After resigning in disgrace earlier this year, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is already plotting his political comeback.
According to sources close to him, he is considering running for New York Attorney General—a position he held before serving as governor.
“In the last 24 hours, several of Cuomo’s confidants have mentioned — to both elected Democratic officials and party insiders — that Cuomo could run for attorney general in 2022,” reports the New York Post. “Current AG Letitia James has announced her candidacy for governor, leaving the role of AG wide open, these people contend.”
“People in Cuomo’s orbit are tossing it out there,” a source told the New York Post. “They’re floating it … and gauging people’s reactions.”
Cuomo has a hefty war chest of $18 million. So he could run for almost any position and have an immediate cash advantage over an opponent.
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi denies that the disgraced governor is considering a run for his former job despite the rumors. “There is a ton of idle speculation out there and we can’t control if we continue to take up valuable real estate in people’s heads,” he told the Post.
However, Cuomo recently told New York Magazine that he wouldn’t rule out any future runs for political office.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” Cuomo said. “I’m at peace. Look, it’s simple: I trust the people and the truth will out.”
Cuomo was charged with a misdemeanor sex-crime complaint last month and is set to appear in Albany City Court on Nov. 17. According to the official complaint, on Dec. 7, 2020, Cuomo intentionally, “and for no legitimate purpose, forcibly place[d] his hand under the blouse shirt of the victim …. and onto her intimate body part. Specifically, the [victim’s] left breast for the purposes of degrading and gratifying his sexual desires.”
If convicted, Cuomo faces up to a year in prison.
Related: Andrew Cuomo to Be Arrested Next Week: Report
While it seems presumptuous for Cuomo to be thinking about a political comeback, despite the current charges against him as well as others that could be coming from the other women who say he sexually harassed them, it’s easy to see why Cuomo thinks a political comeback is even possible. Democrats also have a knack for riding through scandals. Bill Clinton saw his popularity go up despite his impeachment. The late Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) had been impeached as a federal judge before being elected to Congress in an overwhelmingly Democratic district.
Former Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.) was censured by Congress for having a sexual relationship with an underage male congressional page yet was reelected six more times by his district before retiring. In 2019, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam faced overwhelming calls for resignation after a medical school yearbook photo showing him either in blackface or in KKK robes was uncovered. Northam refused to resign, denying he was in the photo. Heck, Barack Obama spent eight years under the dark cloud of scandal and rode through it all, and remains popular among Democrats today.
And don’t get me started on Ted Kennedy.
So, yes, as crazy as it sounds now, a political comeback for Cuomo is sadly possible. The attorney general rumors may or may not be true, but Cuomo clearly still believes he has a future in politics, and Democrat voters clearly have no problem with voting for scandal-plagued candidates.
