Former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched his first television ad in the 2025 New York City mayoral race on Monday, spotlighting the very crisis that helped bring down his political career.
The new ad titled “Crisis” says Cuomo is a battle-tested leader who “acted” during the pandemic, delivering emergency hospitals and first responders when the city needed him most.
“It was the greatest health crisis in our history—and when New Yorkers were desperate for leadership—Andrew Cuomo delivered. He didn’t just provide information in those daily COVID briefings — he acted — building emergency hospitals and deploying first responders. And he provided hope — that we’d pull through this…together,” says a narrator, echoing campaign talking points as images flash of Cuomo’s daily COVID briefings. The ad will air as part of a six-figure digital blitz across YouTube, Facebook, and streaming platforms, according to the press release.
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The ad tries to portray Cuomo as a leader who triumphed during hard times, despite controversies that cut his governorship short.
Cuomo, who led New York as governor from 2011 to 2021, stepped down after numerous women accused him of sexual harassment. Cuomo’s ad rewrites history by leaving out the state’s controversial order that required nursing homes to admit COVID-positive patients.
That decision preceded the deaths of at least 4,000 residents, according to a January 2021 investigation by the Daily Caller News Foundation. New York admitted it had quietly stopped counting long-term care residents who died of COVID-19 in hospitals, omitting an unknown number of deaths from official reports, despite already leading the nation in reported facility fatalities.
A blistering 2021 report from Attorney General Letitia James also said Cuomo’s team manipulated data to downplay the toll. Federal and local prosecutors ultimately declined to charge him, but Republican lawmakers have since referred Cuomo to criminal investigators for alleged perjury tied to his testimony on the matter.
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Despite the controversies surrounding him, Cuomo now appears to hold a clear advantage in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. A March poll from the progressive group Data for Progress showed him leading with 39%, far ahead of New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani at 15%, while incumbent Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams is running as an independent and not participating in the primary.
Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
