Progressives pull Ramos endorsements after she backs Andrew Cuomo

State Sen. Jessica Ramos had to know her surprise endorsement of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo wouldn’t go over easily with progressives. But the backlash to the announcement from the trailing mayoral candidate on Friday was swift – including from some of the organizations, labor unions and elected officials who endorsed her. That includes the New York Working Families Party, which removed her as their 5th ranked choice on Friday evening.

At least four of Ramos’ endorsers had rescinded their endorsements by the time she finished speaking on stage at a Cuomo campaign event on Friday morning, and even more did so later in the day. United Auto Workers Region 9A, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Action, the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club and Assembly Member Emily Gallagher all dropped Ramos from their endorsement slates on Friday. “Opposing Andrew Cuomo is a non-negotiable for our membership,” UAW Region 9A said in a statement explaining the change to its ranked choice slate. 

“Our officers were shocked,” said Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club President Allen Roskoff. “They're very, very disappointed.” The club’s full slate now includes, in ranked order, Adrienne Adams, Mamdani, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and then Blake.

Ramos, who is trailing in polls and fundraising, hadn’t earned any of those organizations’ top endorsements, but was previously included in their slates, often in fifth place. It’s unclear how much influence these shifts will have on the state of the race overall, in which Cuomo is leading in polls, followed by Democratic Socialist Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani.

Later on Friday, the exodus continued. The union Professional Staff Congress of the City University of New York dropped Ramos from their slate, as did state Sen. Gustavo Rivera. The organization Downtown Women for Change, one of the few groups who had ranked her first, dropped her too. The group bumped up City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to their No. 1 ranked choice.

Most of Ramos’ dropped endorsers so far have added former Assembly Member Michael Blake to their slate instead. UAW Region 9A said that Blake pledged never to endorse Cuomo. Another group cited Blake’s performance in Wednesday’s first mayoral debate.

The former Assembly member and congressional candidate from the Bronx was in good spirits when reached for comment on Friday. “Wednesday night’s debate, where I showed clear, strong conviction, and then (Ramos’) decision today being the opposite made it pretty easy for people to make a clear choice,” he told City & State.

Though the Working Families also dropped Ramos on Friday, they did not replace their 5th choice with any other candidate. Blake told City & State earlier on Friday that he had had a conversation with the party earlier that day, but it’s not clear that the party plans to replace Ramos’ spot on their slate with him or anyone else. The party’s leaders have referred to Ramos’ endorsement of Cuomo as a distraction. Earlier in the day, party leaders said they were “sad and disappointed” by Ramos’ move. A post sent later in the evening on Friday with their newly truncated slate wasn’t accompanied by a statement. 

Before last week, Ramos had been left off the WFP’s slate of endorsed candidates – a move that the party leadership later expressed some regret over.

Blake has so far failed to gain traction in the race and in a late May Emerson poll had the support of  just 1.5% of Democrats in the first round of a ranked-choice simulation. Both Blake and Ramos failed to qualify for a second debate scheduled for next Thursday, under fundraising and spending thresholds set by the city’s Campaign Finance Board. Blake said he plans to file legal action to challenge that decision in the next day or two. 

Several other groups who have endorsed Ramos confirmed that they are in the process of discussing their endorsement slate with members, including Brooklyn Young Democrats and New Kings Democrats. (The former included Ramos on an unranked slate and the latter ranked her fifth.) 

The New York Progressive Action Network, which initially included Ramos on its slate, told City & State that they were “extremely disappointed” at her decision to endorse Cuomo and would be issuing a statement about their endorsement on Saturday. The group Citizen Action of New York, which included Ramos in its slate, said Friday that it is “discussing recent disappointing developments” with its members.

Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson, one of the few elected officials to endorse Ramos’ mayoral campaign as part of his slate, told City & State that he is still “sitting with the information I received this morning,” adding that Ramos is a friend and he has not yet made a decision.

Neither the Ramos nor Cuomo campaigns immediately responded when asked how the endorsement came about. Ramos is not dropping out of the race, but the endorsement only goes one way. “She is endorsing me. I am not endorsing her,” Cuomo told reporters on Friday. That statement prompted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – whom Ramos has clashed with in the past – to respond, “lol. lmao” on X. On Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez announced a ranked endorsement that included, in order, Mamdani, Adrienne Adams, Lander, former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, and Myrie. 

At the Cuomo campaign event on Friday, Ramos argued that only the former governor has the experience to protect New York City from President Donald Trump. “I’ve worked with Andrew Cuomo to raise wages, protect immigrant workers, and pass major labor reforms, and I know he can go toe-to-toe with Trump when it counts,” Ramos said. “This is about governing, not posturing.” The state senator’s support of Cuomo has won her praise from some of his prominent endorsers, including Reps. Greg Meeks and Adriano Espaillat.

Politico New York reported on Friday that Ramos’ campaign is in debt, with unpaid vendor contractors that have not been reported to the CFB. Ramos also didn’t deny that she has talked with Cuomo about getting a job in his potential administration, the outlet reported.