Veteran politician Andrew Cuomo entered the mayoral race months after his main competitors in the primary election, yet he’s continued to lead in polls — evidence of his strong name recognition owing to his and his family’s political legacy in New York.

In his run for mayor, Cuomo has made housing affordability and public safety — specifically safety on the subways — core themes of his campaign.

He began his career leading the gubernatorial campaign of his late father Mario Cuomo. He then served as assistant district attorney in Manhattan and founded the homeless shelter organization HELP USA before becoming Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under former President Bill Clinton. He became New York’s attorney general before being elected governor in 2011.

Cuomo’s prominence grew in 2020 when he began airing daily briefings during the height of COVID. But he later came under fire for understating death counts while deploying state employees to help him write a self-promotional book. He has also been accused of sexual harassment by over a dozen women, claims substantiated in an investigation by the state attorney general. Cuomo has denied the allegations.