5 October 2021: Cuomo Threatens NY Dem Pols

Cuomo's 'dangerous moment' statement roils the Democratic waters

By resigning rather than being impeached, Andrew M. Cuomo not only retains the ability to run again for NY Governor, but to use the $18 million his political campaign organization has amassed after 10 years in power to go after his enemies in the state Democratic Party. This report indicates that on 4 October 2021, Cuomo sent a message that was immediately interpreted as a veiled threat by longtime NY political observers.

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo further roiled the Democratic waters Monday with a statement to his past campaign supporters that "the state is in a dangerous moment" because of "government incompetence," setting off a barrage of speculation about whether he is thinking about running for the seat from which he resigned in August.

Cuomo didn’t say whether he would run for the office he held for three terms before he was accused of sexual harassment and his spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, wouldn’t elaborate on Cuomo’s statement.

"That was the best threat you ever saw," said Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic strategist in New York and Washington. "I think what he has in mind is to launch something … this is an attempt to gauge interest."...

Pollster Lee Miringoff said Cuomo's statement is aimed at trying to settle a score against James, whose political stature has risen after her investigation of the sexual harassment allegations.

"He’s trying to put his spin on history … how he was done in by a political witch hunt and that he is interested in counterpunching the person who done him in," Miringoff said.

Perhaps most telling was the reaction of Jay Jacobs, the head of New York's state Democratic Party:

"Well, it’s a less-than-friendly statement," said Jacobs. "I don’t know if I’d like to interpret those statements."

Also telling is that Jacobs, who was appointed to his position in the state Democratic party by Cuomo, is still genuflecting to Cuomo, even as he endorsed a 2022 run for governor by replacement Governor Kathy Hochul:

Further muddying the waters is the fact that Jacobs said he called Cuomo, an ally who appointed him to lead the state party, to give him a “heads-up” about the endorsement. “It was just a courtesy call. I called all the leaders. I’ve spoken to each of the major people who would consider being a major candidate – almost all of them,” Jacobs said. Questioned whether he thought Cuomo still holds significant political sway, Jacobs described Cuomo as a private citizen “not trying to advance any policy or views.” But he also said that he had not called any other former governor to alert him of the endorsement as a “courtesy,” adding that he plans to call former Gov. David Paterson.

The call to Cuomo raised eyebrows among political observers. “That kind of confirms the tea leaves that Cuomo is actively trying to influence what’s going on in Democratic Party politics, and is perceived as doing so,” said John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, in an interview. Cuomo has not remained completely silent since leaving office as he and his surrogates have continued to cast doubt on the attorney general’s report. Shortly before Jacobs’ endorsement, his campaign sent an email to supporters in which he said he fears “the state is in a dangerous moment” with “extremists and political expediency” ruling.

We find it funny that Cuomo cited "government incompetence" in his statement, since most of that problem can be directly traced to his leadership. Particularly so, since replacement Governor Kathy Hochul has made little progress toward removing Cuomo's political appointees from the positions into which he placed them in the state government. If she's smart, she'll agree and take more steps to deal with the incompetence problem Cuomo left behind in Albany.