The five Republican Party county leaders in New York City have reaffirmed their “unequivocal support” for their party’s mayoral nominee, Curtis Sliwa, ahead of the Nov. 4 general election.
The vote of confidence issued in an Oct. 21 statement responded to numerous public calls for Sliwa to drop out of the election to give former Gov. Andrew Cuomo a better chance of beating Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani in a one-on-one contest. The GOP leaders maintained that they and their party faithful would never support Cuomo under any circumstances.
“Republican voters are not going to vote for Andrew Cuomo,” the party chairs said in a joint statement. “He lost his own party’s primary, badly, and is not even appearing on the ballot on a major party line. Republicans should not have to clean up the mess Andrew Cuomo and the Democrats created, and we will not allow the political class to interfere with voters or hijack our ballot.”
Sliwa has ‘grassroots momentum’: GOP
Richmond County Chair Assembly Member Michael Tannousis; New York County Chair Andrea Catsimatidis; Bronx County Chair Michael Rendino; Queens County Chair Anthony Nunziato; and Kings County Chair Liam McCabe all announced their support for Sliwa in Tuesday’s joint statement.
Catsimatidis’ father — John Catsimatidis, the billionaire businessman who owns WABC Radio and the station’s parent company, Red Apple Media — had called on Sliwa to drop out of the race on Monday to unify support behind Cuomo.
Sliwa, who currently sits third in the polls behind Cuomo, has faced a constant stream of calls to withdraw from the election in order to consolidate moderate and conservative support around Cuomo, who was roundly defeated by Mamdani in the Democratic primary in June.
The Guardian Angels founder, however, has repeatedly maintained that he will be remaining in the race until election day, stating that Cuomo must “actively” earn the support of voters who would otherwise vote for the Republican candidate.
The Republican Party chairs cited the “overwhelming grassroots momentum” behind the Sliwa campaign, “record petitioning,” and citywide support from the ground up as reasons for their unequivocal support of Sliwa in next month’s race. They described him as the “credible leader who will defeat the radical left.”
Republican leaders further pointed to Cuomo’s “disastrous” record as Governor, specifying his efforts to introduce bail reform and the sexual harassment allegations that forced him to resign from office in 2021. Cuomo has repeatedly denied all allegations against him.
“Republicans across every borough stand united behind Curtis Sliwa for Mayor of New York City,” Republican leaders said in a statement Tuesday morning. “In every neighborhood, volunteers have collected thousands of petition signatures and Curtis has raised millions from everyday New Yorkers, proof of a genuine grassroots movement that money cannot manufacture.”
The five Republican leaders concluded by stating that any attempt to divide the party next month will fail because the base is “energized and unified” behind Sliwa.
