Team Cuomo dismisses report he is dropping from mayoral race after conceding Democratic primary

Former New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's team on Thursday dismissed reports that he was looking to drop his bid to become New York City's next mayor, even though he conceded the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani. 

Cuomo conceded the primary on Tuesday night, after he finished behind Mamdani in the first round of votes. But he can still seek an independent bid for the post because he formed the Fight and Deliver party last month. 

If Cuomo does decide to stay in the race on a third-party ticket, he would join the ranks of incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who chose to run as an independent in November instead of vying for the Democratic Party nomination. 

The former governor's spokesperson indicated to the Washington Examiner that reports Cuomo had ruled out a third-party run were not accurate and pointed to a CBS interview where Cuomo said he would decide about the race next week.

“The Democratic primary is always an interesting situation, right? There are about 5 million voters in New York City, there are about 8 million people in New York City, and about 1 million people vote in the Democratic primary," Cuomo told CBS News on Wednesday. "So it’s not, necessarily, representative of the city at large.

"That’s why I qualified for an independent line in November. I did that several months ago, because in the general election, more people come out to vote," he continued. "It’s a broader pool, if you will, of New Yorkers, more representative pool of New Yorkers."

Cuomo said he would make the decision after reviewing the results of the primary and the landscape of the general election to weigh his odds. 

The former governor's brother, Chris Cuomo, who previously worked for CNN, slammed the election results and compared the new Democratic Party with President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

“The Democratic Party is now officially in MAGA mode,” Chris Cuomo said. “We are now on both sides in a period of extremism, the same way MAGA played with the prejudices of white nationalism, you are seeing an identical dynamic on the left with prejudices like tacitly supporting extreme Islamism or targeting Jews for the right.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.