Photo: Graeme Sloan/The Washington Post/Getty Images
For many, Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory on Tuesday marked a new era in progressive politics and a potential blueprint for Democratic candidates across the nation. Many others, though, fear a socialist takeover of the city, and they’re scrambling to find someone who can beat Mamdani in the general mayoral election after Andrew Cuomo got routed in the primary.
Mayor Eric Adams is eager to help them. Adams, who dropped out of the Democratic primary in exchange for an independent bid, seems excited about the prospect of facing Mamdani. “He’s a snake-oil salesman,” he said of Mamdani in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday. “He will say anything to get elected.”
The powerful New York Post is throwing its weight behind Adams, noting his apparent willingness to admit his flaws and attacking Mamdani as uniquely bad for the city. The editorial board, which met with Adams the day after the election, urged Cuomo and Republican perennial candidate Curtis Sliwa to drop out of the race. “They both need to realize that, to save the city, New York needs a single candidate to provide an alternative to the looming Mamdani horror-show,” the board wrote.
Then there’s the business class, which threw $25 million into a pro-Cuomo super-PAC that savaged Mamdani to no effect. One such donor, billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman, on Thursday floated the idea of a write-in campaign, crowdsourcing his followers for “the best centrist candidate” to beat the democratic socialist. “If someone is ready to raise their hand, I will take care of the fundraising,” he said. (The Post reported that he would likely throw his support behind Adams, but Ackman said he hasn’t made a decision yet.)
Semafor reported Wednesday that many others in the city’s business community are considering shifting their support from Cuomo to Adams, and according to New York’s David Freedlander, several leaders in the real-estate and business world had a group phone call to discuss what to do after Mamdani’s victory. As for Adams, he is holding a rally at City Hall for his reelection at noon.
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