Andrew Cuomo finally facing rivals with three weeks to go in NYC mayor primary – NBC New York
The frontrunner in the Democratic race to become the next mayor of New York City has so far avoided face-to-face meetings with his rivals, who presently all trail him in the polls. That ends this week.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is set to debate up to eight other competitors in the Democratic mayoral primary debate on Wednesday, June 4 (nine candidates have qualified, according to the NYC Campaign Finance Board).
Any campaigns that receive matching funds through the city are required to participate in two debates before the primary, dated for June 24. Early voting opens on June 14.
For months now, the candidates have been crisscrossing the five boroughs to garner endorsements and build name recognition on the campaign trail. Many of candidates have been attending forums and rallies to get out their messaging and take questions from the public. Cuomo has been noticeably absent from these.
In some stops along the trail, several of the candidates have appeared united against Cuomo. As the frontrunner, he’s likely to be the target of most of the other candidates during Wednesday’s debate.
The former governor has stumbled twice now, having been docked by the Campaign Finance Board, which believes Cuomo’s team broke campaigning rules by illicitly coordinating with a billionaire-funded super PAC supporting him.
On Friday, the CFB announced it was withholding an additional $675,000 in matching funds. The Cuomo campaign has lost out on $1.3 million funds in total.
Campaigns are not supposed to coordinate with outside super PACs. In the case of the Cuomo campaign, the finance board suspects language posted on the former governor’s campaign website was intentionally meant to send signals to the super PAC about how to market their candidate.
A spokesperson for the Cuomo campaign called the CFB’s position unfounded, insisting they have operated in complete compliance with the laws and adding their own lawyers approved the language on their website. Cuomo’s team is appealing the latest CFB decision.
At the same time, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams qualified for her first public matching funds after entering the race later than the rest of the pack.
Adams’ camp earned $2 million on Friday that she can spend on TV ads for the upcoming primary. She is seeking to become the first woman mayor of New York and has shown growth potential in some polls despite being at a financial disadvantage.
State Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, who runs in second place in most polls behind Cuomo, surprised many closely watching the race when he called on his supporters to donate funds to Adams’ campaign.
Late Friday, Mamdani received a significant boost from the Working Families Party, which announced its decision to support ranking the candidate first on the primary ballot, followed by City Comptroller Brad Lander, Adams, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and state Sen. Jessica Ramos.
NYC Democratic mayoral primary debate: What to know
NBC 4 New York/WNBC, Telemundo 47/WNJU and POLITICO New York will partner together to host the debate on June 4.
The list of qualified candidates for the debate, according to the NYC Campaign Finance Board (in alphabetical order) are:
- Adrienne Adams
- Michael Blake
- Andrew Cuomo
- Brad Lander
- Zohran Mamdani
- Zellnor Myrie
- Jessica Ramos
- Scott Stringer
- Whitney Tilson
The debate will begin at 7 p.m., airing live on WNBC-TV and across WNBC’s and WNJU-TV’s streaming and digital platforms, including the NBC 4 New York and Telemundo Noreste streaming channels.
Source link
