Mounting independent bids, the former governor and mayor are splitting votes, which could ensure a Mamdani win.
NEW YORK — Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams refuse to get out of each others’ way in the New York City mayoral race — virtually sealing victory for democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.
The former governor and the incumbent mayor are pursuing the same big-money donors and blue-collar voters. Up-for-grabs endorsees are fielding phone calls and texts from the candidates desperate for their support. And both men warn that a Mamdani victory would pose an existential crisis for the nation’s largest city.
And then there’s Republican Curtis Sliwa, the eccentric founder of the Guardian Angels, who will attract voters concerned with crime — further drawing away votes. Sliwa has said he would only drop out if he’s deceased.
“You’d be hard pressed to find a collection of New Yorkers who are more stubborn than Andrew Cuomo, Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa,” said Democratic strategist Trip Yang. “The only shot that the anti-Mamdani forces have of stopping the Democratic nominee in a heavily Democratic city is to consolidate. The chances of that happening are slim to none.”