WFP on Andrew Cuomo in general elex: ‘Likelihood he earns the Party’s support is close to none.’

The New York Working Families Party will not commit to putting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on its ballot line in the general election – even if he wins the New York City mayoral Democratic primary, the party told City & State. 

“Any candidate is welcome to make the case to the Working Families Party,” party co-director Ana Maria Archila said in a statement. “Knowing Andrew Cuomo’s record of sexual harassment, corruption, and abuses of power the likelihood he earns the Party’s support is close to none.” (Cuomo has denied allegations of sexual harassment, and has not been charged with a crime.)

If Cuomo wins the Democratic primary, that could set off a scenario where Cuomo runs not only against the presumptive Republican nominee, Guardian Angels Founder Curtis Sliwa, but one of the four WFP endorsees: New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Comptroller Brad Lander, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie or Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani. The WFP has not ranked the candidates on its primary slate thus far. 

The WFP’s hedging comes as New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday confirmed he will run as an independent candidate in this year’s general election. As Politico first reported, the incumbent mayor is skipping the crowded Democratic primary, launching his independent campaign in earnest now that federal corruption charges against him have been permanently dropped. In a heavily Democratic city, the mayor’s move, coupled with the WFP’s hesitance to support the Democratic front-runner, has shifted the energy of campaign season away from the primary and toward the general election.

With Adams now making his independent reelection bid official, there’s a world where not two, not three, but four major candidates could be on the ballot in November’s general election. Add in attorney Jim Walden, also making an independent run, and you’ve got five. 

To Archila, the reasoning for not putting Cuomo on the party line in November is simple: “Andrew Cuomo has not sought the endorsement of the WFP in his race for mayor. Our ballot line is earned, not given.” 

The WFP frequently endorses the Democratic nominee in the general election even after not supporting that candidate in the primary. For example, the WFP backed Jumaane Williams in his 2022 race for governor, but they threw their support behind Gov. Kathy Hochul after she won the Democratic primary. And in 2018, it ceded its gubernatorial line to Cuomo himself in the general election –  albeit reluctantly – after it backed Cynthia Nixon in the primary. Endorsing the mainstream Democrat in the general election at the state level is a survival necessity. The party needs to notch 130,000 votes to keep its ballot line.

The bad blood between Cuomo and the WFP runs deep. Cuomo took aim at the party in 2019, increasing the number of votes they need to maintain their line from 50,000. Before the mayor officially left the Democratic primary, the party had been vocally aligned with the so-called DREAM strategy: Don’t rank Eric or Andrew for mayor.

Archila said Cuomo is welcome to seek the WFP line for the general election – and that he’d “have the opportunity to make his case.” But unlike in a gubernatorial election, in a municipal one, the party does not face the same pressure to maintain its ballot line, and would “not be under the gun of having to make a deal” with the Democratic nominee. They could, therefore, choose not to use the party line in November at all.  “It's not existential for us, whether we have a candidate in the general election in New York City or not – which means that we don't have to necessarily have a candidate that won the primary,” she told City & State. 

Asked for comment on the matter, Cuomo campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi did not directly address the WFP or its endorsement in a text to City & State. “New Yorkers know it was Governor Cuomo who raised wages for millions, passed the strongest paid family leave and gun violence prevention laws in the nation and built the Second Avenue Subway, the Moynihan Train Station and the new Kosciuszko Bridge, LaGuardia and JFK airports,” Azzopardi wrote. “He has the record, the experience, and the leadership needed to make New York City a more affordable and safer place for all and that’s what this is all going to come down to.”

Andrew Epstein, a spokesperson for Mamdani, said the campaign is “100% focused on running in the Democratic primary.” Mamdani currently leads the pack of WFP endorsees in the polls.