NYC mayoral race descends into chaos: Sliwa doesn't drop out, Cuomo goes independent, Adams gets stronger thanks to Republican mega-donors

Following the resounding victory of Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, the race descended into utter and unpredictable chaos with only four months to go before the election.

On one side, the big loser of the Democratic primaries-former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo—will remain in the race as an independent, arguing that the general election will be very different from his party's primary. In the other corner, the eccentric Curtis Sliwa, a Republican leader and candidate known for being the founder of the Guardian Angels, is vying for the endorsement of his party's mega-donors with former Democrat Eric Adams, the city's current mayor.

Cuomo, who fell from grace in 2022 following the explosion of sex abuse scandals and mismanagement of nursing homes during the pandemic, is still focused on making a triumphant return to national and state politics. Despite being soundly defeated in the Democratic primary by avowed Marxist Mamdani, CNN reported that Cuomo saved a spot on the ballot to run as an independent under the party line "Fight & Deliver."

According to the news network, Cuomo and his team think the city's general electorate will be very different from the Democratic primary voters, who were largely mobilized by Mamdani's disruptive approach and social media videos.

"His camp also believes Mamdani and his policy ideas, from a rent freeze to city-operated grocery stores, will receive increased scrutiny now that Mamdani is positioned to secure a Democratic primary win once ranked-choice votes are allocated next week," CNN reported.

Although Cuomo has not yet defined whether he will launch an active campaign as an independent, his place on the ballot is already guaranteed, making him a key factor in the race, depending on which candidate he ends up subtracting the most votes from. 

While Cuomo defines his political future, Republican megadonors are already beginning to debate who is the better choice to stop Mamdani: Mayor Eric Adams or Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.

While Mamdani threatens a Marxist revolution in the city, completely scaring off conservative businessmen and investors who view with concern some of the Democratic candidate's proposals, some Republican donors have already decided to back Adams, who, after turning independent and moving closer to Trump, began to have popularity problems in the city but, in turn, more support among Republicans.

A clear example of this is Republican megadonor John Catsimatidis, CEO of the Gristedes supermarket chain, who is looking to fellow billionaires to back Adams' struggling re-election campaign, according to Politico. 

In fact, in an interview with the outlet, Catsimatidis has already said he will back Adams for the race over his friend Sliwa, whose boss he is at WABC radio.

“The only people who are going to help Eric Adams are in Washington, whether it’s (border czar) Tom Homan, whether it’s Donald Trump,” Catsimatidis said. “And Tom and Donald Trump want a safe New York.”

About Sliwa, the businessman was diplomatic and gracious: “Right now, Curtis has to make up his own mind."

Sliwa's decision, for the moment, is very clear: he will not drop out of the race unless he is thrown overboard.

"I’m not getting out of this race unless they figure out a way to put me in a pine box and bury me six feet under," the Republican candidate told Politico.

According to the media outlet, various financial executives and aligned Republicans began having conversations following Mamdani's primary victory. Most agree that a firewall should be installed against the socialist leader and that the now-independent Adams is the man best suited for the job, at the expense of Sliwa.

Politico defined the endorsement of these Republican megadonors for Adams as a consensus strategy—"even as the mayor faces campaign finance hurdles and dismal approval ratings."