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Gov. Andrew Cuomo

“A second former aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is accusing him of sexual harassment,” the New York Times reported on Saturday, February 27, 2021. Read story here. Other news media are following the story, but the Times’ reporting is the primary source for the new allegations.

Earlier this week, Lindsey Boylan, a former economic development official, “alleged that the governor harassed her several times from 2016 to 2018,” Huffington Post said (read that story here).

The new allegations involve a woman named Charlotte Bennett, who was a health policy adviser. She alleges he “harassed her late last spring, during the height of the state’s fight against the coronavirus,” according to the Times.

Cuomo denied he made “advances” to Bennett or did anything “inappropriate,” claiming “he had been acting as a mentor.” Bennett interpreted their private conversations differently, and complained about it at the time.

Right now it’s hard to tell where this might be going. Cuomo has appointed a former judge to conduct a review, but the Democratic leaders of the state legislature are calling for an independent investigation.

It looks terrible; Cuomo, a three-term governor first elected in 2010, is 63 and single, while both women are in their 20s. He was married to one of Robert F. Kennedy’s daughters from 1990 to 2005, and ended a 14-year relationship with a TV chef in 2019. He appears to be on the prowl.

If Cuomo was a Republican, this wouldn’t threaten his political career. They’ll look away from bad behavior, as long as they get the judicial appointments and policies they want. But Democratic politicians can’t get away with sexual harassment, so if it’s determined he was hitting on these ladies — and it sure looks like he was — there will be demands from his own party to resign.

Similar allegations have derailed the political careers of Gary Hart, Al Franken, and other Democratic politicians. But at least Cuomo isn’t lusting after his own daughter. That’s not an argument for him to stay in office, but to save face, he can argue there’s worse than him out there, and he might be right.