Mayor Adams’s Key Supporter in the State Capitol Now Endorses Cuomo

Mayor Adams’s Key Supporter in the State Capitol Now Endorses Cuomo

By:  Hadassa Kalatizadeh

Mayor Eric Adams’ biggest supporter in the state capitol has endorsed former governor Andrew Cuomo for the upcoming June primary for New York City mayor.

As reported by the NY Times, on Sunday, assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who leads Brooklyn’s Democratic Party, announced that she is not only endorsing Mr. Cuomo, but will serve as his senior political adviser.  The news is a strong blow to Mayor Adams’ chances at regaining the Democratic ticket in the crowded primaries, in which newcomer Cuomo has become the main rival.  It is an indisputable sign that Mr. Adams no longer has the party’s backing in his path to a second term as NYC mayor.

Per the Times, Ms. Bichotte Hermelyn had backed the mayor last year when he was indicted on five counts of federal criminal corruption. More recently, she even stood by Mayor Adams when many accused him of aligning himself with the Trump administration, and agreeing to Trump’s immigration policies—saying he was acting for his own sake, in order to secure dismissal of the charges stacked against him.

Now, however, perhaps as a result of the mayor’s record-low poll numbers, she is throwing her support behind the former governor.  Late last month, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the corruption charges against Mr. Adams so that he could assist the Trump administration with its immigration crackdown.  Shortly after that, in early March, a poll from the Quinnipiac University, revealed that only  20% of voters polled approve of Adam’s job performance, and about 71% said they believed he had acted illegally or unethically.   The same poll found Mayor Adams at a distant second among registered Democrats for the mayoral primary, with just 11% of voters;  while Cuomo,  who officially entered the race in early March, garnered support from 31 percent of Democrats polled.

Mayor Adam’s support from Brooklyn has always been a vital element– being that he had served as Brooklyn Borough President, and previously state senator there, and much of his base of Black voters stemmed from there.  Ms. Bichotte Hermelyn’s endorsement and honorary alliance with Cuomo, is now likely to take much of that support.  “The governor has the experience and the record to hit the ground running and provide the leadership and the steady hand that we need,” said Ms. Bichotte Hermelyn.  “This endorsement  is pro-Governor Cuomo, not anti-Mayor Adams,” she later added.

Cuomo, 67, acknowledged the endorsement and its importance.  “Brooklyn is home to the largest number of Democrats in any county in the nation, and I am humbled to have the support of its great Democratic leader,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement.

Curiously, Ms. Bichotte Hermelyn had been one of the many elected officials who had called on Mr. Cuomo to resign in 2021 after the attorney general’s report that he had allegedly sexually harassed 11 women. She said she now feels comfortable endorsing Mr. Cuomo, because he was not criminally charged.  “As a survivor of sexual assault, and a champion for women’s rights, I know more than most how we need to treat every accusation seriously, and how tough it can be to speak out, especially against the powerful,”  Ms. Bichotte Hermelyn said. “We need to rely on the court of law, not the court of public opinion, when it comes to these serious accusations.”

Ms. Bichotte Hermelyn is not the only one to exit mayor Adams’ coalition. Per the Times, Ruben Diaz Jr., the former Bronx borough president, also recently endorsed Mr. Cuomo.  Also, Eddie Gibbs, an assemblyman from East Harlem in Upper Manhattan, who was a close ally of Mr. Adams, is now endorsing Mr. Cuomo.

For his part, Mayor Adams has insisted that he is still running and looks forward to winning.  “Endorsements don’t win races. Knocking on doors do,” Mr. Adams said at a recent news conference. “I’m a solid, solid campaigner. I know how to articulate a message that’s clear and crisp. And that’s what I’m going to do.”