In a unprecedented about-face, back-of-the-pack mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos is endorsing her front-running rival Andrew Cuomo — simply weeks after questioning his “mental acuity” and evaluating his psychological state to former President Joe Biden’s.
Ramos and her marketing campaign didn’t instantly return a number of calls.
However she instructed the New York Instances, which first reported her shocking choice, that she’s going with Cuomo as a result of “he’s the one best positioned right now to protect this city.” Cuomo, who’s polling as the favourite to win the June 24 Democratic mayoral main, “knows how to hold the line and deliver under pressure,” she added, citing uncertainty attributable to President Trump.
Ramos, who identifies as a progressive Democrat, mentioned she’s not dropping out and her title will nonetheless seem on the first poll. However her endorsement of the centrist Cuomo is an efficient acknowledgement she has no path to victory.
Most polls of the mayoral race have proven Ramos pulling 1% or much less in assist. On the fundraising facet, she hasn’t taken in sufficient money to qualify for matching funds and her newest submitting from final month confirmed she had nearly $9,000 in her struggle chest.
The Cuomo nod marks a drastic flip-flop for Ramos, who mentioned in April she believes Cuomo’s “mental acuity is in decline.”
“I don’t think the City of New York can afford a Joe Biden moment,” she mentioned on the time, referring to the previous president who ended his reelection bid final yr after critical considerations emerged about his psychological health. “I think that there are real reasons why [Cuomo is] not answering questions.”
In response to her psychological health broadsides in opposition to Cuomo, his spokesman Wealthy Azzopardi shot again in April: “Was she sober when she said it?”
Azzopardi didn’t instantly return a request for remark Friday.
Ramos has been a harsh critic of the centrist Cuomo on quite a few different fronts, too.
“People may want to be courteous to Cuomo’s face but they don’t forget the people he sent to die, the women he touched or the people he left in our streets needing mental health care and housing,” Ramos wrote on X in March, referring to accusations that Cuomo mismanaged the COVID pandemic, sexually harassed greater than 10 girls and shuttered psychiatric establishments statewide as governor.
Cuomo has denied the sexual harassment and pandemic mismanagement claims.
Ramos, the chair of the State Senate’s Labor Committee, was the primary lady to enter the 2025 mayoral race and had hoped to construct a coalition rooted in union and Latino communities. However she by no means gained momentum on the marketing campaign path, as different progressives within the race, like runner-up candidate Zohran Mamdani, capitalized on a surge in enthusiasm for left-wing politics amongst younger voters.
Throughout the first mayoral debate this week, Ramos lobbed a barb at Mamdani, Cuomo’s prime rival within the race, saying she wished she had run for mayor in 2021.
“I thought I needed more experience, but turns out you just need to make good videos,” she mentioned, a reference to Mamdani’s social media technique.