New poll comes with warning for Andrew Cuomo against jumping into NYC mayor race despite dominance

An anti-Andrew Cuomo poll showed the ex-governor’s political baggage and scandals could hurt him if he jumps into the Big Apple mayor race — but he’d still come out on top.

Cuomo held a commanding 31% in a race for mayor over a crowded field that included embattled Mayor Eric Adams, according to a poll of likely Democratic voters conducted Jan. 29 to Feb. 3 by United for a Brighter Tomorrow.

But when confronted with negative statements about Cuomo’s scandals and policy decisions, his lead shrank with a total of 19%.

“Cuomo is already unpopular, but his favorability erodes quickly when voters hear about his faults,” said pollster GBAO, noting he starts out with a 45% favorable vs. 47% unfavorable rating among primary voters.

Cuomo leads the Democratic field with 31%, followed by Mayor Eric Adams with12%, Scott Stringer and Brad Lander, the former and current city comptroller at 11% apiece, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani with 9% support and state Sen. Jessica Ramos with 7%.

Asked how Cuomo handled the COVID-19 pandemic, 62% of Dems queried by pollster GBAO approved while only 32% disapproved.

But the 800 likely Democratic voters surveyed were then fed negative statements about Cuomo’s scandals and controversial policy decisions — and the poll found his unfavorability spike.

It mentions a candidate — Cuomo without name — who was “credibly accused of sex sexual harassment by over a dozen women,” who “hid nursing home deaths, a candidate “who lied about their record to secure a $5 million book deal” and a candidate “who supported bail reform” among other statements.

The voters said they’re much less likely to vote for such a candidate.

The respondents are then asked specifically about Cuomo, including that “Cuomo resigned as governor after 13 women came forward to report him sexually harassing them.”

Another statement presented to voters read, “Cuomo gained prominence for his handling of Covid, but he turned out to be a disaster. He forced sick New Yorkers into nursing homes, leading to the deaths of thousands of people, and New York led the country in nursing home deaths. At the same time, he hid the number of nursing home deaths during the pandemic, underreporting them by 50%.”

To that point, Peter Arbeeny and other nursing home families who lost loved ones from COVID just sent a letter to President Trump, requesting a meeting to discuss a Cuomo state Health Department that “ordered nursing homes to admit COVID positive patients.”

Cuomo maintained he followed federal guidance.

Democratic voters were also told that Cuomo signed the 2019 bail reform law, which some have argued contributed to a surge in crime.

Another statement reminds voters that Cuomo “led the effort” in approving a law to enact congestion pricing to enter Midtown Manhattan.

After reading the statements, 66% of Democrats view him unfavorably.

Asked again who they would support after hearing the controversies involving the ex-governor, Cuomo is still in the lead but his support plummets from 30% to to 19%, followed by Adams with 14%, Stringer 13%, Lander: 12% Mamdan 10% and Ramos 9% while 14% are undecided.

“His largest drop-off in support comes from his base: Black and Latino working-class voters,” the pollster said.

His support also plummets among Jewish voters, where he already trailed Stringer and Lander before the negative messaging, the pollster said.

Cuomo’s camp laughed off the poll.

“This is called a push poll and a pretty comical one, because even after an onslaught of negative lies ONLY targeted at Governor Cuomo – he still beats everyone else. This isn’t how polling works and they aren’t fooling anyone,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi.

He noted the original treasurer who created the United for a Brighter Tomorrow group was Lora Haggard, who also served as campaign treasurer for Democratic Socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie’s presidential campaigns.

“It also directly contradicts reality, where this same far left extremist DSA group just funded a six-figure ad buy against the governor and the only result was that his standing in far more reputable polls actually increased.”

Cuomo, should he run for City Hall, is ready to defend his record, his rep said.

“New Yorkers know the governor and his real world record of raising wages for millions of workers, actually building infrastructure projects that politicians merely talked about such as the Second Ave. Subway, the Moynihan Train Hall and the new Kosciuszko Bridge, passing the strongest gun violence prevention and paid family leave measures in the nation, and codifying Roe vs. Wade in state law before the Supreme Court overturned it, all while cutting taxes and reining in spending,” Azzopardi said.

The survey of 800 likey Dem voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The primary election is June 24.