Sliwa describes himself as a populist. Among other things, he advocates for classic conservative issues such as the consistent fight against crime and low taxes, but also for progressive causes such as same-sex marriage and an unconditional basic income. Through his association with the “Guardian Angels” he repeatedly portrays himself as the “Law and Order” candidate.
Current polls show Mamdani clearly ahead. According to a survey by Qunnipiac University, the 34-year-old was 13 points ahead of Andrew Cuomo with 46 percent at the beginning of October, who in turn was well ahead of Sliwa (15 percent). A poll by the Gotham Institute from mid-October shows a similar picture, which sees Mamdani 14 points ahead of Cuomo, who in turn is ten points ahead of Sliwa. An AtlasIntel poll as of October 30 puts Mamdaine at 41 percent, Cuomo at 34 and Sliwa at 24.
Against this background, Cuomo’s environment, but also several Republicans, repeatedly call on Sliwa to withdraw from the race in order to prevent the socialist Mamdani from becoming mayor. However, Sliwa categorically rejects this: “Why does Cuomo want my voters? He should look for his own.” The Republican also claims he received offers of bribes from billionaires who wanted him to quit. He rejected these offers.
New York native Donald Trump has endorsed all three candidates – and made it clear that he would prefer Cuomo as mayor. Cuomo and Trump had worked together in the fight against Covid during Trump’s first term in office. Both have known each other for decades and both come from the Queens district. Cuomo, for his part, has said he believes he can negotiate with Trump on an equal footing.
The fact that Trump does not support the Republican Sliwa could be due to his previous statements. In a 2019 interview, Sliwa stated that he “hated” Trump, whom he called a “crazy” and a “lunatic.” Sliwa also later said he did not vote for Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Trump declared a few weeks ago that Sliwa was “not ready for prime time.” “He wants to bring cats to city hall. We don’t need thousands of cats,” said Trump about the self-confessed cat fan Sliwa.
Trump recently called the democratic socialist Mamdani a “communist” and described him as “dangerous.” If Mamdani was elected mayor, Trump threatened that the US government would “take over” New York. Andrew Cuomo warned in a TV trial of Mamdani’s victory: “Then we’ll get Mayor Trump.”
