 7 p.m.
Goo-Goo for Cuomo
Add one of New York City's oldest good government groups to the list of organizations that once called for Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign from office but that are now backing his candidacy to be the next mayor of New York City.
On Tuesday morning, Citizens Union endorsed Cuomo, along with Brad Lander and Zellnor Myrie, as part of a voter guide ahead of the June 24 primary. (No ranking preference was given.)
How did the group, which once accused Cuomo of "fuel[ing] the public's cynicism of government" and called for his impeachment in the summer of 2021, conclude that Cuomo would be a good mayor?
We spoke with Grace Rauh, former NY1 journalist and Citizens Union's current executive director, about the group's choices.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Hell Gate: What is surprising about the endorsement, is both that Citizens Union was extremely critical of Cuomo's ethical choices when he was the governor, and that Cuomo has arguably run the least accessible, least transparent mayoral campaign of anyone in the race, especially for a frontrunner. He doesn't really hold press conferences. He won't disclose the names of the clients he's consulted for while he was out of public office. How does Citizens Union look at all this and say, "Yep, he'd do better as mayor of New York City."
Grace Rauh: As we noted in our candidate write-ups, Citizens Union believes that no single candidate running is perfectly equipped to handle this challenge. But we think New Yorkers should consider these three candidates.
We are clear-eyed about Governor Cuomo's record. We detailed in our write-up how Citizens Union has stood up to Cuomo in the past—the organization sued Cuomo to overturn a law that was aimed at pressuring public charities not to criticize his administration. We opposed his lawsuit against the state ethics commission. The organization was among those who called for his resignation. So all of that is very much on the table and part of our public record detailing our consideration of this race.