Michael Goodwin: Hochuls snubbing of Mamdani will only help boost Cuomos campaign

The observation that politics often makes for strange bedfellows is now offering an extra-strange New York example.It features an unlikely gift from Gov.Hochul to her predecessor and perpetual tormentor, Andrew Cuomo.Although she was his running mate and Lt.

Governor for two terms, they were barely speaking by the time Cuomo was forced out of Albany nearly four years ago.To this day, their mutual loathing is palpable.So how then to explain that Hochul threw Cuomo a huge last-minute lifeline in his race for mayor?To be sure, an obvious reason is to help herself in her re-election quest next year.But the immediate impact is a boost for Cuomo in his bid for City Hall.You would assume the last thing she wants is to see him sitting in City Hall next year, badgering her and settling scores when she’s running for re-election.

Yet that could be the result of her move.Here’s the scenario: Cuomo is in a tightening race to be the Democrats’ nominee, with Election Day this Tuesday.He leads in the polls but his chief rival, Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, has been gaining and the early-voting turnout has surged among young people, the core of Mamdani’s hard-left base.Moreover, with the city using the ranked-choice voting system, Mamdani has an extra advantage and could ultimately get the votes of four additional lefty candidates in the race through a series of cross endorsements.Hochul’s shocking help to Cuomo came in response to a question about Mamdani’s radical economic platform, which consists of a bunch of free giveaways —buses, child care, etc.All of it would be funded by imposing even higher income taxes on the top 1 percent of New York City residents and hiking the corporate tax.It’s part of the progressive playbook he’s been selling for months, and his climb in the polls has encouraged other candidates to promote their own expensive wish lists and tax proposals.Hochul has been silent all along, but suddenly, and very late in the game, she decided ...