NEW YORK — Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is turning to a longtime ally as he builds his likely campaign for New York City mayor, and he is considering a February rollout for the campaign, six people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO.
Cuomo is expected to hire Charlie King, a consultant whose relationship with the Democrat dates back decades. King worked for the former New York governor when Cuomo was housing secretary in the Clinton administration in the 1990s. Cuomo also tapped King as his running mate in an ill-fated bid for governor in 2002. The two men competed for the Democratic attorney general nomination in 2006, but they have nevertheless remained close.
King did not deny he would work on Cuomo’s potential campaign.
“As far as I know, there is no Cuomo campaign for mayor but should that change, I’m sure everyone will know who is on board,” he said Wednesday in a text message. “Judging by the unsolicited proposals and resumes that have flooded in, should the former governor decide to run, I’m sure he’ll have his pick.”