Notable lawmakers calling for Cuomo to resign

On Thursday, the Assembly opened an impeachment inquiry, setting in motion an investigation by the chamber’s judiciary committee into the allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by Cuomo. On Friday, a surge of House Democrats joined calls for Cuomo to resign, including influential members of Congress and establishment Democrats such as Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney. They were joined late in the day by the state’s two U.S. senators, Chuck Schumer and KThe governor lost another chunk of his support base on Friday, as five of Long Island’s moderate Democratic state senators called on Cuomo to step aside at least until an investigation into the allegations overseen by Attorney General Letitia James is complete. They did not explicitly call for Cuomo’s resignation from office.

It would take a majority vote in the 150-seat chamber to impeach Cuomo (temporarily making Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul the acting state executive) over a growing list of incidents of alleged sexual misconduct. This includes a allegations from multiple women of sexual assault, forced kissing, inappropriate touching or generally sexist behavior. A two-thirds vote by the Court for the Trial of Impeachments, which includes state senators and members of the judiciary, would be needed to remove Cuomo permanently from office.

Despite mounting political pressure, many state lawmakers say they are withholding judgment on Cuomo until an investigation overseen by Attorney General Letitia James is completed. A federal probe also remains ongoing into the Cuomo administration’s reported cover-up of nursing home deaths. Revelations about safety issues at the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge are making it even harder for the governor to hold onto power despite his emphatic statements that he is not going anywhere. 

Some political notables say they have heard enough when it comes to the sexual misconduct allegations and have called for the governor to either resign or be impeached. Here’s our latest tally since Feb. 24, when former aide Lindsey Boylan posted an account of her experiences with the governor on Medium. 

Senate

Chuck Schumer, D (March 12)

Kirsten Gillibrand, D (March 12)

Congress 

Nicole Malliotakis, R (Feb. 24)

Elise Stefanik, R (Feb. 24)

Claudia Tenney, R (Feb. 24)

Lee Zeldin, R (Feb. 27)

Kathleen Rice, D (March 1)

Carolyn Maloney, D (March 12)

Jerry Nadler, D (March 12)

Yvette Clarke, D (March 12)

Nydia Velázquez, D (March 12)

Adriano Espaillat, D (March 12)

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D (March 12)

Antonio Delgado, D (March 12)

Grace Meng, D (March 12)

Mondaire Jones, D (March 12)

Jamaal Bowman, D (March 12)

Brian Higgins, D (March 12)

Sean Patrick Maloney, D (March 12)

Paul Tonko, D (March 12)

State Senate

Alessandra Biaggi, D (Feb. 27)

Robert Ortt, R (Feb. 28)

Jim Tedisco, R (Feb. 28)

Dan Stec, R (Feb. 28)

John Liu, D (March 1)

Jessica Ramos, D (March 1)

Gustavo Rivera, D (March 1)

Jabari Brisport, D (March 2)

Julia Salazar, D (March 2)

Mike Martucci, R (March 2)

James Skoufis, D (March 3)

Daphne Jordan, R (March 6)

Tom O’Mara, R (March 6)

Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D (March 7)

Liz Krueger, D (March 7)

Robert Jackson, D (March 7)

Michael Gianaris, D (March 7)

Samra Brouk, D (March 7)

Brad Hoylman, D (March 7)

Rachel May, D (March 7)

Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, D (March 7)

James Sanders Jr., D (March 8)

George Borello, R (March 8)

Andrew Gounardes, D (March 10)

Michelle Hinchey, D (March 10)

John Mannion, D (March 10)

Shelley Mayer, D (March 11)

Toby Ann Stavisky, D (March 11)

Brian Kavanagh, D (March 11)

The rest of state Senate GOP minority (March 11)

Zellnor Myrie, D (March 12)

Tim Kennedy (March 12)

Jeremy Cooney, D (March 12)

*John Brooks, James Gaughran, Todd Kaminsky, Anna Kaplan and Kevin Thomas released a joint statement on March 12 calling on Cuomo to step down at least until James’ investigation is complete, but did not explicitly call on him to resign.

Assembly 

Mike Lawler, R (Feb. 24)

Yuh-Line Niou, D (Feb. 27)

Harvey Epstein, D (Feb. 28)

Ron Kim, D (Feb. 28)

Phil Steck., D (Feb. 28)

Michael Durso, R (Feb. 28)

Nathalia Fernandez , D (March 1)

Jessica González-Rojas, D (March 1)

Jo Anne Simon, D (March 1)

Angelo Santabarbara, D (March 1)

Dan Quart, D (March 2)

Emily Gallagher, D (March 2)

Zohran Mamdani, D (March 2)

Marcela Mitaynes, D (March 2)

Victor Pichardo, D (March 2)

Phara Souffrant Forrest, D (March 2)

Tom Abinanti, D (March 3)

Aileen Gunther, D (March 3)

William Barclay, R (March 7)

Pat Burke, D (March 7)

Sarah Clark, D (March 7)

Billy Jones, D (March 7)

Carrie Woerner, D (March 7)

Mike Reilly, R (March 7)

Catalina Cruz, D (March 7)

Jonathan Jacobson, D (March 7)

Mary Beth Walsh, R (March 7)

David DiPietro, R (March 7)

Josh Jensen, R (March 7)

Matt Simpson, R (March 7)

Richard Gottfried, D (March 9) 

Robert Carroll, D (March 10)

Khaleel Anderson, D (March 10)

Edward Ra, R (March 10)

Doug Smith, R (March 10)

Jarett Gandolfo, R (March 10)

Brian Barnwell, D (March 11)

Harry Bronson, D (March 11)

Kenny Burgos, D (March 11)

Marianne Buttenschon, D (March 11)

Carmen De La Rosa, D (March 11)

Simcha Eichenstein, D (March 11)

Mathylde Frontus, D (March 11)

Judy Griffin, D (March 11)

Andrew Hevesi, D (March 11)

Anna Kelles, D (March 11)

Jennifer Lunsford, D (March 11)

Amy Paulin, D (March 11)

Karines Reyes, D (March 11)

Linda Rosenthal, D (March 11)

Daniel Rosenthal, D (March 11)

Nily Rozic, D (March 11)

Amanda Septimo, D (March 11)

Jeff Gallahan, R, (March 11)

Diane Richardson (March 12)

Others

Sexual Harassment Working Group (Feb. 27)

Comptroller Tom DiNapoli (March 12)

Working Families Party (March 2)

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (March 11)

New York State Young Democrats (March 2)

New York City mayoral candidate Dianne Morales (Feb. 27)

New York City mayoral candidate Carlos Menchaca (Feb. 27)

New York City mayoral candidate Kathryn Garcia (March 1)

New York City mayoral candidate Maya Wiley (March 3)

New York City mayoral candidate Scott Stringer (March 7)

Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, R (Feb. 27)

Queens borough president candidate Jimmy Van Bramer (Feb. 27)

New York City comptroller candidate Brad Lander (March 1)

Manhattan Borough president candidate Ben Kallos (March 1)

Brooklyn Borough president candidate Antonio Reynoso (March 1)

Manhattan Borough president candidate Mark Levine (March 7)

Times Union Editorial Board (March 6)

National Organization for Women (March 11)

Editor’s note: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was removed from this list after he stopped short of explicitly calling for the governor to resign on March 8, but has since been added back. This list has been corrected to reflect that Josh Jensen is an Assembly member, not a member of the state Senate.