Is he making a comeback?
Andrew Cuomo reportedly commissioned a poll that asks New York City voters several questions pertaining to their opinions on the former governor and whether they’d vote for him.
Screenshots shared with City & State on Oct. 1 revealed a Cuomo-heavy poll gauging opinions on the former governor, and testing how he would fare in hypothetical matchups among candidates for mayor and for governor. Two pollsters who did not conduct the survey reviewed the questions for City & State and concluded that the poll must have been performed on behalf of the former governor.
“There is no other possible candidate who would commission this poll,” one of the pollsters said, while the other said it was “extraordinarily unlikely” that anyone else would pay for a poll examining Cuomo’s opportunities and liabilities so intently.
Campaign finance records show that Cuomo paid Expedition Strategies nearly $70,000 for polling costs in January. Screenshots from a poll in November 2023 that was apparently from Cuomo also bear similarities to the new poll shared with City & State.
The survey asked respondents who they would vote for in two potential mayoral elections.
The first matchup included Cuomo, Adams, city Comptroller Brad Lander, former city Comptroller Scott Stringer and state Sens. Jessica Ramos and Zellnor Myrie. With the exception of Cuomo, that list included every candidate who has already announced their intention to run for mayor next year. The second matchup included most of the same names but excludes Adams and adds in state Attorney General Letitia James, city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, state Sen. John Liu and former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
Although the poll focused heavily on mayoral prospects, it actually began with questions about a potential race for governor. The survey posed three hypothetical matchups for the 2026 gubernatorial primary: a three-way race between Hochul, Cuomo and James; a two-way race between Hochul and Cuomo; and a different two-way race between Cuomo and James. City & State previously reported that Cuomo told former Gov. David Paterson that he would rather be governor again than run for mayor, though he would settle for mayor.
Adams has repeatedly denied that he will resign but speculation has spread in the past week about who would potentially run in a special election if Adams is removed from office.
Although the poll focused heavily on mayoral prospects, it actually began with questions about a potential race for governor. The survey posed three hypothetical matchups for the 2026 gubernatorial primary: a three-way race between Hochul, Cuomo and James; a two-way race between Hochul and Cuomo; and a different two-way race between Cuomo and James. City & State previously reported that Cuomo told former Gov. David Paterson that he would rather be governor again than run for mayor, though he would settle for mayor.
In addition to testing hypothetical election matchups, the poll asked a series of questions specifically about Cuomo. (“This survey only has time to focus on one of the potential candidates for Mayor,” the poll advised respondents. “Next you will see some questions about Andrew Cuomo.”) The poll assessed voters’ opinions on his past scandals – including his acceptance of a $5 million advance to write a book (with the assistance of his aides) about his pandemic response while it was still ongoing, his handling of COVID in nursing homes, allegations of sexual harassment (which he has denied) and having a poor working relationship with leadership in the state Legislature – along with potential defenses of his behavior.
On Friday, not long after the apparent Cuomo poll went out to voters, Marist College released a poll on New York City that included a question about whether Cuomo should run for mayor. It found that 55% of New York City residents do not want him to run, while 44% do.
The Marist poll found that 63% of white New Yorkers do not want Cuomo to run for mayor, but 54% of Black New Yorkers and 51% of Latino New Yorkers do. Additionally, 52% of New Yorkers who make under $50,000 a year support the idea of him running.
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