The NYC mayoral debate’s key question: What will Curtis Sliwa say, or do, next?
By David Wright, CNN
(CNN) — 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 at the center of one of the most consequential mayoral elections in decades.
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, is facing escalating pressure from key members of his party to drop out and clear the way for a one-on-one matchup between Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo. President Donald Trump, a Queens native himself, has all but written Sliwa off.
Sliwa insists he will not drop out. And in mocking Cuomo and the business interests backing him, Sliwa at times seems to echo Mamdani, the democratic socialist, with his sharp criticism of billionaires and elites.
He’s displaying an iconoclastic streak familiar to longtime observers of Big Apple politics but new to people just tuning into the election. Heading into the second general election debate Wednesday at 7 p.m., Sliwa is likely to be at the center of the discussion even as he runs third in 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 told CNN’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 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 said.
Cuomo, for his part, called Sliwa a “shock jock” during an appearance on MSNBC on Monday and predicted that the Republican’s support would “collapse.”
“With Curtis, he is a perpetual Republican candidate who’s on the ballot,” Cuomo said. “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 moderate Democrats with his progressive ideas, past criticisms of police and relative lack of experience. Some Jewish voters are concerned about his criticisms of Israel and question his commitment to fighting antisemitism.
But the upstart progressive has been consolidating his support since the primary, opening a double-digit lead over Cuomo and Mamdani in public polling. He’s won the endorsements of several key Democrats, including 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 most vocal Cuomo proponents on social media, claimed that Mamdani “is actively working” to keep Sliwa in the race. Mamdani has mocked Ackman and dismissed that claim.
In an interview with the journalist Nate Friedman released over the weekend, the GOP nominee asked Cuomo rhetorically, “Where are your votes?” He turned to the camera and told Ackman, “Stay in your lane.”
But Sliwa has faced calls to drop out from closer to home, including his one-time boss at the New York radio station where he hosted a show before going on leave to run for mayor.
“Look, I love Curtis; we’ve worked together a lot,” WABC owner John Catsimatidis said 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 published 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 same day, “If Sliwa cares about NYC and not just himself, it’s time to drop out of the mayoral race.”
Sliwa’s Republican supporters in the city, however, have signaled their intention to stand by the party’s nominee. On Tuesday ahead of the final debate, a collection of county Republican Party chairs – including Catsimatidis’ daughter Andrea, the Manhattan GOP chair – issued a joint statement affirming that “our party is united behind Curtis Sliwa.”
Previous Republican mayor Rudy Giuliani has also maintained his support for Sliwa and hosted the candidate on his own show. “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 said 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.”
The-CNN-Wire
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