High-profile endorsements for NYC mayoral candidate Scott Stringer evaporate amid sex abuse allegations
City Comptroller Scott Stringer lost several key endorsements Friday, putting his mayoral run in danger of collapse.
The retraction of support came hours after Stringer opened up a new front in his denials of sexual abuse allegations by releasing documents that show his accuser Jean Kim recently gathered petition signatures on behalf of a rival mayoral campaign.
The Board of Elections records reveal Kim gathered signatures for Andrew Yang and three other down-ballot candidates to ensure their names appear on the ballot for this June’s Democratic primary.
Their release comes as Stringer’s mayoral campaign scrambled to shore up support after the recent sexual abuse allegations rocked his mayoral run.
On Friday, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, state Sens. Alessandra Biaggi, Julia Salazar and Gustavo Rivera, as well as the New York Working Families Party and Assembly members Yuh-Line Niou and Catalina Cruz all withdrew their endorsements of Stringer.
“The New York Working Families Party has made the decision to withdraw our endorsement of Scott Stringer,” said the party’s state director Sochie Nnaemeka. “For years, New York’s politics have been dominated by a culture of sexual harassment. We are deeply committed to building a city and state where all New Yorkers are safe from sexual misconduct, and survivors are supported in speaking out.”
The statement released from the lawmakers was more to the point: “We are rescinding our endorsement of Scott Stringer’s mayoral campaign.”
Their rejection slips — which came in quick succession late Friday afternoon — as well as Stringer’s attempts to cast doubt on Kim’s accusations, came two days after Kim’s attorney Patricia Pastor denied that Kim had contact with any other mayoral campaigns.
“Ms. Kim’s attorney was asked if Ms. Kim worked for any other campaigns against Scott Stringer. The attorney’s response was false. Ms. Kim worked for Eliot Spitzer in 2013 and now we learn that she was working for Andrew Yang this year,” Stringer spokesman Tyrone Stevens said. “There is a pattern here of inaccurate statements made by Ms. Kim’s attorney.”
Kim responded in a written statement Friday morning, saying: “I do not work and have never worked for the Andrew Yang campaign.”
“I’ve never met him, and I have not decided who my choice is for mayor,” she continued. “I am not interested in pushing anyone into the mayor’s office. My purpose is to speak the truth and for Stringer to be held accountable for his actions. I am not surprised at all by his efforts to discredit me. It is exactly what I expected him to do. Lie, attack and retaliate.”
Later in the day, Stringer issued another statement aimed at reassuring supporters who’ve been confronted with the possibility of withdrawing their backing.
“I understand that this is a difficult moment for my supporters, and I know that some of them will feel compelled to withdraw their endorsement of my candidacy,” Stringer said in the written statement. “I’ve received a lot of support on campaign stops over the last two days, and I’m going to be campaigning in every neighborhood, in every borough for the next two months. I look forward to seeing my opponents on the campaign trail and at the debates.”
But the message did not sway the progressive lawmakers or the WFP, whose endorsement is regarded as a hallmark of approval among progressives around the city.
Two days earlier, Kim accused Stringer of making unwanted advances and pressing her to have sex with him. That night, Kim, a stand comic, posted a Zoom comedy show on Facebook in which talks about coming forward.
“I had to ‘Me Too’ one of the politicians I used to work with because he couldn’t keep his thing in his pants,” she said and laughed. “I actually knocked Rudy Giuliani off of the top of the news.”
On Friday, she said she’d collected ballot signatures for “multiple political candidates in different races.”
Along with Yang’s name, the other candidates who appear on petitions she circulated are district leader candidate Esther Yang, City Council candidate Julie Menin and state Sen. Brad Hoylman, who’s running for Manhattan borough president.
“Recently I circulated ballot petitions for my neighbor and friend, Esther Yang, who is running for district leader in our home district,” she said. “I was happy to do my part to help her get her name on the ballot.”
Pastor further addressed Stringer’s claim that Kim is working for another Yang — Andrew Yang, who is currently leading in recent polling on the mayor’s race.
“The fact that Andrew Yang’s name appears, along with Brad Hoylman and Julie Menin, on a ballot petition circulated by Jean, does not reflect a working relationship of any kind between Jean and the Andrew Yang campaign,” she said.
Yang spokeswoman Alyssa Kass said the campaign learned Thursday night that “Ms. Kim had carried a few petition sheets for several candidates, including Andrew.”
“We fully support Jean Kim and commend the courageous step she took sharing her story this week,” Kass added.
Along with his broadside against Kim on Friday, Stringer released a statement from several prominent women surrogates defending him. They included former Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, Legal Aid Society attorney Judith Goldiner and former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger.
“Believing women means accepting the allegation and investigating it thoroughly and objectively — to ensure we can determine the truth and provide justice for all parties. It doesn’t and shouldn’t mean we can’t ask for further information and corroboration. In fact, the seriousness of these allegations and the context of this moment demand it,” they wrote.
Then, in a dig at Maya Wiley — who’s also running for mayor and has called on Stringer to drop his run — they refer to an op-ed she wrote supporting “this exact standard of proof and investigation of accusations against President Biden, whom she went on to support.”
“Like Ms. Wiley, we also believe that accounting for the credibility of the accused is key,” they continue. “We are all women who have worked for or known Scott Stringer for decades and can speak to his character and integrity.”
Maya Rupert, Wiley’s campaign manager, shot back within a matter of minutes and accused Stringer of running a “smear campaign.”
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