In a June 20 letter to the Marketing campaign Finance Board that hasn’t been beforehand reported, Cuomo’s group — who have been themselves beneath CFB investigation on the time over suspected coordination with a supportive tremendous PAC — claimed Mamdani had violated guidelines by not disclosing a mayoral race ballot to the board’s regulators.
The June 11 ballot, commissioned by metropolis comptroller candidate Justin Brannan’s marketing campaign, marked the primary mayoral race survey to indicate Mamdani beating Cuomo, inflicting a stir in political circles simply earlier than early voting began within the June 24 major.
New York Metropolis Councilman Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn) is pictured throughout an schooling funds listening to Tuesday, Might 20, 2025 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Donoghue argued that was the case as a result of days after the ballot was performed, Mamdani launched a video on X by which he urged his supporters to donate to Brannan’s marketing campaign. As well as, Donoghue claimed, with out citing particular proof, that the Brannan and Mamdani campaigns had “together” offered a duplicate of the ballot to Politico, which first reported on it.
“The commissioning of the poll, the subsequent fundraising appeal for Justin Brannan and the publication of the Politico story on June 11, 2025, raise a host of issues as to whether or not there was a quid pro quo between the two candidates,” Donoghue wrote.
Brannan, who in the end misplaced the comptroller’s race, blasted the Cuomo camp’s claims as “paranoid” and “ludicrous.”
“It’s clear some people watch too much Netflix,” Brannan, a term-limited Metropolis Council member, mentioned Thursday. “The only thing Zohran and I ever conspired to do was build a more affordable city. I look forward to doing my part to ensure Zohran wins again in November and becomes our city’s next mayor.”
Mamdani spokesman Andrew Epstein mentioned his marketing campaign will reply to the Cuomo letter by a July 16 deadline. A CFB spokesman declined to remark, whereas Cuomo rep Wealthy Azzopardi mentioned he received’t supply extra remark till the CFB makes a ruling.
Donoghue’s letter got here because the CFB had for weeks withheld a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} in public matching funds from Cuomo’s marketing campaign after discovering it had probably illegally coordinated with Repair the Metropolis, a pro-Cuomo tremendous PAC, on an advert it launched touting the ex-governor’s file. Tremendous PACs are beneath the legislation strictly forbidden from working with candidates they help on political messaging.
There are not any legal guidelines barring candidates in the identical race from fundraising for one another. Nevertheless, Donoghue made the case that the CFB has by no means “gone so far as to bless the coordinated expenditures and campaigning of other candidates on the ballot in other races without disclosure.”
In the end, Mamdani, a democratic socialist Queens Meeting member, defeated Cuomo within the June 24 mayoral major by 12%, an upset that shocked many observers, given the ex-governor’s near-universal identify recognition.
Because the Democratic nominee, Mamdani is heading into November’s basic election because the probably favourite to turn into the following mayor, working in opposition to incumbent unbiased candidate Eric Adams, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and unbiased Jim Walden. Cuomo’s identify will even be on the November poll on an unbiased line, however his group says he hasn’t but determined whether or not he’s going to mount a real basic election marketing campaign.
Initially Printed: July 10, 2025 at 6:20 PM EDT
