How New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Fights for Political Survival

New York Attorney General Letitia James is overseeing an investigation into the allegations of harassment by current and former aides to the governor and is expected to release a report on his findings later this year. Democrats, who monitor the state assembly, are investigating allegations of harassment and the state’s delayed release of a full count of Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have requested data on deaths in nursing homes and are interested in different state policies regarding the facilities, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Mr. Cuomo and his lawyers have said they are cooperating with all investigations. The governor has said he has never touched anyone inappropriately and has apologized if his behavior has made anyone uncomfortable. During a press call on Wednesday, he said he would not answer questions while the probes are pending.

“I have work to do,” said Mr. Cuomo.

Rich Azzopardi, a senior adviser to the governor, said Friday that the government is focusing on expanding New York’s vaccination program and establishing a state budget.

At an event Wednesday, the governor appeared at a Baptist church in Manhattan’s historically Black Harlem neighborhood to receive a coronavirus vaccine. He was praised by Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, and retired Democratic US Representative Charlie Rangel.

Mr Rangel said Mr Cuomo’s critics were piling up, but that “a fair trial and a hearing is actually what we believe in in this country.”

This background was intentional, political agents said. A poll released last week by the Siena College Research Institute found that 50% of the 804 New York voters surveyed did not believe the governor should resign immediately. 69% of black voters said that the governor should not resign.

“Politically he is injured but not dead,” said spokesman Steven Greenberg. Significantly, Mr. Greenberg noted, the percentage of Democrats who said they were willing to re-elect Mr. Cuomo in 2022 had dropped from 65% in February to 46% in March.

Black voters typically represent just under a quarter of the electorate in a Democratic statewide primary, and Mr. Cuomo carried them by a wide margin during his respective primary victories in 2014 and 2018 over Zephyr Teachout and Cynthia Nixon, who are white.

In 2002, days before the Democratic primary for governor, Mr. Cuomo entered the race after polls showed he had little chance of beating then-controller H. Carl McCall, who is black.

On Thursday, Mr. Cuomo flanked by New York Yankees and Mets officials when he announced that fans would be able to attend the teams’ home games when their season kicks off next month. The event was closed to the press, but the news it generated was printed on the front cover of the New York Daily News and Newsday.

Bradley Tusk, founder of political consultancy Tusk Strategies, said the baseball’s announcement was deliberate.

“The governor should buy as much time as possible – both to slow the momentum of the attacks on him and to show the public that he is doing other things,” he said. “The more normalcy returns, the more it will not be overrun with scandals.”

Peter Kauffmann, a communications adviser who advised Mr Cuomo’s first two governmental campaigns, said this strategy was modeled on President Bill Clinton’s response to the Monica Lewinsky scandal in the 1990s. Mr. Cuomo served as housing secretary in Mr. Clinton’s cabinet, and Mr. Kauffmann served for the press service of the Democratic National Commission during Mr. Clinton’s impeachment.

“The problem with his current crisis strategy is that it is 2021 – not 1998, and Andrew Cuomo is not Bill Clinton,” said Mr. Kauffmann, referring to changing cultural norms and the relative charisma of the men.

Mr. Tusk said Ms. James’s investigation posed a significant risk to Mr. Cuomo, and that his remaining support among lawmakers could evaporate if it confirmed the allegations.

Charlie King, who stood up for lieutenant governor along with Mr. Cuomo in 2002 and remains informal adviser to the governor, agreed that the findings of the investigation would be important.

“You have to look at the totality of all the facts as they come out and see what people’s reactions are,” said Mr. King.

THE QUESTION: Who stood next to Mr. Cuomo when he said he ended his governmental bid in 2002?

– Know the answer? Send me an e-mail!

THE LAST ANSWER: Mary Anne Krupsak became the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor after being elected in 1974, along with Hugh Carey, who was elected governor.

Write to Jimmy Vielkind at [email protected]