“Good riddance,” posted then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in October 2019. He was responding to a New York Times story on President Donald J. Trump’s decision to file for Florida residency. “It’s not like [Trump] paid taxes here anyway,” the soon to be disgraced Cuomo bitterly remarked, “He’s all yours, Florida.”

And so he is. Trump has owned his Mar-a-Lago estate since 1985, but even his delayed residency declaration proved Trump a trendsetter. His move preceded the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, surging crime rate, rising taxes, and urban blight that sent hundreds of thousands of other former blue state Americans to freer, happier, sun-dappled, and lower-taxed new lives in the Sunshine State. Trump has undoubtedly saved millions since becoming a resident of Florida and, from there, he staged the greatest political comeback of all time to return to the presidency.

Soon, however, it could be Cuomo who is “all ours” here in Florida. Less than two years after his acerbic comments about Trump’s change in state residency, Cuomo was forced to resign as New York’s governor amid multiple sexual harassment allegations. The “Love Gov” was also dogged by scandal over state bail reform, which allowed charged suspects to go free pending trial, heavily contributing to New York’s dramatically increased crime rates. Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic then came into question as he was alleged to have sent of thousands of COVID patients into nursing homes, where they are believed to have caused lethal superspreader infections among vulnerable elderly populations.

Last month, the Grandma Slayer of Albany decisively lost New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary to upstart Queens state assemblyman and self-described “democratic socialist” Zohran Mamdani, who has said his goals include  “seizing the means of production,”  “globalizing the intifada,” and discriminatorily taxing predominantly white neighborhoods at higher rates. Rejected by his party, Cuomo is now running for the mayor’s office as an independent, facing off against Mamdani, New York’s incumbent mayor and fellow former Democrat-turned-independent Eric Adams, and repeat Republican mayoral candidate and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, among lesser personages. “It’s all or nothing,” Cuomo told a group of city business leaders convened in the Hamptons over the weekend. “We either win or even I will move to Florida.”

A spokesman for Handsy Andy claimed it was a joke. But could losing the New York City mayoral race really send Cuomo our way? As for Trump and those who followed his example, the potential benefits for the disgraced former Democrat must be tempting, at least in his private moments. While New York City suffers under the nation’s highest tax burden, Florida’s state constitution bans state income and inheritance tax. Florida property and sales taxes are slated for reduction or elimination, as other sources of the state’s revenue have created a large budget surplus that blue states can only envy. Florida crime rates are at historic lows, while recent reductions in New York City’s higher crime rates are due to successful law-and-order policies recently promoted by Adams—polices that Cuomo himself has historically opposed.

COVID is a thing of the past, but Florida’s data-driven, science-based public health policies would keep Cuomo healthier in his prospective retirement. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies, Florida, which took a lighter approach to masking and lockdowns, experienced a lower death rate per capita than New York despite being home to a larger at-risk population. If New York’s one-time “Prince of Darkness” is looking for a second act in the private sector, in 2025 CNBC ranks Florida the nation’s top economy and third best business climate compared to New York, which languishes in 23^rd place.

Cuomo has been tough on Florida, but don’t let that fool you. His younger brother Chris Cuomo, whom CNN fired after reports that he unethically helped his brother address the sexual harassment allegations that led to his resignation, regularly criticized Florida on air. Among other snide comments, he took Governor Ron DeSantis to task for not requiring children to be masked, falsely alleged that Florida had more COVID deaths than New York, and claimed that Florida did “too little” to combat the virus. After the younger Cuomo was fired in December 2021, however, he was spotted vacationing, maskless, at Palm Beach’s iconic Colony Hotel, while pursuing litigation against his former employer.

“Don’t New York our Florida,” posted DeSantis in response to reports of Cuomo’s threat to relocate if he loses in November. If the Love Gov arrives, it will exacerbate, albeit in a solitary way, the fears of Floridians who worry about blue staters moving here and voting for the same policies that ruined their home states. Andrew Cuomo would be only one vote lost in a vast crimson sea of Florida Republicans, who as of June 2025 outnumber Democrats in the state by 1.3 million, so the irony could well be worth it.