Andrew Cuomo is staying on the New York City mayoral election ballot — a move that prompted critics to slam the ex-governor as a “spoiler” candidate.
Sources confirmed that Cuomo will not decline to run on an independent ballot line, ahead of a Friday deadline to pull his name from the November ballot.
Cuomo’s defiant stance comes after his stunning loss to socialist contender Zohran Mamdani in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
The former governor conceded Mamdani’s win that night, but played coy on whether he would continue to run on his “Fight and Deliver” ballot line in the general election.
A campaign source Friday confirmed that Cuomo — who faced a deadline of 5 p.m. to effectively withdraw from November’s ballot and growing calls to drop out — will not decline his independent line.
It remains unclear whether Cuomo will actually mount an active general election campaign.
Even if he doesn’t, staying on the general election ballot could siphon votes from Mayor Eric Adams, who will also be running on an independent line.
“If Cuomo stays in the race, he splits the anti-Mamdani vote and helps Mamdani,” said state Conservative Party chairman Gerard Kassar, a Dyker Heights resident.
“He’s playing the spoiler — 100 percent. He has no chance of winning and only takes votes from Adams and Curtis,” Kassar said, referring to GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa.
Lawyer Jim Walden is running as an independent candidate in the general election, too.
Cuomo pulled a similar maneuver during his last stinging electoral defeat in 2002 — when he was trounced in the Democratic gubernatorial primary by Carl McCall.
He backed McCall in the general election that year, but stayed on the Liberal party line.
