NEW YORK — The candidates splintering the liberal vote in New York may give Republican Curtis Sliwa an unexpected shot at becoming the city’s next mayor.
The four-way mayoral race is tightening. No contenders are cracking 30% of the vote, and Mr. Sliwa is just 4 percentage points behind the front-running Democratic nominee, socialist Zohran Mamdani, according to a recent HarrisX poll.
“You really have a three-person race: Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa. Eric Adams, the sitting mayor, is lucky to break double digits,” Mr. Sliwa said in an interview with The Washington Times.
Mr. Sliwa has often disagreed with President Trump, but he said the Democratic incumbent in the race has a Trump problem.
“Every time that Donald Trump embraces him, it seems his numbers precipitously go down amongst his support group, which has always been in the past and now the African American community in New York City,” he said.
Mr. Sliwa is known as the red-beret-wearing founder of the Guardian Angels citizen crime fighters and a host on conservative talk radio, but that goes only so far in left-leaning New York City.
He lost in a landslide to Mr. Adams in 2021.
This time, however, Mr. Sliwa’s rising poll numbers provide an opportunity to make inroads with New York’s affluent business community, which hasn’t coalesced behind one candidate and is skittish about a possible Mamdani win on Nov. 4.
He said being the Republican odd man out is an advantage this year.
“When you slice, in this case, the orange, all three slices on their end are Democrats. Zohran Mamdani is a Democrat, Andrew Cuomo is a Democrat, and, obviously, Eric Adams is a Democrat,” Mr. Sliwa said. “I’m the only Republican.”
His campaign is still a long shot. A poll for the left-wing Public Progress Solutions showed Mr. Mamdani capturing more than 50% of the vote.
Some have suggested that Mr. Sliwa should finally hang up his trademark red beret and begin looking the part of a no-nonsense, tough-on-crime, tax-slashing, pro-business politician. Mr. Sliwa promised to retire the beret for good if he wins.
He has also made some “accommodations” while campaigning.
“I met recently with Kathy Wylde, who’s president of the New York Partnership, which represents businesses,” he said. “I took the meeting without a beret. Then, also, I met with the Steamfitters Union. They have a rule: You can’t wear any kind of a hat. … I respected their rules. So, it depends on the circumstance.”
However, when Mr. Sliwa is out and about on the city streets and subways, the beret goes on his noggin.
“That’s how people readily identify me. That’s how I end up able to have discourse with people as a result of that,” he said.
Mr. Sliwa’s meeting last week with Ms. Wylde helped introduce him to some of the city’s most influential business executives.
In an interview with The Times, Ms. Wylde said the partnership does not endorse any candidate but will work with whoever is elected mayor in November.
“There is enough uncertainty about this election that we’re meeting with everybody. So, the only reason we hadn’t scheduled a meeting with Curtis earlier is he hadn’t asked for one,” she said.
Ms. Wylde said a lesson from the city’s Democratic primary is to “ignore the polls.”
“All the polls said that Cuomo was going to win by double digits until the last week, and even then, it still had Cuomo as the winner,” she said. “Ignore the polls is one lesson of the primary, and No. 2 is money doesn’t matter.”
Mr. Mamdani handily defeated Mr. Cuomo, a former governor, in the June 24 primary.
“Cuomo had $30 million, far more than any of the other candidates, and he didn’t win,” Ms. Wylde noted.
The HarrisX poll showed Mr. Mamdani leading the pack at 26%, Mr. Cuomo at 23%, Mr. Sliwa at 22%, Mr. Adams at 13% and about 15% of voters undecided.
The Democratic competition pits Mr. Mamdani, a state assemblyman with a socialist-inspired platform, against two scandal-tarred politicians. Mr. Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations. Mr. Adams faced federal corruption charges until Mr. Trump took office and his Justice Department dropped the case.
Mr. Sliwa is banking on general election voters rejecting Mr. Mamdani’s campaign platform, which includes government-run grocery stores, free bus services and rent freezes, as well as his history of anti-Israel activism and refusal to denounce calls for a “global intifada.”
“There are a number of business leaders who are strong supporters of Israel, and for that community, there is a lot of consternation about whether or not New York City is going to have a mayor who does not appreciate the importance of a Jewish homeland to that community,” Ms. Wylde said.
Mr. Mamdani has recently promised business leaders he would stop using the phrase “global intifada,” but many New York business leaders remain leery.
One prominent New York City business leader who asked to remain anonymous told The Times that he and his peers fear Mr. Mamdani’s agenda, such as rent control, would hurt the economy, further driving out new housing.
The executive said the business community remains supportive of Mr. Adams, regardless of his troubles. The executive wants Mr. Cuomo to drop out of the race but sees that as unlikely.
“All three [Mr. Mamdani, Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Adams] names are going to be on the ballot, but that doesn’t preclude either one of them coming out and saying, ‘Hey, you know the writing is on the wall, and we’re throwing our weight towards Adams,’” he said.
Mr. Sliwa warns the business leaders that pivoting to Mr. Adams would be throwing good money after bad.
“Now, after a bad relationship with Andrew, the billionaire class seems to have all gone over to Eric Adams. That’s a mistake. I told them all, if you give money to Eric Adams and his cronies, you might as well be Santa Claus.”
Cuomo campaign spokesman Rich Azzopardi dismissed Mr. Sliwa entirely: “Beret-wearing clown says what?”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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