Top Republicans from New York City‘s five boroughs reiterated their support for mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa as pressure for him to step away from the race continues to grow.
The calls have recently intensified, with billionaire John Catsimatidis, a top Republican donor and Sliwa’s WABC radio boss, calling for Sliwa to drop out on Monday.
The New York City GOP’s united support for Sliwa signals the party is not ready for the Republican to step out and consolidate support behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo against socialist Zohran Mamdani.
“Republicans across every borough stand united behind Curtis Sliwa for Mayor of New York City,” the five county chairs said in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner by Sliwa’s campaign.
“In every neighborhood, volunteers have collected thousands of petition signatures and Curtis has raised millions from everyday New Yorkers, proof of a genuine grassroots movement that money cannot manufacture,” they added.
The Republican chairs insisted that they would not bow to outside interference and that Republican voters would not move their votes to Cuomo even if Sliwa drops out.
“He lost his own party’s primary badly and is not even appearing on the ballot on a major party line. Republicans should not have to clean up the mess Andrew Cuomo and the Democrats created, and we will not allow the political class to interfere with voters or hijack our ballot,” they added.
“Curtis Sliwa is our candidate, the credible leader who will defeat the radical left and restore safety, affordability, and common sense to City Hall. He is our candidate to defeat Zohran Mamdani on November 4th,” they concluded.
Brooklyn GOP chairman Liam McCabe repeated the statement’s sentiment in a comment to the Washington Examiner: “The County Chairs stand united in our support for Curtis Sliwa.”
While Sliwa has been adamant that he will not drop out of the race, several outside influencers have lobbied for him to do so. They believe Sliwa dropping out will enhance Cuomo’s chances of beating Mamdani.
Billionaire Bill Ackman, a supporter of President Donald Trump, has particularly pressed Sliwa to fall back. He reposted the front page of the New York Post on Tuesday, which said, “Just Walk Away, Beret!” in reference to Sliwa’s red beret.
The page noted that Sliwa’s allies have told him to drop his mayoral bid. Fellow WABC radio host Sid Rosenberg said Tuesday that Sliwa “was not gonna win.”
“That’s the bottom line,” he added. Rosenberg routinely hosts Sliwa on his radio program alongside many other New York Republicans.
Rosenberg had praised Sliwa for “chopping up” Ackman in a video Sliwa appeared in days earlier. In the video, Sliwa called out Ackman as a “jerk” and said, “Stay in your lane.”
The monologue earned praise from Mamdani. “It’s genuinely positive for our democracy that there’s another candidate in this race who believes NYC voters should pick their next mayor, not billionaires who mostly live somewhere else,” he wrote on X.
A recent poll from Patriot Polling, reportedly leaning right, shows Mamdani winning over Cuomo and Sliwa at 43% to 32% for Cuomo and 19% for the Republican.
Cuomo would win if Sliwa’s supporters converted cleanly to the former governor. Republicans have pushed Sliwa to listen to the polling and drop out. Cuomo said Tuesday he would be “interested” in offering Sliwa a job in his administration if he dropped out.
But despite the job offers, bribes to get out, and threats against him, Sliwa has insisted he will stay in the race. Former New York Gov. George Pataki suggested he only feeds off the energy directed at him to drop his mayoral bid.
“All these offers of jobs and threats against his life — ‘he’s going to be destroyed if he doesn’t get out’ — I think it just makes him far more likely to stay in,” Pataki told the New York Times.
CUOMO SAYS CURTIS SLIWA WAS ‘PUT ON’ THE NYC MAYORAL BALLOT BY PARTY LEADERSHIP
Sliwa reiterated his love for the city and willingness to keep running on Tuesday.
“I love this city too much to hand it over to political insiders and special interests,” he wrote on X. “The architect, Cuomo, and the apprentice, Mamdani, are one and the same. I’m the People’s Mayor, and we will win together on November 4th!”