The Case Against Cuomo and Sliwa

Why The Anti-Zohran Campaign was Doomed

For millions of New Yorkers, this year’s mayoral election has felt like a hangover that won’t go away. There have been dozens of times when I’ve looked at the race from afar and yelled, “Why the hell did you decide to do that?” At almost every turn, Republican Curtis Sliwa and Democrat-turned-Independent Andrew Cuomo have made decisions that would have put them on a short bus had they been about three-quarters of a century younger.

A call with a friend who’s a registered independent summed it up perfectly: “This is a shit sandwich anyway you look at it.”

New York, the greatest city this country has ever produced, is about to be put in the hands of a failed theater kid who espouses the disastrous beliefs of socialist economics, cultural marxism, and critical theory because two senior citizens decided to make this election about themselves instead of the voters.

The Case Against Cuomo

Disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo had this election in the bag from the start. His announcement was months in the making and kept very smart managerial Democrats who could have done the job of being mayor, like Kathryn Gonzalez, out of the race. The perception that anyone could beat Cuomo seemed far-fetched, which may have been the reason he never campaigned.

The truth is that Cuomo has never really had to campaign much in his entire life. His only truly competitive primary was in 2006 when he ran for attorney general and faced New York City politician Mark Green, whom he beat by a decisive twenty-point margin.

He was handed the gubernatorial nomination on a silver platter and easily beat progressive challengers in 2014 and 2018 by 30 points. His closest election against a Republican came in 2014 when he won by 14 points.

The narrative that Cuomo was this tough-as-nails political animal hid the fact that he was a nepo baby who was easily intimidated by progressives and centrist Democrats alike. He never ran for president as his advisors had planned for nearly a decade, out of deference to Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, and despite beating progressives in every primary race, he consistently moved left on policy and endorsed their candidates downballot.

For decades, Andrew Cuomo was the emperor with no clothes, and it took Zohran Mamdani to point out that his ass was showing.

So, it comes as no surprise that he ran a miserable primary race. At 67, he had to do something for the first time - campaign. I truly question whether he even followed the most basic campaign strategies, like buying an opposition research book on Zohran; likely not.

When he decided to stay in the race until the general election, he knew that he only stood a chance at winning if both Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa dropped out.

Meaning he would have to win Republican support.

Now, it may be hard to remember, but once upon a time, Cuomo cast himself as the man who could work across the aisle. For about half of his governorship, Republicans controlled the state senate. He delivered property tax freezes alongside the legalization of same-sex marriage, something for Democrats and Republicans. Then came the 2018 wave and challenge from actress Cynthia Nixon, and Cuomo moved to the left at lightspeed to win some love from people who hated him, and it didn’t work.

You’d think the sense memory of the old moderate Cuomo would show up, but no, it didn’t.

My friend Dave Marcus repeatedly wrote that Cuomo could not count on Republicans to vote for him just because he was not Mamdani, and he was right.

Republicans in New York City are starved for victories; they’d take crumbs, and Cuomo couldn’t even offer them that. He could have decided to be a man for all New Yorkers and endorsed every city council candidate running as part of the “Common Sense Coalition,” a bipartisan group that supports tough-on-crime laws and the protection of specialized high schools. He could have acknowledged the mistakes he made during COVID or apologized for the time he said pro-lifers have no place in New York State. He could have done something, but instead, he chose nothing, because he is a partisan Democrat at heart.

At a recent dinner with one of his advisors, they asked about Cuomo, and I said, “Give me a reason to vote for him that doesn’t include the words Zohran Mamdani.” He couldn’t.

It actually makes me question whether Cuomo was ever a talented politician or just a man with a D behind his name in a state that elects Democrats — except when the moon is full and hell freezes over—something that happens about every 30 or 40 years.

I’ve been part of losing campaigns, and they truly suck, but the only thing you have is knowing you left it all out on the field. Cuomo is going to end this campaign knowing that he didn’t have his cleats on during the seventh inning stretch.

The Case Against Sliwa

Working in Republican politics, especially in blue states and cities, means you run in very tight circles. Stick around for a year or two, and you can basically meet everyone.

So I met Curtis for the first time in 2021, when he ran and earned 28 percent of the vote, and I've met him several times since. Essentially, he never stopped running; he’s been running for mayor for five years.

But despite running for half a decade with the full backing of the GOP in a city that moved substantially towards Donald Trump since 2016 (he received 18 percent of the vote in NYC in 2016, 23 percent in 2020, and 30.5 percent in 2024), you’d think he would have been able to build a sizable constituency to support him, but he didn’t.

Sliwa only cracked 20 percent in just two polls out of the dozens taken since May. Oftentimes, coming closer to being in single digits than 20 percent.

Right or wrong, fair or unfair, he came off as too cartoonish for many New Yorkers who never took him seriously.

That’s tough to hear, especially for New Yorkers who love him, but it’s the stone-cold truth.

Part of being in politics is realizing the moment, seeing things through a sober lens.

Sliwa has said, and I have independently confirmed, that he was offered $10 million to drop out of the race and promised millions in seed money for an international security business. He turned down the possibility of generational wealth and security to run a doomed race.

What he should have done was ask for other guarantees. Endorsements from unions and special interest groups that back Cuomo, as well as the man himself, for Republicans running for city council and re-election in the state assembly and senate next year. He had the power to wield immense leverage not only for himself but for the city’s GOP, which had come close to winning many seats at the local level but desperately needed more funds and support.

But he didn’t; he stood by his integrity, which will get you on the subway if you accompany it with $2.90.

The leverage he could have had to improve the local Republican Party and build a bench capable of winning more seats locally was truly once-in-a-generation. Still, pride goeth before the fall, and Curtis Sliwa is about to take a very big fall.

As a Republican political strategist who has spent years helping the local GOP win seats in local government, it makes my blood boil.

The Ultimatium

New Yorkers to the right of Stalin, they have a choice of two men who are too dumb, old, and stubborn to be running this race. Cuomo has the better chance to win, but he doesn’t deserve to. Sliwa deserves to win, but never had a chance. He had the opportunity to help the city and the local GOP, but dropped the ball.

The best thing to do is to show up, vote against the ballot initiatives, and for the common-sense candidates running for city council, hoping they’ll be able to fight whatever Mamdani has in store for the city.

And work towards finding a candidate next time who actually can win or understand the moment.