NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo will run on independent ballot line in November

New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that he will run on a new third-party ballot line in the general election, despite his sizable lead in the run-up to the Democratic primary.

The move would allow the former governor to compete in November even if he loses the June primary. And it could help him appeal to non-Democrats in what could be a competitive general election – a rare event in majority-Democratic New York City made more likely by the fact that incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is also running as an independent.

Cuomo said in a statement that he would seek to appeal to “disillusioned Democrats, as well as independents and Republicans” by running on an independent ballot line called “Fight and Deliver.”

Multiple polls show that Cuomo is the front-runner in the Democratic primary with a double-digit lead. Adams, facing record-low approval ratings and a torrent of scandal over his since-dismissed federal indictment, decided to skip the Democratic primary and run as an independent after Cuomo entered the race. Adams plans to run on two ballot lines, “EndAntiSemitism” and “Safe&Affordable.”

On Tuesday, he accused Cuomo of stealing from his playbook.

“I thought the word was ‘I’m going to be like Mike, not I’m going to be like Eric,’” he said, referring to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Cuomo has held up Bloomberg as the only competent manager the city has recently elected as mayor.

The tactic of running on an independent ballot line is not new to Cuomo, who in 2014 launched the Women’s Equality Party in an attempt to win over more women voters. He resigned as governor in 2021 after being found responsible for sexually harassing 11 women, though he denies the accusations.

“It’s just hedging his bets,” said Trip Yang, a democratic strategist. “He is very familiar with running on multiple party lines in a general election.”

Cuomo’s new third-party ballot line means there could be at least five candidates on the ballot in November, including Adams, Cuomo, likely Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, and independent candidate Jim Walden.

The Working Families Party, a progressive third party and longtime nemesis of Cuomo, has made plans to run their own candidate in November should any of their endorsed picks fail to win the June Democratic primary. The party has endorsed City Council speaker Adrienne Adams, city Comptroller Brad Lander, state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie in a currently unranked slate.

Unlike the primary, the general election will not use ranked choice voting, which allows voters to choose up to five candidates. Instead, candidates can run on multiple ballot lines and combine the votes for their total tally.

Cuomo’s primary competitors took to social media Tuesday to ridicule the former governor's strategy.

“He’s scared,” Mamdani said on X. Mamdani is second in polling and fundraising and is the most left-leaning candidate in the race. Last month, he unveiled the first TV ad in the race attacking Cuomo. Over the weekend, his campaign held a concert-style rally in Brooklyn that drew around 1,500 people.

“Why doesn’t he just follow in @NYCMayor's footsteps, make it official, and become a Republican?” Lander wrote, facetiously. While the mayor’s friendly relationship with the Trump administration has fueled rumors that he would switch back to the Republican Party, he remains a registered Democrat.

Adams suggested there was more drama in store for voters.

“This is going to be an election with a lot of twists and turns,” he told reporters on Tuesday.