Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand tells donors Andrew Cuomo may run against her: report
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has reportedly invoked the specter of a potential Andrew Cuomo comeback bid while hitting up donors for her re-election campaign, warning he may challenge her for her seat.
Sources told the Daily Beast that they heard the two-term New York Democratic senator saying as much in her pitch to some deep-pocketed backers.
A former top Cuomo administration official told the outlet, “Winning an election would be a vindication of the voters that he was right and everyone else was wrong.
“Winning the governorship would be the ultimate brass ring, but I think he would look at almost any seat where he has a real chance of winning as an opportunity to reestablish himself,” the source added.
The Daily Beast noted that Cuomo, 65, has $9.2 million remaining in his political war chest, compared to $5 million for Gillibrand, 56, and called Cuomo’s next move the “Nine Million Dollar Question” in its headline.
A source told The Post that Cuomo’s camp has recently pitched the notion of a Cuomo-Gillibrand battle to “multiple media outlets.”
Former top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa has been writing opinion columns for the Daily Beast since last year.
A Democratic Party source told The Post that federal rules bar Cuomo from using his state campaign money to run for the US Senate but that he could “theoretically transfer his money to a super PAC.”
Still, the source noted “there could be legal problems because it’s hard to claim there is no coordination with a super Pac if it’s running pro-Cuomo ads with money provided by Cuomo.”
A longtime Cuomo confidante told The Post, “I personally don’t think Andrew is running for Senate against Gillibrand.
“He hasn’t mentioned it to me or anyone else I’m aware of.”
“Having said that, everyone believes she’s beatable, and for that reason, I don’t think he would rule it out,” the pal added.
Gillibrand, who is New York’s junior senator under Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), faces a potential Republican challenge by former gubernatorial candidate and ex-US Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Long Island).
At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this month, Zeldin blasted Gillibrand as “one of the laziest, most forgettable, unaccomplished senators in the country.”
In September, Cuomo announced a return to public life following a 13-month, self-imposed exile that began when he resigned rather than face impeachment over sexual harassment allegations and other spiraling scandals.
Cuomo has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
As part of his plan, Cuomo said he was “starting a political action committee to elect the right people to office,” but the Daily Beast said it had yet to be established.
Cuomo is currently hosting a podcast where he’s discussed national issues including the influx of migrants across the southern US border and the recent downing of a Chinese spy balloon after it floated across the country.
A Cuomo rep said of a potential Senate run by the ex-governor, “He has expressed no opinion on the matter, except to say he’s keeping all options open.”
A Gillibrand spokesperson did not immediately return requests for comment.
A rep for the ex-governor, after the Post story posted, insisted that the Cuomo camp did not pitch a Cuomo-Gillibrand battle to media outlets.
“That’s silly and absurd. We didn’t know this Daily Beast story was going until it was posted last night, and then we responded,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi.
