Hochul's haul leads for 2026 but Stefanik isn't far behind

And former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has made a decision on the race for New York City mayor.

Good afternoon — it’s Monday and Mac and Cheese Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says he’s staying in the race for New York City mayor.

• Gov. Kathy Hochul reported a healthy campaign haul heading into reelection but U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik is quickly catching up.

• We now have a date for the rescheduled CDPAP hearing from the Legislature.

• The power of the attorney general’s office to probe civil rights violations would be codified through a bill Hochul will consider this year.

• This Week in New York History: The Women’s Rights Convention, Niagara Falls and NYC’s Crystal Palace

Names in today’s CapCon: Andrew Cuomo, Zohran Mamdani, Eric Adams, Jim Walden, Kathy Hochul, Antonio Delgado, Mike Lawler, Elise Stefanik, James Skoufis, Gabriella Romero

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🔊 CapCon Pod: Inspector General Lucy Lang joined us for a new episode of the Capitol Confidential podcast to chat about what her office is working on and the 10-year anniversary of the prison break in Dannemora.

Find that wherever you get podcasts, on our website, or over at the Times Union.

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There’s a lot to watch in politics. This section gives you a quick look at news on elections that might interest you.

Cuomo and Mamdani in June (Yuki Iwamura/Associated Press)

☑️ Cuomo says he’s staying in the race for NYC mayor

After a bruising defeat in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor last month, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday he’ll stay in the race as an independent candidate.

Cuomo released a video on social media apologizing to supporters for losing against Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, now the Democratic nominee, and pledged to soldier on.

“The fight to save our city isn’t over. Only 13% of New Yorkers voted in the June primary,” Cuomo said. “The general election is in November and I am in it to win it.”

His campaign then shot out a short message from him to its email list to spread the announcement, which he wrote will include an overhaul of his campaign.

“In the next several months, I will run a very different kind of campaign,” Cuomo wrote. “I am putting together a new team, communications plan, strategy, and field operation.”

Cuomo will not only have to defeat Mamdani to become mayor. He’ll have to convince voters to reject incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and attorney Jim Walden, who are also running as independents. Adams has warned that neither he nor Cuomo will win if they both stay in the race.

The New York Post had reported over the weekend that Cuomo would pledge to drop out of the race in the fall if polling showed him behind the other independents. He didn’t mention that in his announcement.

(Will Waldron/Times Union)

💰 Hochul’s campaign haul outpaces opponents

Money can go a long way in politics, particularly in a race for New York governor.

A statewide campaign for governor can easily cost around $30 million, which is the benchmark that’s been used in the last few cycles.

Former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, now head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, raised $27.6 million as the 2022 Republican nominee for governor. He came closer to winning that race than any Republican since Gov. George E. Pataki was in office.

But Zeldin’s campaign didn’t start out that way. At this same point in his campaign — the July before the year of the election — he had only raised about $3.6 million.

At the same time, Hochul only had $1.7 million in her campaign coffers but that wasn’t unusual. She was still lieutenant governor in July of 2021 — a month before Cuomo resigned.

Hochul would go on to raise $53.2 million between when Cuomo announced his resignation, and when she was elected to a full term in 2022. That’s a lot of campaign cash.

Most of that money was spent defeating Zeldin but Hochul kept a small war chest to build from while simultaneously raising money for the state Democratic Party, which she leads.

We now know how much money she raised in the first half of this year. But, more importantly, we also know how much cash her competitors have on hand.

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)

💵 How much cash Hochul, Delgado, Stefanik and Lawler have