Andrew Cuomo's next steps
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his aides are intensifying an effort to revive his public standing, including discussing how to make his first public appearance since resigning in August, I reported today in The Wall Street Journal.
The Democrat resigned in August after a report overseen by State Attorney General Letitia James concluded he sexually harassed 11 women. Cuomo has denied touching anybody inappropriately, and has said the investigation was politically motivated.
Cuomo and his remaining aides have been calling former allies and political operatives to complain about James, and Cuomo’s team has sent letters and emails attacking her. The former governor’s lawyer has held press briefings to release information about his accusers that she says undermines their credibility and said information favorable to the governor was left out of the James report.
James, also a Democrat, has said the report was corroborated by district attorneys who called the accusers credible and is based on 74,000 pieces of evidence. “Mr. Cuomo’s relentless attacks on these brave women will not mask the truth—he is a serial sexual harasser,” said spokeswoman Delaney Kempner.
After prosecutors in multiple counties said they would not pursue charges in connection with conduct describe in the James report, Cuomo has been attempting to determine the right forum for a speech or appearance that would mark his return to public life, according to people close to him. Some political operatives who have spoken with Cuomo or his aides said they think he is considering a run for attorney general.
The people said Cuomo never explicitly mentioned a campaign, but they inferred his interest based on the points he made about James and questions he asked about the state’s political climate. Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi denied any interest, saying, “There are a lot of silly rumors running around this town, and we can’t help it if some people are still fixated on us.”
“He’s most interested in clearing his name,” New York State Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs, who last spoke with Cuomo around Thanksgiving, told me. “My advice would be, he needs time to pass before any moves to re-enter public life. But is that possible in the future? In America, anything’s possible.”
There is still something of a Cuomo base. A number of people active online — mostly women, and many from other states — have been engaging with Cuomo news on social media and sending small-dollar donations to his campaign committee, as the New York Times chronicled last week. My colleagues Khadeeja Safdar and Katie Honan went to a “Women for Cuomo” rally in April and found most of the attendees were over 50.
But are these people the tip of the spear or the ceiling of support? Cuomo’s campaign filing doesn’t show any recent expenditures for polling, and he hasn’t appeared in the public Siena College Research Institute surveys since October. At that time, the poll found him second in a crowded primary field — ahead of James.
COMING UP: A legal fight over redistricting. A group of voters represented by a former Republican state senator filed a lawsuit Thursday in state court, saying the Democrat-drawn lines for Congress violate state constitutional provisions against favoring a particular party. As Aaron Zitner and I reported, lawsuits using state provisions have gotten lines thrown out in Ohio and North Carolina this cycle. We’ll see how New York’s courts interpret it — this is the first redistricting cycle for which the anti-gerrymandering language has been in place.
THE QUESTION: Andrew Cuomo isn’t the only former governor to contemplate a political comeback. What office did former Gov. Eliot Spitzer run for in 2013 — five years after his resignation?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: “Succession” was the last show broadcast on HBO that had scenes filmed in Albany. Shiv is shown in the Legislative Office Building and at a playground in the Empire State Plaza when she is supposedly in Washington, D.C.