Politico, JEFF COLTIN, june 8, 2025

From ABC to ABZ: It was the political equivalent of a deathbed conversion, as state Sen. Jessica Ramos, in campaign debt with no path to victory, endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor of New York City Friday, hoping to block Zohran Mamdani from winning.

She’s called the former governor “a corrupt bully with a record of sexual misconduct,” “the Democratic Party’s Trump,” a “corrupt egomaniac” whose “mental acuity is in decline,” and on Wednesday said of Cuomo’s front-runner position that she wished she “lived in a city where voters cared about women getting harassed.”

Her consistent, outspoken Cuomo criticisms date back at least eight years to her election.

But today, she stood beside him at a lower Manhattan union hall and said endorsing him “wasn’t an easy decision, for all the reasons you already know. But it’s a responsible decision.”

“We need much more than performative politics,” the Queens Democrat added. “We need experience and someone who knows how to deliver under pressure.”

Ramos has had an increasingly contentious relationship with the city’s leftwing institutions and leaders — including Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez— and failed to earn meaningful endorsements or support since launching her campaign last September.

Crucially, Ramos’ campaign owes tens of thousands of dollars to vendors in unpaid contracts that have not been reported to campaign finance regulators, according to five people familiar with her finances. Her latest filing showed her campaign had a balance of just $9,089, but that doesn’t reflect the actual state of the books, her campaign has said.

One of those people familiar with her finances told Playbook her campaign is over $250,000 in debt. A large chunk of that is in dispute with a single vendor who has retained a lawyer and is threatening to sue Ramos.

A Ramos campaign spokesperson confirmed that not all the outstanding invoices had been reported — a violation of the rules that could result in thousands of dollars in fines — blaming the treasurer’s pregnancy complications.

“We are grateful to our treasurer for her service and support her focusing on her personal health. Any records not filled will be amended in the June 13th filing,” the spokesperson said.

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