(NEW YORK) — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will stay on the New York City mayoral ballot in November on the independent ballot line that he qualified for, a source close to the campaign confirmed to ABC News.
Cuomo qualified in May to run on the “Fight and Deliver” ballot line in the general election through an independent nominating petition submitted to the New York City Board of Elections, which at the time he said was meant to reach voters disillusioned with the Democratic Party. He would have been allowed to appear on both the Democratic Party and “Fight and Deliver” lines on the general election ballot if he had won the Democratic primary.
CNN first reported on Thursday night that Cuomo, who conceded to state assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor on Tuesday, would not withdraw from the independent ballot line but had not yet decided whether to actively campaign in the coming months.
In a speech to supporters Tuesday night, Cuomo told supporters, “Tonight was not our night; tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night… He deserved it. He won. We’re going to take a look and make some decisions.”
Candidates have until the end of Friday, June 27 to withdraw from running on an independent ballot line they qualified for, according to the New York State Board of Elections calendar.
A source close to the campaign told ABC News on Thursday that the former governor is looking at all of the data, including that the New York City Board of Elections would only start releasing ranked-choice voting tabulations on July 1.
Cuomo told CBS 2 New York on Wednesday, “So I have that independent line. I qualified for that. And I’m on that line in November. And we’re going to be looking at the numbers that come in from the primary. And then we have to look at the landscape in the general election, which is a totally different landscape.”
He added later, “We’ll take it one step at a time because we haven’t even gotten the [full] numbers yet from the primary election, and we have some time.”
Cuomo’s run for mayor comes four years after he resigned as governor after several women accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct. He has denied the allegations and recently told The New York Times he regrets resigning.
On Thursday, incumbent Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who’s also running as an independent in the general election, officially kicked off his reelection campaign.
Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and independent candidate Jim Walden will also be on the ballot in November.
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