With a woman coming forward to allege that Andrew Cuomo made unwanted advances to her at a wedding they both attended in 2019, the New York governor is now facing three allegations that he behaved inappropriately with women – two of whom worked for him in some capacity.
And, on the heels of the latest allegation, which was reported by The New York Times and which CNN has not independently confirmed, US Rep. Kathleen Rice became the first member of the New York congressional delegation to call for Cuomo to step aside.
“The time has come. The Governor must resign,” tweeted Rice with Monday’s Times article attached.
It’s worth noting that none of those who have called for Cuomo to resign so far are major allies and some, like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has suggested Cuomo should resign if the allegations are proven true, have had long-running feuds with the governor. But the real potential problem for Cuomo is that these calls might pave the way for Democrats who have so far only called for an investigation to follow suit.
Rice’s announcement will significantly ramp up the pressure on every other member of New York’s House delegation – and its two senators – to say something about Cuomo’s future. With Rice now off the sidelines, it will no longer be OK for these members to simply say they support an independent investigation of the allegations – as most have done to date. Now, every reporter can point to Rice and say that she felt as though she had seen enough to make a decision on Cuomo.
Which is why the next 72 hours or so are so critical for Cuomo – on two fronts:
1) He needs to keep Rice as a lone wolf. The more that prominent elected officials join her, the easier it becomes for this to become an avalanche of people calling for him to resign. In order to avoid that fate, Cuomo has to focus on a few of the big influencers within the New York delegation. That list starts with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who, as you may remember, was the tipping point in calling for the resignation of then-Minnesota Sen. Al Franken amid allegations of inappropriate behavior with women. Cuomo must also keep a close eye on Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the No. 5 ranking Democrat in leadership in the US House and a major figure in the party. Ditto Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is not only an influencer among progressives in New York City but nationally as well.
2) He needs there to be no new allegations. It seems like every day (or every other day) for the past five to seven days, there’s been another accuser coming forward to say Cuomo either sexually harassed them or made an unwanted advance. It’s always difficult to determine at what point there are too many accusations for Cuomo to recover from politically, but another woman coming forward with a similar story to the first three would make it very tough. Momentum is a very real thing in politics and, at that point, all of the energy and pressure would be for Cuomo to step aside.
Now, as we’ve seen before – most notably with the 45th President of the United States – it’s not all that easy to remove a politician from office even amid a series of allegations like these (and worse) if he doesn’t want to go. Cuomo could simply hunker down – no matter what happens over the next three days or three weeks – and insist he isn’t going anywhere until the independent investigation is concluded. Which could be a while. (As I wrote on Monday, Cuomo is clearly trying to buy some time for himself at the moment.)
Over the weekend, Cuomo released a statement in which he acknowledged that “some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation,” adding: “To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.” He has denied allegations, both in December and now, of an unwanted kiss with a former female staffer, as well as her allegation that he suggested they play strip poker on a flight.
If Cuomo stayed put, it would put the onus of removing him on the state legislature. Which, depending on what happens over these next few days, could be a real possibility. The process by which a New York governor can be impeached is quite complicated, however.
Even if Cuomo is able to survive these next 72 hours, his political fate is far from certain. He seems very likely to draw a primary challenge in 2022, and Republicans are newly-emboldened about their chances if he winds up as the Democratic nominee next fall.
But, the next three(ish) days could well be decisive in regards whether Cuomo even makes it to the ballot next year. Right now, that is a very open question.
