New York City mayoral Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa is under pressure to drop out of the race to consolidate support behind incumbent Mayor Eric Adams against socialist Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani’s victory has sent shock waves throughout the country. His opposition is currently split between Sliwa, Adams, who is running as an independent, and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost the Democratic nomination but may run as an independent. Some Republican and business leaders are hoping to push Sliwa to drop out and get behind Adams, several people familiar with the matter told Politico and the New York Post.
Though he didn’t confirm that he wanted Sliwa out of the race, Republican billionaire John Catsimatidis told Politico that he’s supporting Adams as the most viable candidate.
“The only people who are going to help Eric Adams is Washington, whether it’s [border czar] Tom Homan, whether it’s Donald Trump,” Catsimatidis said. “And Tom and Donald Trump want a safe New York.”
He remained diplomatic about Sliwa, however, stressing they were still friends and that the candidate “has to make up his own mind.”
Sliwa doesn’t appear pliable. He suggested he would rather die than drop out.
“I’m not getting out of this race unless they figure out a way to put me in a pine box and bury me 6 feet under,” he said.
In an interview with the New York Post, Sliwa said he was running to save New York City from “the corruption and collapse” created by Adams. He also suggested he was the only one capable of defeating Mamdani.
A unity ticket appears out of the question.
“Absolutely,” he responded sarcastically when asked in an interview with Fox News if he would consider running in a joint ticket with Adams. “Eric, you have been the best nightlife mayor we’ve ever had. You party to the break of dawn. You can take over the shift at 12 midnight. I’ll get a little bit of sleep, come back at it at 6, I’ll be the mayor, and you, the swagger man, can be the nightlife mayor. How about that unity?”
“I mean, that’s all he’s ever done as mayor!” he added.
Elsewhere, Sliwa has blasted Adams over his corruption allegations.
“He’s a crook,” he said in an interview with Politico. “A lot of good men and women lost their careers who happened to be Republican conservative prosecutors because of Eric Adams, and he’s the luckiest man alive because he should be in a jail cell right now with Bobby Menendez.”
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Another scheme, proposed by some sources familiar with the matter to the New York Post, involves giving Sliwa a position in the Trump administration to get him out of the race. Sliwa preemptively turned that down as well.
“If the president were to call, I, very respectfully, would say, ‘President Trump. I’m interested in only one job: being mayor of the city of New York,’” Sliwa said. “I’m the Republican nominee. I’m the ‘protecting animals’ independent party nominee, and I’m running ’til November 4, until the vote to figure out who our next mayor is.”