16 November 2021: ‘He’s nuts and he’s got a vendetta’

‘He’s nuts and he’s got a vendetta’: Cuomo won’t leave New York alone

Here's an excerpt from Politico's report on Andrew M. Cuomo's continuing influence over politics in the state of New York:

Even as Albany’s insiders focus on Cuomo's successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams, they privately continue chattering, worrying, that Cuomo might run for office next year, or at the very least employ his substantial remaining resources to influence critical races in the months to come.

“I think he’s going to try,” said state Assemblymember Yuh-line Niou (D-Manhattan). “I think he’s going to try a lot of things. He still has a lot of people in power in place — people who still probably benefit from helping him and are fighting for their political lives. But I do think there’s less and less patience for that.”...

What form any revenge might take remains to be seen, as does what he’ll do with his $18 million in leftover campaign cash. Cuomo told New York Magazine last week, “I don’t know what the future holds.” Some former confidants have suggested he could aim for his old attorney general post as James exits the office. Others wonder about another campaign for governor.

But running in a primary against James or Hochul — or even his archnemesis, Bill de Blasio — would be ludicrous, right? Maybe not.

“He’s nuts and he’s got a vendetta right now,” said a legislative source, speaking anonymously to characterize their view on the often-vindictive governor. “I wouldn’t put it past him."

What the legislative source is concerned about would not be had the leaders of the New York Assembly been more serious about impeaching Cuomo earlier in 2021. Had they done so, they would have removed the political threat he now poses.

Notes: This article was published on 15 November 2021. News was slow out of Albany last week, where we anticipate quite a bit later this week when the NY Assembly's Judiciary Committee finally gets around to reviewing the findings of its investigator's impeachment probe of Andrew M. Cuomo.