Why Cuomo’s sexual harassment accusations are playing little role in the NYC mayoral race

Mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos on Friday joined a string of unions, interest groups and elected officials lining up to endorse former governor Andrew Cuomo’s bid for mayor despite previously demanding his removal from office in 2021 amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment.

Ramos, who slammed Cuomo over the allegations as recently as Wednesday, has said it took “tremendous courage” for the accusers to come forward publicly. But she said the former governor’s potential to stand up to President Trump largely outweighs her concerns about the allegations.

The explosive claims that rocked Albany just four years ago appear to be playing little role amid Cuomo’s political comeback run and his current status as the frontrunner heading into the Democratic mayoral primary. Polls consistently show Cuomo coming out on top, even as his unfavorability ratings remain high.

It is a remarkable and rapid turnaround for Cuomo, who stepped down from his post as governor after an investigation found he had sexually harassed nearly a dozen women, accusations he denies, and amid an imminent threat of impeachment from state lawmakers.

Two key factors have helped fuel Cuomo’s run: Shifting attitudes about sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement and the demand for a strong leader to navigate a fraught political landscape marked by the chaos of President Trump’s second stint in the White House.

“This today is not about forgiveness or about forgetting anything,” Ramos, who in 2021 was among the first to call for Cuomo’s resignation, said Friday. “This is a very sober take on where we are in this race and the type of leadership that is required at a time when I need workers and I need immigrants protected.”

A changing climate

At the time of Cuomo’s resignation, public outrage at the sexual misconduct and harassment carried out by men in power was running high.

The leak of Trump’s infamous “Access Hollywood” tape shortly before his election in 2016 and the revelations about Harvey Weinstein in the New York Times and the New Yorker in 2017 touched off a powerful movement that spread to Hollywood, sports, business and politics.

Over the past couple of years, though, many see the movement as having lost some momentum, especially with Trump’s election to a second term.

“The people who are going to vote for him have clearly made a decision that whatever he was accused of doing, it’s forgivable, to a point,” Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist told the Daily News. “They are willing to look past what he is accused of, because whatever they feel is happening in the city now, is more important to their immediate lives.”

Both the upcoming mayoral election and last November’s presidential contest unfolded against a national backlash to not only #MeToo, but to Black Lives Matter and the broader concept of “wokeness,” which became a key talking point for Trump during the 2024 campaign.

Some of those national sentiments may be trickling into New York’s mayoral race. Trump himself has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women and was found civilly liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll in 2023.

Cuomo’s ability to mount a comeback is a “feature of the Trump era,” Smikle said.

Cuomo’s steady lead in the race has held despite his opponents’ attempts to resurface the scandals and stir public outrage, especially right after Cuomo entered the race. During a radio appearance earlier this month on 97.9 La Mega, for example, Cuomo flirted with a radio host half his age.

As music played in the studio, host Excarlet Molina, 29, asked Cuomo if he would “dance merengue with the Dominicans.”

“Are you asking me to go dancing with you?” Cuomo responded.

After the music stopped, he followed up: “I want to know if we have a date?”

Cuomo’s camp maintained that the interaction was a joke.

The incident generated backlash on social media, with users calling him a “sex pest” and “gross.”

Regardless, it barely made a dent in the campaign.

And at Wednesday’s debate, where Cuomo faced attacks on all manner of issues, the allegations weren’t a major line of attack.

Brad Lander said that having “sexually harassed 13 women” should disqualify Cuomo from being mayor. And Michael Blake, a former state assemblymember who’s polling poorly, said that “the people who don’t feel safe are the young women, mothers and grandmothers around Andrew Cuomo.”

During the debate, Cuomo pointed out that he was never charged in connection with the allegations. “I said at the time that if I offended anyone, it was unintentional, but I apologize, and I say that today,” he said.

“The reason why this isn’t a factor is because New Yorkers aren’t stupid and they see the Attorney General’s report for the political sham that it always was,” said Esther Jensen, a spokesperson for Cuomo. “Five district attorneys looked at these allegations and left them in the garbage where they belong.”

“These are serious times and after 12 years of dysfunction and mismanagement at City Hall, New Yorkers know that Andrew Cuomo has the management experience and real record of results needed to fix what’s broken and put the city back on the right track,” Jensen said.

But Cuomo’s seeming ability to brush past the allegations doesn’t sit well with some.

“He has been welcomed back into the political class with open arms as opposed to being required to take responsibility for his actions,” Erica Vladimer, co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, said. “He continues to harass and retaliate against the women he already sexually harassed and retaliated against and there’s no indication that he’s going to change his ways.”

Vladimer was referencing efforts by Cuomo’s circle of lawyers and aides to discredit the accusers, challenging their credibility including in court proceedings. The former governor’s legal expenses have cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, according to the state comptroller.

Karen Hinton, who claims Cuomo acted sexually inappropriately towards her in 2000 when she worked for him as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said she was disappointed about his bounce back into the limelight.

“It’s shocking in many ways and sad that New Yorkers are not standing behind these women,” Hinton said.

“It’s just not an issue for people,” she continued. “People don’t care. People voted for Trump even though he sexually assaulted a woman in a department store in New York. People don’t care, so maybe it’s not that big a deal.”

Hinton also noted state lawmakers’ disdain for Cuomo’s often retaliatory style of governance — leaving him without allies he needed when the allegations came out. Stepping down from office also shot down the possibility of impeachment in the State Assembly, giving him a clearer path to mount a political comeback.

“I think many of those members, and they’re mostly men, didn’t care about the sexual harassment claims,” Hinton, who also worked under Mayor de Blasio, said. “They just cared to get rid of him because he’s nasty and mean and spiteful, and if you cross his path and do something that he doesn’t want you to do, he’s coming after you.”

Craving leadership

With White House policies sowing uncertainty and fear in New York City amid threats of slashing federal support for critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP,  many see a need for a strong leader to stand up to the president.

Mayor Adams is no longer a factor in the Democratic primary. He announced he’d run as an independent in November following widespread criticism for being overly acquiescent to Trump after the president’s DOJ dismissed the mayor’s corruption case.

The rest of the mayoral field mostly leans further left than either Cuomo or Adams, with no strong center-left candidate, so far, posing a significant challenge to the former governor.

His closest rival is Zohran Mamdani, a socialist campaigning on free buses and freezing rent for stabilized tenants. Mamdani risks alienating moderates, especially pro-Israel voters for his characterization of the country’s military campaign in Gaza as a “genocide.” Cuomo has made his support of Israel a central facet of his campaign and has called rhetoric like Mamdani’s a “cancer.”

For many voters, Cuomo appears to be the best option. Even as Cuomo stepped down in 2021, he still had a base of support. His name recognition, in part tied to his father, Mario, and the perception during the COVID pandemic that his leadership was a foil to Trump’s chaos, continued to appeal to some voters.

A Quinnipiac poll from just days before his resignation showed that he had a 28% approval rating, with 25% of poll takers saying he should not step down.

During his time away from the spotlight, Cuomo loosely engaged that base, laying the groundwork for a potential run as he made stops at Black churches and met with political power players.

“There was still a good chunk of the city that remembered that, and especially now that Trump is in office, they want someone who’s gonna fight for them, but also protect them and also make sure that they have a good quality of life,” Smikle said.

Not everyone is convinced.

Vladimer, with the Sexual Harassment Working Group, said that she doubts that Cuomo will truly be able to effectively confront Trump.

“The perception of Cuomo standing up for New Yorkers — that’s all it really is — a perception,” Vladimer said. “It is not reality. Cuomo has only shown us through his actions that he can only and will only punch down and that includes on young women government staffers.”

But power players, politicians and union leaders have largely coalesced behind the former governor, even though some had pressed for his removal in 2021.

Super PACs in his support have collected millions in donations, including a $1 million donation from Doordash and $2.5 million by the Housing for All PAC, which is funded by the New York Apartment Association.

Manny Pastreich, the president of 32BJ, said in April the union was endorsing the former governor in part because Cuomo would be able to fight back against Trump’s “attacks.”

Others, like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, have not outright supported Cuomo but have stayed silent as he makes his comeback — a sharp contrast to her condemnation of him in 2021.

“Andrew Cuomo is equipped to stand up to attacks on our city that threaten our finances, our jobs, our public transportation, our health care, our Social Security and our rights,” Pastreich said in announcing his union’s endorsement.

This story has been updated.

Originally Published: June 7, 2025 at 12:42 PM EDT