If troubled Mayor Eric Adams departs office before the end of his term, leading Democrats are pressing for state Attorney General Tish James to be prepared to run for mayor in a special election.
Leaders of the party are uniting behind James because of concerns that a special election may cause further unrest in New York City, as progressive politicians prepare for a possible contest and former governor Andrew Cuomo considers a political return.
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A “what if” scenario was recently presented to reporters by state Democratic Party Leader Jay Jacobs, who expressed the interest of many people in Tish running for mayor.
While Adams is being investigated by the federal government, Jacobs asserted that party leaders “don’t have much of an appetite” for Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 over accusations of sexual harassment and as evidence grew that his administration mismanaged the COVID-19 response and then covered it up to avoid taking responsibility for the number of deaths.
Cuomo continues to deny the accusations. He replied, “You open a whole can of worms with Cuomo” He then added, “I don’t know if we would want to revisit that.”
A Democratic source went on to say that Cuomo and James are different because “people actually like Tish.” State Democratic Party Leader Jay Jacobs recently showed reporters a “what if” scenario and mentioned how many people would be interested in seeing Tish run for mayor.
The source claimed that Andrew was carrying more baggage than the outgoing mayor.
According to some reports, James was contacted lately by the campaign of Gov. Kathy Hochul to inquire about her interest in calling a special election in the event that Cuomo intervened. However, James denied having discussed the matter with the governor personally.
James told reporters, “No, she didn’t reach out to me,” while she was in the Hudson Valley doing a campaign stop for Representative Pat Ryan (D-NY).
“I don’t believe in speculation.” James shares, “I’m focused on the Attorney General’s office right now, but I’m not ruling out running for mayor.”
Additionally, those close to her have not disputed the talks that occurred between their teams.
The prospective addition to the already crowded mayoral race occurs just days after The Post published the initial information revealing Hochul’s attorneys were investigating the process of putting a seldom used section of state law to use in her attempt to remove the mayor from office.
Few in political circles would want the long-term change, but in the event of an ouster, the city’s Public Advocate Jumaane Williams would hold the position until a special election in accordance with the city charter.
Regarding the idealistic progressive, “Jumaane is not the answer,” a source stated. “The ideal situation would be him over the 90 days before a special election and James taking over.”
James would probably go up against state senators Scott Stringer, Jessica Ramos, and Brad Lander, the comptroller of Myrie City, as well as his predecessor.
However, a second source with knowledge of the AG’s thoughts claimed that Adams is not going anywhere and does not currently have any intentions to run for office.
“Frankly it’s astounding how Andrew Cuomo continues to live rent-free in Kathy Hochul’s head. Her political weakness knows no bounds,” stated a person close to Cuomo.
Progressives’ support may grow as a result of James’s entry into the contest, and funders and other influential parties will now have a known candidate to back who isn’t the infamous former governor.
Analysts believe that James has the rare ability to unite a sizable portion of left-leaning Democrats, moderate Blacks, and Latinos, as well as Jews.
Paul Zuber of the Business Council of New York State told reporters, “I think that what business is trying to do is they’re trying to figure out what’s next, and with that there’s a level of uncertainty which is never good for business.”
In her debut contest for City Council, James defeated a Democrat purely on the basis of the Working Families Party platform. The Brooklynite is also connected to the Jewish communities of the borough.
Adams is fighting for his political life, but as he faces the uncertainty that his stunning indictment on charges of bribery and wire fraud has cast over Big Apple politics, corporate groups and other friends are starting to wonder.
The company Council of New York State’s executive vice president, Paul Zuber, said he has talked to company executives who are choosing to “wait and see” with Adams but are beginning to wonder what will happen next.
“I think that what business is trying to do is they’re trying to figure out what’s next, and with that there’s a level of uncertainty which is never good for business,” Zuber stated.
As a result of Adams’ indictment, Hochul is negotiating a challenging and demanding political environment. Hochul essentially set a marker and gave Adams a few days to demonstrate that he could still do his duties in a statement that was made public late on Thursday following the announcement of the indictment.
After speaking with the mayor, Hochul told reporters on Monday that she thought the trust that New Yorkers had in him was “wavering.”
She noted, “I’m giving the mayor an opportunity now to demonstrate to New Yorkers and to me that we are righting the ship and that we have the opportunity to instill the confidence that I think is wavering right now.”
Hochul said that she had spoken with Al Sharpton, a significant figure in the black community who hasn’t broken up with Adams yet.
“I have a lot of respect for Rev. Al Sharpton. I speak to him often and I respect his leadership and I will continue to work with him,” Hochul remarked.
