Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo took the harshest personal hits from rivals Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander in the second and final mayoral primary debate — but likely not enough to topple his perch as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, a Post panel of political experts said.
But Mamdani, who has emerged as a top threat to Cuomo, took some jabs as well. And the panel of seven analysts questioned whether criticisms about the charismatic 33-year-old Democratic socialist assemblyman’s thin resume and experience will blunt his momentum.
“Cuomo, Mamdani and Lander were more vitriolic, throwing haymakers,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.
“But I don’t think the debate changed the dynamics of the race.”
Campaign strategist O’Brien “OB” Murray said Cuomo, Lander and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams were the debate winners.
“Democratic opponents finally landed some punches on Andrew Cuomo, but none of these punches will leave any bruises,” said Murray.
Still, Murray said: “Lander went right at Cuomo and was a different debater from the start.”
Republican campaign strategist Bill O’Reilly agreed, saying, “Cuomo likely did well enough to keep his polling lead, but Lander improved on his last performance and may siphon away some Cuomo votes.”
One of the signature moments in the debate was when Lander, the city comptroller, recognized Peter Arbeeny, whom he invited as a guest to the debate hosted by NY1 and The City at John Jay College Thursday night.
Arbeeny’s father, Norman, died from COVID-19 after a rehab stint in a nursing home.
The stunt allowed Lander to personalize Cuomo’s controversial COVID-19 policy that required nursing homes to admit recovering infected patients, which critics claimed accelerated the spread of contagion and deaths of vulnerable, elderly residents. Cuomo has long denied that was the case.
The panelists said Lander’s super aggressive performance was perhaps his last attempt to try to shake up the race and supplant Mamdani as the anti-Cuomo alternative.
“Lander attempted to revive his campaign. It was a hail Mary night,” Murray said.
Former Brooklyn Councilman Sal Albanese said, “Lander was in Cuomo’s face. Lander showed fire tonight. He had a pretty good performance.”
The Post panelists said Mamdani showed he could go toe-to-toe with Cuomo, when he said of the sexual misconduct accusations that forced the veteran pol from the governorship, “I have never had to resign in disgrace.”
He also scolded Cuomo for mispronouncing his name.
“Mamdani’s hammering Cuomo on the sexual harassment accusations and demanding that he pronounce his name correctly was as clean a blow as you’ll ever see in a debate. It was a memorable moment,” said Andrew Kirtzman, managing director of the consulting firm Actum.
“Cuomo found it hard to get off the defensive at first, but got stronger and more commanding as the night went on – he projected more gravitas than any of his opponents.”
Political analyst Ken Frydman said the hit on Cuomo’s sex harassment scandal landed — but it wasn’t a knockout punch.
“If it was, no woman would’ve voted for Donald Trump,” he said.
Frydman added: “Cuomo, Mamdani and Adams came into the second debate one, two and three — and came out of it one, two and three.”
One of the surprises of the debate, the panelists said, was when the council speaker deftly asked if Mamdani had the experience to be mayor, comparing her background and record to his.
“Adrianne Adams showed maturity and experience while others questioned the same for Mamdani. Her use of the assemblyman is something the others didn’t catch onto,” said Murray.
Another candidate, former city Comptroller Stringer, also took a veiled shot at Mamdani, a foe of Israel who supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the Jewish state.
“The BDS movement is antisemitic,” Stringer said.
Cuomo, Stringer and longshot candidate Whitney Tilson did a “stellar job hammering home Mamdani’s radical and anti-Israel stances,” said O’Reilly.
Democratic operative Yvette Buckner said there fewer voices than in the first debate but “the attacks were bolder and more negative,” especially for Cuomo by Mamdani and Lander.
She noted that questions were raised about Mamdani’s experience as well.
“Mamdani effectively delivered soundbites on his opponents but did not dig deep into his policy positions, like other candidates such as Adrienne Adams did, which leaves unresolved questions with less than 36 hours until early voting,” Bucker said.
“But it remains to be seen if that will slow down his momentum.”
Albanese was the one panelists who really thought the debate hurt Cuomo.
“I think Cuomo’s numbers are going to drop. He took a pounding. I thought he had a weak debate,” he said.
Cuomo couldn’t even remember if he’d ever visited a mosque while campaigning, Albanese noted.
“No Muslims are going to vote for him,” said Albanese.
The primary election is June 24 with nine days of early voting beginning on Saturday.
