A longtime fixture in New York City politics known for his eccentricities – from his love of cats to his brushes with the mob – now finds himself on the heart of one of the most consequential mayoral elections in decades.
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, is facing escalating pressure from key members of his occasion to drop out and clear the way in which for a one-on-one matchup between Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and impartial candidate Andrew Cuomo. President Donald Trump, a Queens native himself, has all however written Sliwa off.
Sliwa insists he will not drop out. And in mocking Cuomo and the enterprise pursuits backing him, Sliwa at occasions appears to echo Mamdani, the democratic socialist, along with his sharp criticism of billionaires and elites.
He’s displaying an iconoclastic streak acquainted to longtime observers of Big Apple politics however new to folks simply tuning into the election. Heading into the second basic election debate Wednesday at 7 p.m., Sliwa is prone to be on the heart of the dialogue at the same time as he runs third within the polls.
“I remember when many of the same powers that be were asking Donald Trump to drop out in his reelection bid and they wanted him to move aside for Ron DeSantis. How did that work out?” Sliwa informed NCS’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday.
While calling Mamdani, 34, an “apprentice,” the 71-year-old Sliwa hit Cuomo with the same gibe Trump used for 2016 marketing campaign rival Jeb Bush.
“I would hope that Andrew Cuomo, instead of moaning and groaning that I should drop out, low-energy Cuomo needs to get out on the campaign trail,” Sliwa stated.
Cuomo, for his half, referred to as Sliwa a “shock jock” throughout an look on MSNBC on Monday and predicted that the Republican’s help would “collapse.”
“With Curtis, he is a perpetual Republican candidate who’s on the ballot,” Cuomo stated. “He’s getting a certain percentage right now, which is what’s keeping me below Mamdani.”
Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, has alarmed some reasonable Democrats along with his progressive ideas, past criticisms of police and relative lack of expertise. Some Jewish voters are involved about his criticisms of Israel and query his dedication to combating antisemitism.
But the upstart progressive has been consolidating his help for the reason that main, opening a double-digit lead over Cuomo and Mamdani in public polling. He’s gained the endorsements of a number of key Democrats, together with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and met with Jewish groups and police officers as he tries to shore up perceived weaknesses.
Cuomo’s backers have watched with frustration and blame Sliwa for splintering the anti-Mamdani vote. The investor Bill Ackman, among the many most vocal Cuomo proponents on social media, claimed that Mamdani “is actively working” to maintain Sliwa within the race. Mamdani has mocked Ackman and dismissed that declare.
In an interview with the journalist Nate Friedman launched over the weekend, the GOP nominee requested Cuomo rhetorically, “Where are your votes?” He turned to the digital camera and informed Ackman, “Stay in your lane.”
But Sliwa has confronted calls to drop out from nearer to residence, together with his one-time boss on the New York radio station the place he hosted a present earlier than happening go away to run for mayor.
“Look, I love Curtis; we’ve worked together a lot,” WABC proprietor John Catsimatidis stated on the air Monday. “Curtis has to realize that he should love New York more than anything else, and it certainly looks like Curtis should pull out right now.”
The New York Post editorial board revealed an op-ed Monday with the headline, “Swallow the bitter pill, Curtis Sliwa — quit the race to stop Zohran Mamdani.” The New York Daily News wrote the identical day, “If Sliwa cares about NYC and not just himself, it’s time to drop out of the mayoral race.”
Sliwa’s Republican supporters within the metropolis, nevertheless, have signaled their intention to face by the occasion’s nominee. On Tuesday forward of the ultimate debate, a group of county Republican Party chairs – together with Catsimatidis’ daughter Andrea, the Manhattan GOP chair – issued a joint assertion affirming that “our party is united behind Curtis Sliwa.”
Previous Republican mayor Rudy Giuliani has additionally maintained his help for Sliwa and hosted the candidate on his personal present. “Curtis Sliwa has my complete and total endorsement,” he said.
“The undecided ones, if this is like any other political situation, are going to break the same way, or they’re not going to vote,” Giuliani stated Monday. “Remember, it’s a poll. And it’s not just they’re unfair to Trump, they are, that’s given. They’re also very often completely useless.”