New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa signaled a preference for socialist Zohran Mamdani over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a social media post.
Sliwa, the Republican in the race, said Sunday that Mamdani, the Democrat, is the worst mayoral candidate “we’ve ever had” after former Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cuomo.
“Ydanis Rodriguez is the worst DOT commissioner we’ve ever had, so it’s no surprise he’s backing the worst mayoral candidate we’ve ever had (after Bill de Blasio and Andy Cuomo of course),” he wrote on X.
“Vote for me and I’ll clean up DOT and this city by putting real professionals in charge who will actually do the job, not push an agenda,” he added.
Sliwa is running for mayor against Mamdani, who is favored to win, and against centrist independent candidate Cuomo.
The New York Republican has shown clear disdain for Cuomo throughout the campaign, even though the former New York governor is ideologically closest to him. His dislike for Cuomo has extended to his efforts to get Sliwa out of the race to consolidate the anti-Mamdani vote.
“Cuomo resigned in disgrace to avoid impeachment, already lost to Mamdani, bombed both debates, and then ran out of the building without speaking to his tiny group of supporters or the press. He is not campaigning,” Sliwa wrote in a post on X earlier this week.
“He is gaslighting with fake polls for a redemption tour nobody asked for. His time has passed. His run as an independent is only hurting New York and helping Mamdani. The architect of the city’s destruction is not fooling anyone,” he added.
In the last mayoral debate, Sliwa shared an amusing moment with Mamdani. Mamdani said he would rank Sliwa second on his ballot if the general election were ranked choice.
Sliwa laughed it off, saying, “Don’t be glazing me here, Zohran,” to raucous laughter.
He responded that he would only rank himself.
There’s been speculation that Sliwa is only hurting Cuomo’s chances. Cuomo has said anyone who votes for Sliwa “may as well vote for Zohran Mamdani directly.”
Other Republicans have even pressed for Sliwa to drop out of the race, but he has resisted. With early voting starting on Saturday, any effort by Sliwa to leave the race would come after ballots have been cast for him.
Cuomo is viewed as the candidate with the best chance to beat Mamdani. Former New York Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, a former Cuomo supporter, isn’t optimistic.
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“It is over,” D’Amato told the New York Times, adding that Cuomo “has not done anything to attract them, and you got this other jackass running on the Republican line. The hard cores will stay with him. It’s hopeless.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Sliwa and Mamdani campaigns for comment but received no response.