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Disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is considering a run against his replacement, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, according to sources who spoke to CNBC.
Cuomo has reportedly been speaking with supporters about a potential run against his former lieutenant governor, and his aides have been performing internal polling about how he would perform in a primary contest against her, according to the outlet on condition of anonymity.
Cuomo is polling just four points behind Hochul among likely Democratic primary voters in New York, in a poll released last week by Emerson College and The Hill. Allies have been calling him since the results showed them potentially neck-and-neck.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during a news conference at the Brooklyn Army Terminal Annex on Jan. 20, 2022. (Paul Frangipane/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Richard Azzopardi, Cuomo’s chief spokesperson, told CNBC the former governor has yet to indicate to supporters whether he intends to run.
“As the governor has said since the beginning, this was the weaponization of politics to do what couldn’t get done at the ballot box, and it’s important to him and his family that the record get set straight and efforts to rewrite history don’t succeed,” Azzopardi said. “As he has said all along, he has thoughts and opinions about the direction of this state and the Democratic Party as a whole, and he won’t hesitate to make them known.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference at Yankee Stadium on July 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
In February, Cuomo rolled out a new political ad suggesting he is the victim of political attacks regarding the sexual misconduct allegations that drove him from office.
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“Political attacks won, and New Yorkers lost a proven leader,” according to the 30-second ad disseminated by Friends of Andrew Cuomo, a political action committee.
Cuomo’s campaign account, which remains active, spent $369,000 to air the ad across New York, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact, as first reported by The New York Times.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo prepares to depart by helicopter after announcing his resignation in Manhattan on Aug. 10, 2021. (Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)
Azzopardi said at the time the ad was intended to inform the public that “five Separate District Attorneys Rejected the Findings of the AG’s Bogus Report,” according to local WGRZ.
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The ad neglected to mention that despite the state district attorneys declining to pursue criminal charges against Cuomo, they also noted that they found the claims from the alleged victims credible, but believed they were unable to bring evidence before a jury that would prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: www.foxnews.com