The New York City mayoral race has descended into yet another sad spectacle, with Republicans being told that supporting Andrew Cuomo is the lesser of two evils. That argument is as unconvincing today as it has ever been. The fact that some of Rudy Giuliani’s former aides are publicly endorsing Cuomo over Curtis Sliwa speaks volumes about how deep the rot has gone in New York politics—and how quickly some so-called Republicans will toss aside principle in pursuit of political expedience.
After Eric Adams suspended his reelection campaign, the race essentially became a showdown between Andrew Cuomo and socialist assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, despite the fact that Republican candidate Sliwa remains in the race.
The narrative being pushed by former Giuliani allies is that the only way to stop the socialist is to rally behind Cuomo. Leading that charge is Joe Lhota, Giuliani’s 2013 handpicked mayoral candidate who has since switched to being a Democrat and who painted the choice as between “a proven manager, a socialist and a fruit loop.”
“Of course I’m going to be with Andrew,” he said.
Andrew Cuomo is a lot of things, but a “proven manager”? Really? I guess Lhota forgot Cuomo’s mishandling of COVID in New York.
Sadly, Lhoto isn’t alone. Anthony Carbonetti, Giuliani’s former chief of staff, echoed the sentiment by saying Sliwa can’t win and will only end up being a spoiler. Former U.S. Attorney General Mike Mukasey piled on too with an op-ed claiming that Cuomo, for all his flaws, is the only adult in the room capable of keeping City Hall out of Mamdani’s grip.
Let’s be honest—the desperation behind this argument couldn’t be clearer. The polling leaves no room for optimism. In mid-September, the New York Times showed Mamdani trouncing Cuomo by 18 points and crushing Sliwa by an eye-popping 36. No serious analyst thinks Sliwa is suddenly going to mount a comeback, with or without Adams in the race. There’s no sign that coalescing around Cuomo will stop Mamdani. And even if the polls showed it, if Sliwa dropped out, both he and Adams would remain on the ballot, meaning both will still end up with votes.
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The sad truth is that nothing will magically turn Cuomo into the savior who can stop the socialist wave. Yet Republican operatives keep pushing Cuomo as if clinging to a disgraced governor is some brilliant tactical move—one that will supposedly deliver long-term political gains. It won’t.
But don’t be fooled—Andrew Cuomo may not be a socialist like Mamdani, but he is not exactly a moderate Democrat either. The man embodies the arrogance of New York’s entrenched political class. During the pandemic, his reckless and authoritarian COVID policies destroyed lives, crushed small businesses, and sent people fleeing the state in record numbers. This is the same Cuomo whose disastrous handling of nursing homes led to needless tragedy and cover-ups. To pretend he’s suddenly a responsible manager who can save New York from ruin is not just naive—it’s insulting.
The sad truth is that New Yorkers did this to themselves. For decades, they have voted time and again for Democrats who embraced policies that would drive any city into the ground. Crime, taxes, corruption—none of it is new, and none of it forced itself on the electorate. New Yorkers chose this road, and now they don’t like where it has led. A Cuomo administration isn’t a fix; it’s a continuation of the same broken system, dressed up as a firewall against socialism.
That’s the grim reality. The choice between Cuomo and Mamdani is no choice at all for conservatives who care about saving New York. Republicans should not rally around Cuomo under the illusion of stopping the socialist. Trading one Democrat disaster for another isn’t victory, it’s surrender. If New Yorkers want to slam their city into the wall, maybe they need to feel the full force of what they’ve voted for. Only then, perhaps, will they recognize the ruin they’ve allowed and finally decide to change course. Until that happens, conservatives must resist the temptation to play along with this charade.
