NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the city’s crowded Democratic mayoral primary, giving the former governor a boost two weeks before the election.
“In sizing up the field in the race for mayor, there is one candidate whose management experience and government know-how stand above the others: Andrew Cuomo,” Bloomberg said in a statement on Tuesday.
The endorsement from Bloomberg, who served three terms as mayor from 2002 through 2013, comes as several polls show the race tightening.
Cuomo, 67, resigned as governor in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment, which he has denied. He’s led the field since even before he entered the mayoral race in March, but in recent weeks support has surged for Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old state lawmaker from Queens. Mamdani has the backing of the New York City branch of the Democratic Socialists of America and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Mamdani has vowed to freeze rents and make city buses free by raising the state corporate tax rate and imposing a new 2% income tax on city residents who earn more than $1 million a year. Cuomo on Monday said raising taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents would cause an exodus to states like Florida and Texas.
The endorsement marks a departure for the former mayor, who declined to back a successor in the 2013 Democratic primary. He did endorse Mayor Eric Adams ahead of the 2021 general election but only after Adams won the primary. Adams dropped out of the current Democratic primary in April and is running as an independent in the November general election.
The former mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
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