From the second he resigned as New York’s governor, folks have speculated that it was solely a matter of time earlier than Andrew Cuomo would attempt to barge his means again into politics.
That day got here Saturday, when the Democrat introduced he was operating for mayor of New York Metropolis.
Now, the massive query is whether or not voters need him again.
In his marketing campaign announcement video Saturday and a speech Sunday, Cuomo sought to painting New York as a metropolis in disaster. He forged himself as a troublesome supervisor who can sort out issues like homelessness and sky-high housing prices.
But his entry into the race prompted fast condemnation from some who stated he does not deserve a second likelihood.
Here is a take a look at how we received right here:
Why Cuomo resigned
Cuomo give up the governor’s workplace in August 2021 when it seemed sure he can be impeached.
A report commissioned by the state’s lawyer common concluded that Cuomo sexually harassed at the very least 11 girls. Some had complained about undesirable touches, flirting, kisses and suggestive feedback about their intercourse lives or look.
One aide filed a legal grievance, saying Cuomo groped her breast. The Albany district lawyer declined to prosecute, saying there wasn’t sufficient proof.
Many high Democrats pushed Cuomo to give up, together with then-President Joe Biden, former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the state’s two U.S. senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Cuomo apologized for a few of his conduct, saying he didn’t understand it made folks uncomfortable, however he denied essentially the most severe allegations, significantly the alleged sexual assault.
What do Cuomo’s accusers consider his comeback?
The primary girl to publicly accuse Cuomo of harassment, Lindsey Boylan, wrote in an essay in Vainness Truthful that letting him return to public workplace can be a mistake.
He has not modified, she wrote, citing amongst different issues a “scorched earth” marketing campaign to blacken the reputations of his accusers.
“Although some pundits have been insisting that enough time has passed — and that certain men who have fallen from power should be allowed to regain it — that stance is misguided because men like Cuomo never really lose power,” she wrote. “They maintain their positions because people who are very powerful themselves are still afraid of them — a dynamic that speaks to our political moment.”
What does Cuomo say?
In his preliminary public remarks, he solely addressed the sexual harassment matter not directly.
“Did I make mistakes, some painfully? Definitely, and I believe I learned from them and that I am a better person for it and I hope to show that every day,” he stated in his announcement video.
“But I promise you this: I know what needs to be done and I know how to do it, and I will give it my all to get the job done — and it will get done.”
Beforehand, he has blamed “cancel culture” for his ouster.
What did he get achieved as governor?
Cuomo pushed by legalization of same-sex marriage in New York in 2011.
His administration overhauled terminals at LaGuardia Airport, created a brand new prepare corridor at Pennsylvania Station and changed a key Hudson River crossing, the Tappan Zee bridge.
He signed legal guidelines that raised the minimal wage to $15, instituted paid household go away for staff and oversaw rebuilding packages after Hurricane Sandy precipitated catastrophic harm on the state’s coast.
The Democrat’s administration additionally created an financial revitalization program that poured $1 billion into the Buffalo metropolitan space, together with deep subsidies to a manufacturing unit now operated by Tesla.
That program wound up spawning a corruption scandal that led to a number of Cuomo allies and one among his closest political advisers getting indicted, although the U.S. Supreme Court docket in the end overturned they key convictions.
What about COVID-19?
Cuomo gained nationwide prominence when the pandemic started killing 1000’s of individuals in New York in 2020. His every day briefings on the pandemic had been watched by People far past New York.
He imposed among the nation’s strictest social-distancing guidelines and shutdowns after which arrange vaccination websites throughout the state when photographs turned obtainable.
However Cuomo has been criticized for his pandemic response, too. The administration considerably understated deaths in nursing houses as a part of an effort to deflect criticism of a coverage, early within the pandemic, that barred the houses from refusing to readmit COVID-19 sufferers discharged from hospitals. It stays unclear whether or not that short-lived coverage had an impression on deaths.
Why come again now?
Cuomo has a novel alternative in New York Metropolis’s mayoral contest.
The incumbent mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, was indicted on federal corruption fees final 12 months. Prosecutors stated Adams accepted free or discounted journey and unlawful marketing campaign contributions from folks attempting to achieve his affect.
Adams’ political issues solely received deeper after the brand new leaders of the U.S. Justice Division instructed prosecutors to drop the case in order that Adams might help in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
That is led to suspicion that Adams is simply too beholden to Trump, who stays deeply unpopular within the metropolis.
A decide is weighing what to do with the legal case.
A lot of the remainder of the candidates within the major are nicely to the political left of Adams and Cuomo.
Except one other big-name reasonable candidate emerges, which may go away voters having to select between liberals whose views they may not share and two scandal-scarred Democratic heavyweights.
Cuomo is betting he’ll come out on high.
