Andrew Cuomo is trying to hang on to support for a general election bid

Andrew Cuomo is scrambling to shore up backing for a general election run, even as pillars of support for his New York City mayoral campaign crumble.

The former governor and his advisers have courted Democratic elected officials, business leaders and labor chiefs who endorsed his failed primary bid in an attempt to keep them in his fold for November, according to four people with direct knowledge of the conversations.

In phone calls since his double-digit loss to democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, Cuomo has insisted there’s a path forward in a five-candidate general election field and referenced public polling that showed him neck-and-neck with incumbent Eric Adams.

So far, the argument doesn’t seem to be working. Two key components of Cuomo’s base — Black leaders and unions — are abandoning his campaign. The developments call into question whether Cuomo, whose institutional support was unmatched in the primary, would have any establishment backing in a general election.