Anyone who has spent time around New York City has probably run into Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa. A tall, tough hombre with his trademark red beret, he probably knows every crack, crevice, and crack house in the city. Heck, he is probably on a first-name basis with half the city's cats, given the dozens of adoptees he has in his small apartment.
From his career slinging hamburgers in an all-night fast food restaurant in the bad old days of the Bronx-is-burning to his 24/7 radio career, he is the man who never sleeps in the city that never sleeps. His knowledge of the city is unparalleled. From founding the Guardian Angels to miraculously surviving being gunned down by John Gotti's goons, he knows where the bodies are buried. If elected, he will need no city hall learning curve.
Sliwa ran for mayor against Eric Adams last time. Adams, clearly not the best and brightest — there was even a question whether he actually lived in the city — was one of those mystery candidates who, despite lacking every necessary skill, got the job. He is now out of this race based on that clear lack of talent. Sliwa lost last time, and if he stays in the race, he will likely lose again. But is that truly his fault?
Losing is what most New York City Republicans do. The registration numbers aren't there. The organized lobby groups, the unions, and the latte-drinking New York Times readers are not there for him. And now, with the national business community firmly with the Democrats, his slalom run to victory is steep indeed.
Sliwa is even under the gun from billionaire Republicans. Both John Catsimatidis and hedge‑fund billionaire Bill Ackman have called on Sliwa to hit the bricks so that the opposition can coalesce around a single challenger to Democrat Zohran Mamdani. Bottom line: the big money boys of the one-dollar-one-vote crowd, both on the right and left, have turned on Sliwa.
News alert, guys: When you back a Republican in New York City, it isn't about the money. Money or no money, you need the skill to be able to turn out about 12 to 15 key city neighborhoods in force to have a chance. Most of these are in the outer boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. These are the people who put Sliwa over the top in the GOP primary. In a low-turnout race, which most races in New York City are, it can be done.
While New York City has ranked-choice voting in primaries and special elections, it does not have it for general elections. Republicans seem to hate ranked choice voting. How odd is it that, since they oppose it, their major donors now have to busy themselves stabbing their nominee in the back? Sliwa claims he's been offered what he calls "bribes" of $10 million to drop out of the race. Never mind that he would need John Catsimatidis's OK to get his radio gig back if he loses. The pressure is real.
Some polls put Sliwa a distant third behind Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo. Will his continued candidacy split the anti‑Mamdani vote and hand the city to the socialist nominee? And why is it the job of the Republicans to save a former two-time governor from Queens who dreams of being president? If Cuomo can't even beat a newbie Astoria, Queens, state representative, isn't his career finished anyway?
Richard Nixon, one of our great national politicians, used to say, Whenever people say we have to stop so-and-so, bet your money on that guy. So yes, no matter what Curtis does, Mamdani has the edge.
Related: Mamdani Tacks to the Center in Debate—Which Is Exactly What He Needed to Do
And seriously, is there a dime's worth of difference between Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo? Cuomo is the man who launched a thousand nursing home deaths, told Republicans they should move out of the state, and instituted no-cash bail. In what world is he the Republican savior? And the last time the city elected a socialist mayor, 30 minutes after the election, he handed the keys to city hall over to real estate developers and spent the rest of his term going to the gym.
No, the Republican Party should respect its primary voters and let the lead-paint chips fall where they may, as NYC elects its newest Democrat socialist or Democrat semi-socialist slum lord. The Republicans should at least act like a real party, stand by their message, and get serious about registering voters who will support them in future elections. Why would anyone even join a party with a record of not standing behind the candidates it fields? If voters want to switch to Cuomo, let them. Don't force it on them.
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