Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, now running as an independent for mayor, is sounding alarms that his Republican rival Curtis Sliwa could hand victory to progressive Democrat Zohran Mamdani.
Speaking Sunday on WABC 770 AM’s “Cats Roundtable,” hosted by John Catsimatidis, Cuomo accused Sliwa of playing the role of spoiler in a high-stakes race that has become a referendum on the city’s future.
“Zohran, he’s not a Democrat. By the way, he’s never been at 50 percent in the polls, so New Yorkers get it. The problem is, Curtis Sliwa is a spoiler in the race,” Cuomo said. “And a vote for Curtis Sliwa is really a vote for Zohran Mamdani.”
Cuomo, who governed New York for more than a decade before resigning in 2021, dismissed Sliwa’s chances outright, arguing that the Republican candidate cannot overcome the city’s overwhelming Democratic voter registration. “Curtis cannot win. Seventy percent of the voters are Democrat. Curtis has run 1,000 times. He’s never come close,” Cuomo said. “There’s no poll that shows him close. He cannot win, put aside the fact that does he have the background of the credibility or the qualifications. He just can’t win.”
Cuomo warned that Sliwa’s continued presence in the race could fracture the non-progressive vote and allow Mamdani, a far-left state assemblyman from Queens, to take City Hall. “What he can do is take enough votes to make Zohran the mayor, and he’s gonna make Zohran the mayor,” Cuomo said.
The warning comes amid a volatile election season in which crime, affordability, and the economy dominate voter concerns. A recent Suffolk University CityView poll found Mamdani leading Cuomo by 20 points, with Sliwa trailing at 9 percent. The survey also included outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, who has since exited the race, at 8 percent. Suffolk University’s Political Research Center director David Paleologos said the numbers “show that the issues New Yorkers really care about in this election are affordability, crime, and the economy.”
Mamdani’s campaign, however, has leaned into a progressive vision that critics say would push the city further left.
His platform includes rent freezes, city-run grocery stores, and free child care for all New Yorkers—policies that echo the socialist agendas embraced by figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Mamdani has also made a point of separating himself from both Cuomo and Adams, tying them to the city’s political establishment.
“I will not be a mayor like Mayor Adams who will call you to figure out how to stay out of jail. I won’t be a disgraced governor like Andrew Cuomo who will call you to ask how to win this election, I can do those things on my own,” Mamdani said during a Fox News appearance earlier in the week.
For Cuomo, who is seeking political redemption after a turbulent exit from the governor’s office, the mayoral race offers a chance to reintroduce himself as a pragmatic leader in a city weary of partisan extremes. But as he made clear Sunday, he sees Sliwa’s candidacy not as competition, but as a potential gift to the left.
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