Governor outraised by Zeldin
Cuomo’s popularity plunged in past 6 months as his likely GOP foe raked in donations
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo suffered an unprecedented fundraising defeat when his likely Republican opponent for governor raised more money than he did over the last six months, a period in which Cuomo plummeted in popularity and saw the worst polling numbers of his three terms.
Cuomo is facing multiple investigations over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a $5 million book deal and multiple sexual harassment allegations. He was outraised by Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island by a margin of $4 million to $2.3 million.
Outside of the last six months, Cuomo has long been one of the country’s most
prolific campaign fundraisers, and retains a sizable financial advantage over his potential 2022 opponents.
He reported having more than $18 million in cash on hand, while his most viable possible Democratic primary challenger, Attorney General Letitia James, has $1.6 million. The Democratic primary for governor, the race where Cuomo could be the most vulnerable, is scheduled for June.
Zeldin, who would run against Cuomo in November 2022, has $3.2 million on hand.
His fundraising haul included $380,000 that was transferred from his congressional campaign.
On Thursday evening, the same day campaign disclosures were required to be filed, the New York Times reported that James’ investigators are scheduled to interview Cuomo on Saturday concerning sexual harassment allegations and other matters. The timing of the story prompted Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for the governor, to cast doubt on the attorney general’s independence.
“Viewing these facts separate from today’s convenient leak in a vacuum would be quite a leap,” Azzopardi said on Twitter Thursday evening. He said in a separate statement that the administration would not comment on the investigation, but “the continued leaks are more evidence of the transparent political motivation of the attorney general’s review.”
Azzopardi did not provide evidence that James was the source of the leak, and James has not publicly expressed interest in running for governor. James’ forthcoming report on the sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo could determine whether Cuomo remains viable to run for a long-coveted fourth term.
Cuomo’s campaign has recently spent $350,000 on legal services, which includes $285,000 on the law firm Glavin PLLC that’s representing him in response to a groping allegation. Three other law firms representing Cuomo’s office in response to various investigations are being paid by taxpayers. Only one of the legal contracts, worth up to $2.5 million, has been made public.
As Cuomo’s administration has focused its attention on laying the groundwork for undermining the credibility of James’ investigation, Zeldin, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, celebrated his fundraising wins.
Behind Zeldin in GOP primary fundraising was former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, the party’s 2014 nominee for governor, who raised $744,000; and Andrew
Giuliani, who is the son of Rudolph Guiliani, the former New York City mayor and lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump. Andrew Guiliani has raised $409,000 since he filed to run on May 12.
If a Democratic primary unfolds between James and Cuomo, the campaign filings give some indication as to the preferences of organized labor, which can provide ground troops crucial to the outcome of low-turnout primary elections.
Cuomo has traditionally had strong support from private sector unions, especially building trades, while his relationship with public sector labor has been more contentious. James has long had strong support from organized labor broadly, though in her current role as attorney general, has less sway over many labor issues than Cuomo.
Many unions are hedging their bets and giving to both James and Cuomo, though not in all cases.
The Uniformed Firefighters Association’s PAC recently gave $30,000 to Cuomo, and a related firefighter committee added $25,000 more. The state Building and Construction Trades gave Cuomo $15,000 in June (and only $1,000 to James), and the Building Industry Electrical Contractors $15,000 to Cuomo.
James received $12,500 from the political action committee of the politically powerful New York State United Teachers, including $10,000 this month.
Cuomo has long had a tense relationship with the state teachers union, and has not received a contribution from its political action committee since 2013.
During his 2018 reelection campaign, both the state and New York City teachers unions remained officially neutral, although they donated heavily to groups that were supporting Cuomo’s primary challenger that year, Cynthia Nixon.
The Transportation Workers Union Local 100 gave $30,000 to James over the past six months, including $25,000 on July 9.
That same day, TWU President John Samuelsen told the New York Post of Cuomo: “How could the labor movement support someone for governor who engaged in workforce criminality, sexual harassment?” And Samuelsen tweeted that James “is the best and logical choice for working people. Honesty, Humility, Integrity, all a huge step from where we are right now.”
Azzopardi responded that Samuelsen “is an extortionist
who is trying to undo pension reform. We also understand he is a political supporter of Tish James and she says she may run against the governor, and he wants more benefits in his contract. Everyone gets that.”
The New York State Nurses Association, a longtime James backer, recently gave her $5,000.
The union’s PAC has not been supportive of Cuomo, although the union endorsed him during the 2018 primary.
On the Republican side, Zeldin faces significant challenges running in a deeply Democratic state.
He voted against the certification of the 2020 presidential election and against same-sex marriage when he was in the state Senate.
During his campaign for governor, Zeldin has focused his rhetoric on crime and education. While he has offered some separation between himself and Trump, Zeldin said he would welcome a fundraiser with the former president and said he plans to attend one the New York GOP is to scheduled to hold with the former president in August.
“I would anticipate that during this campaign, there would be help from President Trump as far as fundraising goes,” Zeldin said.
The Republican Party has been pushing a tough-on-crime agenda, led by Zeldin, who boasts coming from a law enforcement household.
Cuomo has pushed to corner the issue as his own, declaring a state of emergency around gun violence and committing $139 million toward community-based approaches to curb escalating violent crime.
Cuomo, who in past campaigns was buoyed by Black voters in New York City, has focused on retaining support in Black communities during the periods of political turmoil. Cuomo would especially need support from those communities in a Democratic primary against James, the first Black woman to be state attorney general.
Cuomo has continued to find support among real estate developers (many of which have also given to James) and the health care sector.
He recently received $50,000 from Kylie Cappelli, the wife of Westchester real estate businessman Louis Cappelli.
The governor also received $40,000 from Dr. Candido Norberto, a Manhattan-based surgeon.
He received $35,000 from Dr. Juan Tapia-mendoza, who runs Pediatrics 2000 and is affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital; $35,000 from Michael Fuchs, a Manhattan real estate developer; and $33,330 from the well-known developer Richard Lefrak.