Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks Wednesday, March 10, during an event at the State Fair in Syracuse. (Provided photo — Mike Groll, governor's office)

ALBANY — New York Democrats are facing difficult decisions in the weeks ahead as the presumptive head of the party’s state ticket next year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is under scrutiny from multiple investigations.

Two former Cuomo allies, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, both New York Democrats, are calling on Cuomo to resign from office following a spate of sexual harassment allegations and criticism about the undercount of pandemic-related nursing home deaths, as documented by Attorney General Letitia James, also a Democrat.

Questions about the electability of Cuomo are heating up now because some Democratic elected officials are already exploring launching campaigns for the governor’s office while Republicans are making it no secret they view 2022 as presenting their best shot at winning a statewide contest in 20 years.

“I think he will have a hard time if he does run again,” said Sarah Rowden, former chairwoman of the Clinton County Democratic Committee. While Cuomo was an effective leader in responding to the pandemic, Rowden said, the sexual harassment scandals are bound to diminish his appeal to some voters.

“I don’t think our society is going in a direction that is going to tolerate that kind of behavior,” Rowden said, adding that she believes Cuomo is entitled to a fair investigations that will assess both the allegations and his defense.

The allegations of mistreatment of women — including reports that the 63-year-old Cuomo groped one woman at the Executive Mansion and looked down the blouse of an aide at his Albany office — come at a time when the #MeToo movement countering sexual harassment has taken on importance in political organizations. Progressive Democratic women are often in the forefront of such discussions.

Lynn Krogh of Cooperstown, who managed the unsuccessful campaign of 2018 GOP gubernatorial nominee Marc Molinaro, said she believes many Democratic leaders would prefer to dump Cuomo and rally behind a woman as their candidate for governor next year.

“It make complete and total sense that they would but right now they face this massive roadblock named Andrew Cuomo,” Krogh said.

She said prospective Republican candidates will be lining up support for campaigns no later than early this summer. Cuomo, on the other hand, “can afford to wait,” given his fundraising advantage and positive favorability rating among Democratic voters that would put any Democratic challenger at an early disadvantage.

With Cuomo’s administration facing a criminal probe by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn in connection with the nursing home data, coupled with attorney general and Assembly investigations, Republicans are not the only ones thinking about the political calendar.

As to whether she and other upstate Democratic leaders are sticking with Cuomo, Judith Hunter, chairwoman of the Democratic Rural Conference of New York State, told CNHI: “We are awaiting the results of multiple investigations. We hope they are thorough. But we also hope they are fast.”

A survey released Friday by the polling organization Morning Consult Intelligence Tracker found 53% of New York voters approve of Cuomo while 43% disapprove. The same poll put his approval rating last summer at 73%.

The new survey showed Democratic voters are largely sticking with Cuomo, with three out of four approving of him.

Still, there are clear signs Cuomo is already getting resistance from influential women in his party.

The governor argues there is no reason for him to leave office, telling reporters recently that to do so would be caving to “cancel culture.”

But Gillibrand, in a March 24 interview with PBS NewsHour host Judy Woodruff, called Cuomo’s statement “absurd.” The senator said the ongoing investigations focusing on Cuomo will “take months” to sort out.

“Given where we are with COVID and the economy, I think it’s very difficult, given that our governor has lost the support of most of his governing partners,” Gillibrand said.

New York Democratic congresswomen who have joined the call for Cuomo to resign include Reps. Kathleen Rice of Long Island, a potential gubernatorial candidate; Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan; Grace Meng of Queens; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the Bronx; and Nydia Velazquez of Brooklyn.

Male Democratic congressmen urging Cuomo to resign include Reps. Antonio Delgado of Rhinebeck; Brian Higgins of Niagara Falls/Buffalo; Sean Patrick Maloney of Carmel; Jamaal Bowman of Yonkers; Joe Morelle of Rochester; Jerry Nadler of Manhattan; Paul Tonko of Amsterdam; Adriano Espaillat of Manhattan; Mondaire Jones of Nyack; and Ritchie Torres of the Bronx.

Since they called for Cuomo’s ouster, additional reports emerged in recent days involving Cuomo relatives and “very important persons” getting preferential treatment with COVID-19 tests last year when tests were not yet readily available in many regions.

Luke Perry, director of the Utica College Center of Public Affairs and Election Research, said the investigations into the suppression of nursing home death data are testing how New Yorkers view Cuomo’s competence, while the sexual harassment scandals have put questions about his character in focus.

The governor is expected to try to keep his position “at least to see what happens with the investigations,” he added.

“The combination of these two — competency and character — have completely changed the landscape for him in a relatively short time,” Perry said.

While the Assembly probe is just beginning, Cuomo is already in choppy waters, he suggested.

“In an impeachment proceeding, if your own party is not on your side, you’re in trouble,” Perry said.