Republicans across New York state — and even the country — are eager to campaign against New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani in their own races next year.
So why are President Donald Trump’s allies trying to ensure Mamdani loses before they get the chance?
The move would help consolidate the anti-Mamdani vote behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, bettering his chances of defeating the Democratic mayoral nominee. But it could rob Republicans of a potentially potent foil in next year’s congressional and gubernatorial elections, where GOP candidates would love nothing more than to tie their opponents to a young democratic socialist mayor pushing left-wing policies in a big blue city.
William F.B. O’Reilly, a Westchester County-based political consultant to Republicans, said Trump is thinking with his business brain, not his politics brain.
“It’s visceral for him,” O’Reilly said. “He’s a businessman from New York and he’s worried that Mamdani is going to come in and screw it all up.”
Among those watching with particular interest is Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from northern New York who is eyeing a run against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul next year.
Even before entering the race, Stefanik has repeatedly previewed attacks that could follow should Mamdani win in November, which paint Hochul as beholden to the mayoral hopeful and the Democratic Party’s left flank — which the governor can’t afford to lose.
“Mark my words, Kathy Hochul will bend the knee to the Communist who will destroy NYC,” Stefanik tweeted this week. “Hochul will get in line because she's terrified of the inevitable big backlash from the radical Far Left that controls NY's Democrat Party.”
Hochul has not endorsed Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist, not a communist. (“I vote in Buffalo, New York, just for the record,” Hochul said on Fox News Sunday.) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries haven’t either. Both are Brooklyn Democrats who have to worry about congressional elections all across the country after a bruising 2024 that saw their party swept from power.
Suffolk County Republican Chair Jesse Garcia, who will have to defend two Republican-held House seats in his part of Long Island next year, said the GOP will have an effective foil regardless of whether Mamdani or Cuomo — who is running second in the polls — wins the mayor’s race.
On the one hand, you have a 33-year-old whose positions on socialism and public safety could alienate moderates and independents. On the other, you have a former governor who resigned in disgrace, Garcia said.
“ Either of those two choices are going to be utilized by Republicans and Republican candidates in the campaigns in 2026,” he said.
Mamdani has seized on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering by Trump allies to clear the field for Cuomo. He says it makes clear the former governor is Trump’s preferred candidate — which doesn’t play well in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 6-to-1.
Cuomo is playing up the notion the GOP will use Mamdani as a foil.
“If Mamdani wins, Republicans will use him against Democrats all across the country,” Cuomo said on CNN. “They’ll say: These are the Democrats. They’ve been taken over by socialists. They’re anti-police. They’re anti-public safety.”
Trump, meanwhile, said he hadn’t spoken to Adams about a job. And he said he doesn’t have a relationship with Curtis Sliwa, the Republican mayoral candidate who has said he will not exit the race even if Trump offers him a job.
“ I read where [Adams] has no intention of getting out,” Trump said on WABC-AM’s “Sid & Friends in the Morning” this week. “Curtis, I don't know him at all. I don't know him at all. And Cuomo, I do know — but I would say this: Anybody is better than what you have [in Mamdani.]”
Ballot Box
This week we're wondering: We’re less than two months from Election Day. Have you seen any of the mayoral candidates out in the wild? We want to hear your stories about bumping into Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa or Eric Adams on the streets, in the subways and beyond. Did you talk with them? Will it influence your vote?
Last week we asked: Do you agree with Zohran Mamdani that new charters should not share buildings with traditional public schools?
“Colocated schools spend too much time negotiating space usage — gym, auditorium, cafeteria time. Further, charters often have the funding to renovate bathrooms and other spaces so within the same building there are very different spaces — design, lighting, renovated spaces. The children are aware and ask why.”
- Betty, Brooklyn
“Charters, especially the corporate ones, grab space and resources from traditional public schools while jettisoning students. With all the private resources they receive, they should be required to finance themselves.”
- Maria, Brooklyn
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7 headlines
(1) Attorney General Letitia James’ office hired a law firm amid two federal investigations. Here’s who was hired.
(2) Federal immigration agents detained dozens of people at a food processing plant in upstate New York. Here’s what they had to say after.
(3) Former federal prosecutor and independent mayoral candidate Jim Walden may have dropped out of the New York City mayoral race, but there’s just one problem.
(4) Transit advocates are pushing for one-person or fully automated subway trains. A bill headed for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk aims to stop that vision in its tracks. Here’s why.
(5) Sen. Bernie Sanders chastised New York’s Democratic Party leaders for not endorsing Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race. Here’s what he said.
(7) Mayor Adams’ campaign hired a lawyer to review the validity of nearly 50,000 signatures that helped him get on the ballot as an independent. Here’s who it hired.
