Who’s the boss?
The head of the New York Democratic Party revealed Monday that he felt the need to notify Andrew Cuomo before publicly declaring his support for the disgraced governor’s replacement, Gov. Kathy Hochul, in her bid to be elected to the state’s highest office.
“It was just a courtesy call,” party chairman Jay Jacobs insisted to reporters, attempting to downplay the information he let slip. “I felt, as a courtesy to the former governor, that I should call him so he knows.”
As multiple Big Apple politicians — including Attorney General Letitia James, city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Mayor Bill de Blasio — consider launching campaigns to oust her, Jacobs labeled the incumbent governor, who ascended to the seat after Cuomo’s resignation, a “moderate” and “pragmatic progressive.”
Still, Jacobs said, he called Cuomo — who no longer holds any official office — at 9:15 a.m. Monday ahead of the expected endorsement announcement, because he wants to maintain good relationships with the scandal-scarred former governor.
Asked if Cuomo, who still has about $18 million in campaign cash at his disposal, will attempt to make a comeback and unseat the incumbent, Jacobs stressed the importance of the Democratic Party standing as a “unified” front.
But in his response, Jacobs seemed to confuse just who the governor of New York currently is.
“Anything in this world is possible, the governor does have a significant campaign war chest — Governor Cuomo, that is, I should say,” he stumbled, “and all I’m saying is that it is best for the Democratic Party for us to be as unified as possible.
“I think anybody that wants to run, needs to put forward a clear rationale as to why they are different, for whatever position it is, from the person that is there now, or from others that seek that office.”
He later added he doesn’t think Cuomo attempting to return to his former post in Albany would be a good idea, predicting voters wouldn’t support the potential decision.
“We have a governor who, by any measure, has earned our support,” Jacobs said. “Kathy Hochul has earned the support she is getting from me today.”
Cuomo, a three-term Democrat, stepped down on Aug. 10, after a monumental state attorney general investigation that documented his alleged sexual harassment of 11 mostly younger women, including current and former staffers.
He initially refused to step down, repeatedly unleashing his personal lawyer to attack some of his accusers and grouse his belief that the AG probe was politically motivated.
Cuomo eventually relented, after President Biden, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), and Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) among nearly every other member of his party called on him to resign, and the Democrat-controlled state legislature reached enough votes to impeach him.
Hochul was sworn in two weeks after he announced he’d leave office, following a final address by the embittered, still defensive outgoing governor.
Despite the fall from grace, Jacobs explained he called Cuomo “as a matter of respect, frankly.”
“He was our governor,” he insisted.
But Jacobs apparently didn’t tell every former resident of the New York State Executive Mansion ahead of time.
“I’m a former governor and I didn’t know — and he was chair of the state party when I was there!” ex-Gov. David Patterson chided Jacobs to The Post.
Other critics blasted Jacobs’ “preposterous” call to give Cuomo a heads up about his upcoming Hochul endorsement.
“It’s quite preposterous that the chair of our state party still runs his decisions by a sexual harasser who resigned in disgrace,” fumed state Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens)
State Sen. Michael Gianaris said simply, “The party chairman should not be consulting with Cuomo.”
“There was no need to consult Cuomo,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D- Upper East Side). “The attorney general substantiated the sexual harassment claims of 11 women.”
Meanwhile, Williams, the left-wing potential gubernatorial contender, ripped Jacobs for putting his thumb on the scale in the 2022 Democratic contest.
“Party chair @JayJacobs28 has endorsed in a primary for governor (where he should be impartial) before the rest of us even had a chance to make our case,” he said in a tweet. “As I’ve said, too much remains the same in Albany & will I be undeterred.”
Erica Vladimer — co-founder of the state’s Sexual Harassment Working Group — labeled Jacobs’ “courtesy” phone call “unacceptable.”
“Jay Jacobs is sending a very clear message to the former Cuomo staffers he harassed that he still holds a position of power in state politics,” she told The Post. “That is really unacceptable.”
After the blowback, Jacobs on Monday afternoon doubled down — claiming he’s recently “made a lot of calls” about his Hochul support.
“I made a lot of calls beforehand,” he told The Post. “I have been speaking to county chairs around the state, some calling me, me calling others to take their temperature to find out where they are and what they’re thinking.”
Jacobs insisted he wasn’t asking for the former governor’s permission for the endorsement.
“It’s simply a courtesy and I do this — although he has no impact on anything, I did not confer with him, I didn’t ask advice,” he said.
“I don’t like to rub people the wrong way.”
Hochul, when asked about Jacobs’ Cuomo call, told reporters she had nothing to do with Jacobs’ decision and that she was “proud” of his approval.
“I’m happy to have the support of Jay Jacobs,” she said at an event in Brownsville. “I’m proud to have the support of Jay Jacobs.”
“I’m not involved in that,” she added. “I’m truly not.”
James also declined to address Jacobs’ head-scratching call to Cuomo.
“I’m not talking about politics; I’m talking about lives today,” she told reporters at an event.
Meanwhile, Cuomo’s campaign on Monday morning blasted out a letter to supporters titled “The Truth,” defending his legacy.
Jacobs’ stamp of approval for Hochul comes after the Democratic Party honcho — a close Cuomo ally before in early August joining the chorus of others who called on him to step aside — has spoken favorably of Hochul of late.
“The county chairmen I spoke to are very favorably disposed to Hochul. I’m talking about county leaders everywhere in the state,” he said late last month.
In recent weeks, Jacobs has been making calls to encourage Empire State officials and political players to support Hochul in next year’s race, sources have told The Post.
James, whose office’s monumental probe delivered the death knell to Cuomo’s reign, told a group of Democrats Thursday night to “stay tuned” about a potential June 2022 Democratic primary campaign decision.
Shortly before Hochul took office — a limbo period following Cuomo saying his resignation would take effect in 14 days — she announced she would seek reelection.
Additional reporting by Steven Vago and Elizabeth Rosner
