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Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) was routed in a shock upset last month when Democrats rejected him in the primary for mayor of New York City, in favor of the young democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, who is running on a platform of freezing rent, expanding free bus service, and creating public grocery stores in food deserts.

After weeks of relative silence from Cuomo, however, he announced Monday that he is remaining in the race and will run on a separate party line in the general election, alongside scandal-plagued incumbent mayor Eric Adams and the pro-Trump Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.

"Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably knew that the Democratic primary did not go the way I had hoped," said Cuomo in his announcement video posted to X. "To the 440,000 New Yorkers who voted for me, a sincere thank you. Thank you for believing in me, in my agenda, and in my experience. And I am truly sorry that I let you down. But as my grandfather used to say, when you get knocked down, learn the lesson and pick yourself back up and get in that game, and that is what I'm going to do."

Even before Cuomo's video dropped, reports that he would stay in the race had already drawn criticism.

"Andrew Cuomo an un-evolved desperate man searching for meaning in all the wrong places," wrote former New York state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi.

"True to form, Andrew Cuomo once again refuses to accept that no means no," wrote state assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest, referencing allegations of sexual misconduct against the former governor.

As soon as the video dropped, it was overshadowed in likes and shares by Mamdani, who replied to the post with a link to his campaign donation page.

"NO MEANS NO. Go away, you gargoyle faced bully," wrote state Sen. Gustavo Rivera.

"Translation: Cuomo is so desperate to prevent a rent freeze that he actually set foot on the streets of New York. Get this jabroni out of New York politics for good!" wrote the account for the activist network Adbusters.

"Took three weeks to edit out passersby shouting 'Go f--- yourself'" wrote satirical political cartoonist Eli Valley.

"Honestly, what do Democrats say about the purpose and utility of the primary process now?" wrote Bernie Sanders' political adviser and More Perfect Union founder Faiz Shakir. "In New York, we're yielding the entire 'process' over to billionaires' whims. Fight Oligarchy."

Watch Cuomo's announcement video below or at the link here.

President Donald Trump has declared his intention to campaign on the deeply unpopular "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which one analyst said should be an ominous sign for how he views next year's midterm elections.

Both the president and the domestic policy legislation he pressured Republicans to pass are unpopular with voters, but Salon columnist Heath Digby Parton said his midterm strategy was only risky insofar as next year's elections are free and fair.

"Trump is a man with an unprecedented track record of trying to overturn elections," Parton wrote. "There was a time when many Americans thought his behavior following the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was so egregious that he should be prosecuted and, at the very least, never be allowed near elective office again. Those days are long past, and Trump’s return to the presidency has emboldened him."

"While his decimation of any semblance of Justice Department independence is troubling," she added, it’s downright spine-chilling when it comes to elections."

The president has an eager and obliging attorney general in Pam Bondi, and her deputies are his former personal lawyers, and Trump has tasked them with rooting out the types of election fraud that he has baselessly claimed cost him the 2020 contest – which Parton says could give him to pretext to tamper with future results.

"Back in March, he signed an executive order requiring voters to present proof of citizenship to vote and all ballots to be received by election day, not simply postmarked as many states allow," Parton wrote. "He also called on states to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes, threatening to pull federal funding if they refuse. Ostensibly to prevent fraud, he ordered states to cease using barcode or QR code in the vote counting process, which would bar many jurisdictions from using voting machines. Trump and his minions fatuously insisted this was being done to restore faith in the electoral process — faith that was shaken by his 'Big Lie.'"

Those orders are being challenged in court, but the Justice Department continues to follow up on his directives, and Parton said that uncertainty could give Trump and his Republican allies space to tamper with election outcomes they don't like.

"All of this was foreshadowed by Project 2025, which laid out plans to create unprecedented federal interference in the way elections are managed," she wrote. "Based on Trump’s behavior and how closely he and the administration are following the Project 2025 blueprint, it’s not paranoid to expect, at minimum, court challenges to midterm election results in races that would shift the balance of power. And I wouldn’t bet too much money on the courts being as straightforwardly dismissive as they were the last time."

Parton expects Republicans to appeal losing results all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could cast congressional majorities in doubt until the 2028 presidential election is already underway.

"The midterms are only 16 months away, which is both a short time and an eternity," Parton wrote. "When it comes Trump’s thirst for absolute power and penchant for corruption makes it clear: Vigilance is a necessity."