Battenfeld: Cuomo will try again to beat New York City socialist

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has decided to make a third party bid for New York City mayor, ensuring that Michelle Wu fan boy Zohran Mamdani will not waltz into the mayor’s office virtually unopposed. The 33-year-old socialist Mamdani, who has said the Boston mayor Wu is his role model, will now face Cuomo again in November in what’s shaping up as a last ditch, uphill battle to keep the far left from taking over New York City. Mamdani defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary by a 12-point margin but faces a much wider swath of voters in the general election who may not be so wild about a socialist takeover of the Big Apple. A recent poll showed Mamdani defeating Cuomo in a general election match up. “I am truly sorry that I let you down,” Cuomo said in a video announcing his intention to run again. “But as my grandfather used to say, when you get knocked down, learn the lesson and pick yourself back up and get in the game. And that is what I’m going to do. The fight to save our city isn’t over.” But it will be an extremely difficult feat for Cuomo to reverse the primary results in heavily Democratic New York City. Also in the race is current Mayor Eric Adams, running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa, but their chances of beating Mamdani are slim and none. Cuomo’s decision should please New York City moderates and Wall Street interests who have been in full panic ever since Mamdani won the primary and promised to bring his brand of socialism to take over the city. Mamdani, a near unknown Assemblyman before his surprise win, has plans to open city-run grocery stores, tax millionaires, is a strong opponent of Israel, and has earned praise from Wu for running an “inspired” campaign. Wu is running herself this year for another four-year term against Josh Kraft, son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Josh Kraft is a Democrat like Wu, but the Boston mayor’s race is non-partisan. The top two vote getters in the September preliminary will face off in November. In his video announcement, Cuomo was shown shaking hands with voters and mispronouncing Mamdani’s last name – ala the late Boston Mayor Tom Menino. “The general election is in November and I am in it to win it,” the 67-year-old Cuomo says. “My opponent Mr. Mandani offers slick slogans, but no real solutions.” During his primary campaign, Cuomo rarely ventured out with voters and barely spoke to the media. His new video, showing him in shirt sleeves, seems to acknowledge that strategy was a big mistake. He also stole part of Mamdani’s message by promising to lower rents if he’s elected. “We need a city with lower rents, safer streets, where buying your first  home is once again possible, where child care won’t bankrupt you,” Cuomo says. Mamdani said: “I welcome everyone to this race, and I am as confident as I’ve been since three weeks ago on primary night when we faced Andrew Cuomo then, and won that race by more than 12 points, with the most votes of any democratic nominee in New York City primary history. And we did so because of the fact that while Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams trip over themselves to make deals in back rooms with billionaires, we are focused on fighting for working New Yorkers.” Mamdani has obviously learned a lot from Wu, who also talks about preventing “billionaires” like the Krafts and his supporters from winning the race.