With less than two weeks to go before this year’s election, New Yorkers are desperately trying to avoid the calamity that is Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani’s policies are so shortsighted and destructive that many fear the crime and poverty of the NYC of the 1970s and 1980s are about to return.
That is why there is a massive call among many for Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for mayor, to drop out and endorse Andrew Cuomo, former governor and the only realistic chance of beating the nepo-baby socialist. Sliwa, however, has vowed to stay in the race until the bitter end, much to the chagrin of many and the delight of a few.
New Yorkers who would otherwise have voted for Sliwa (and may have voted for him in 2021) are baffled by this. Why wouldn’t Sliwa drop out of the race? He can read the polls as well as anyone—he knows he’s not winning a three-way race. He also knows that Cuomo, egomaniac that he is, will not drop out. Cuomo lost the Democratic primary and stayed on as an independent! He’s not going to drop out now to back Curtis Sliwa, especially not when he’s polling better.
Polling broadly indicates that in a two-way race between Cuomo and Mamdani, the race is within the margin of error, meaning that Cuomo’s victory is not assured. There is a major difference between a passionate voting base and a reluctant one, and Cuomo has more reluctant voters than anyone not named Kamala Harris. Remember, this man resigned in disgrace only a few years ago and is blamed for countless COVID deaths in nursing homes (and that’s the Democrats’ issue with him). As a Republican, he’s been a horrible governor for a decade. Despite this, he has far more of a chance of beating Mamdani than Sliwa does.
This is why billionaire donors like Bill Ackman and John Catsimatidis have openly called for Sliwa to drop out. This is why social media influencers like Emily Austin are openly campaigning for Cuomo. They are trying to prevent New York City from becoming a socialist dystopia and a crime-ridden wasteland. They know that Cuomo, while likely to be a bad mayor of New York City, will at least keep the status quo. Paradise won’t come, but neither will ruin.
Yet every GOP leader from the five boroughs of New York City has openly said they are still backing Sliwa, the Republican nominee. They read polls better than anyone, and they know Sliwa isn’t going to win, yet they back him anyway. They’re not alone. Major figures in the Republican Party, like Leo Terrell, Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the DOJ, and many others, are urging Sliwa to stay in the race. Why are they doing this?
The answer is the difference between politics and governance. Politics is the practice of winning to gain power. Governance is the practice of doing the best you can with the power you have. Sometimes good governance is bad politics, and bad governance is good politics. Take the current federal government shutdown, for example. It is clearly bad governance to shut down the government over a clean continuing resolution that you voted on a few months ago. It’s so bad that it’s never been done before. But the Democrats believe it is good politics because it shows their base that they are fighting President Trump, and they hope that will lead them to midterm electoral victory.
Those who are urging Sliwa to drop out are doing so in the interest of good governance. They know that Mamdani will be terrible, so the only power they have now is to try and get Cuomo in office so NYC can keep churning along. Keeping Mamdani out of office is the best they can hope for.
Other Republicans, in and out of NYC, are urging Sliwa to stay in because they think it’s good politics—not in the short term, but in the long term. Plenty of people will be angry at Sliwa and Republicans writ large when Mamdani wins, but that will fade. Whether or not he drops out, Republicans are losing this election, so they are trying to make the most out of their loss as they can. If Mamdani destroys NYC as everyone predicts, then Republicans can win in 2029 or 2033, like they did in 1994 with Rudy Giuliani. There is literally no upside for them, politically, for Cuomo to be mayor instead of Mamdani. In fact, it would virtually guarantee another generation of Democratic rule in NYC. Republicans need the pendulum to swing as far as possible in one direction, hoping it will swing back in the future.
It’s a risky move, but it’s literally the only move they can make. Urging your candidate to drop out and endorse Cuomo is putting a nail in your own coffin. No member of your party base will accept that kind of betrayal, and no independent voter will take you seriously in the future. This is the team you have and the hand you were dealt—live with it.
As for Sliwa himself, there can be no saying what’s in his head or his heart. Maybe he truly believes he will win. Maybe he wants to go down as a fighter. In the end, it’s irrelevant. There’s very little time left in the campaign. Even if he drops out now, Cuomo will still likely lose to Mamdani. Then Sliwa is just the guy who gave up. His radio career is over, and all of his supporters sprinkled around the five boroughs will reject him. Cuomo dropping out could save the city, but destroy his life. With this many people demanding to see a guy like Mamdani leading them, the city is doomed anyway.
