- Ballot deadline passes with no paperwork from ex-Gov. Cuomo
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If Andrew M. Cuomo was ever serious about running for office after his resignation, he's missed his best chance to get on a statewide ballot in New York. This report indicates Cuomo has passed on pursuing a new elected position in the state.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appears to have opted against mounting an independent run for his old job — at least for now.
Cuomo, who resigned in August amid allegations he sexually harassed multiple women, had said he was open to running for governor this year, despite the scandal.
But 5 p.m. Tuesday was the deadline for candidates to collect 45,000 voter signatures if they wanted to appear as an independent candidate for governor on the November general election ballot.
That deadline passed without Cuomo's campaign turning in the required nominating petitions, according to the state Board of Elections.
Cuomo could still get on the ballot if his campaign had collected those signatures and put his petitions in the mail. If that paperwork was to arrive by Thursday, bearing a postmark dated Tuesday or earlier, it would still count, Board of Elections spokesperson Jennifer Wilson said.
After quitting in disgrace as New York's state governor on 24 August 2022, Andrew M. Cuomo has engaged in campaign-like activities that created speculation he might run again for governor or perhaps for another political office in the state. Instead, we find Cuomo chickened out by allowing a critical deadline for collecting signatures to get on the state's next election ballots to expire. Since it would have taken just 45,000 signatures to get on a statewide ballot, we think Cuomo's failure to meet that low threshold for a well-established politician shows how little support he really has in the state.
We'll soon see if any late-mailed signed petitions supporting a Cuomo candidacy arrive on or by Thursday, 2 June 2022, but nearly all serious candidates for elective office don't play games with deadlines they need to meet to get on the ballot. They submit their petitions directly to the Board of Elections with thousands of signatures to spare either on or ahead of the deadlines. By not doing that, Cuomo has just demonstrated he's not a serious candidate for any office in New York.
We continue to view Cuomo's campaign-like activities as a dishonest dodge. Acting like a candidate provides a means for him to tap the millions in his campaign organization's bank accounts to pay for his legal defense and to fund his PR efforts as he attempts to sway the potential jury pools who will decide the court cases he has in his future. For Cuomo, that's free money that doesn't cost him anything out of his own pocket.
Update 20 July 2022
This 18 July 2022 report, which the timeline covered on 20 July 2022, provides an explanation for why Andrew M. Cuomo chickened out from running for elective office in New York. Cuomo spent $93,211 on a poll asking voters whether he could win an election in the state. His decision to not run indicates they told him he was a loser.
