Mamdani aims to keep control while Cuomo angles for GOP votes ahead of final NYC mayoral debate

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s mayoral candidates are set to meet for their final debate Wednesday night, with Democrat Zohran Mamdani looking to stay in control of a race increasingly seen as his to win while former Gov. Andrew Cuomo amps up the pressure on Republican Curtis Sliwa to drop out.

With just days left until early voting begins, Cuomo has made a series of urgent pleas to the city’s conservative voters to ditch Sliwa and instead to support him, casting the Republican candidate as a “spoiler” whose presence in the race will deliver Mamdani a win.

The debate may be the former governor’s last and best chance at making his case to run the country’s biggest city ahead of next month’s election.

But Sliwa, the swaggering creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group, has forcefully maintained he will not exit the race and has in turn ramped up his criticism of the former governor.

Mamdani, meanwhile, has spent his recent days campaigning on local issues and energizing his own supporters. Though he is expected to face an aggressive version of Cuomo on stage, as he did during last week’s first debate, he will need to balance his counterattacks with the hopeful vision of the city that has driven his campaign’s momentum.

Here’s what to watch for during the 90-minute debate Wednesday night, which will air live on Spectrum News NY1 and be streamed on the station’s website beginning at 7 p.m.:

Mamdani aims to stay on message

Mamdani will attempt to stay above the fray and keep his focus on voters.

“While my opponents are focused on speaking about each other and which one of them should drop out, my focus will be on New Yorkers themselves and the concerns I’ve heard from them,” he told reporters Tuesday, according to the Daily News.

But as the Democratic nominee, presumed frontrunner and rising national star, the state assemblyman is still expected to take heat on Wednesday night.

Opponents of the 34-year-old democratic socialist have focused on his relatively thin political resume, made accusations that the city would fall into chaos under his leadership, and drawn attention to President Donald Trump’s threats to take over the city — and even arrest Mamdani — if he wins.

Last week, he was able to deflect much of Cuomo’s verbal onslaught while launching his own broadsides at the former governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sexual harassment allegations that Cuomo denies but led to his resignation in 2021.

Mamdani also got a little help from Sliwa. The Republican’s sharpest attacks were reserved for Cuomo, forcing the 67-year-old into a defensive posture at a time when he needed to land significant blows against Mamdani to stifle the Democrat’s momentum.

In or out?

After losing his first comeback bid in the Democratic primary to Mamdani this summer, Cuomo rebooted his campaign with an odd request: A call for the other candidates to drop out.

He’s made a similar play in the final stretch of the general election race, saying in a radio interview this week that, “A vote for Curtis is a vote for Mamdani,” while acknowledging that “it’s harder mathematically” for him to win with Sliwa in the race.

“Republicans believe Mamdani is an existential threat,” Cuomo said. “Then you do what you need to do to stop the existential threat.”

Cuomo, who is now running as an independent, may use the debate to press the issue and make a last chance play for conservatives and moderates, framing himself as a more viable candidate than Sliwa.

Sliwa’s time to shine

Sliwa made a splash in last week’s debate as viewers got a glimpse of the colorful character who has long been a fixture of the city’s tabloids.

The 71-year-old launched pointed attacks against Cuomo and Mamdani, while sprinkling in anecdotes like the time he was shot in the back of a cab in what he says what an attempted mob hit.

On Wednesday, Sliwa will look to parlay his newfound audience into real support as he tries to make his case that he’s a viable candidate in the heavily Democratic city.

In order to win, Sliwa will have to hold onto the nearly 30% of voters he won in the last mayoral election, while winning over centrists who don’t want to support Mamdani or Cuomo.

Even as pressure has mounted on Sliwa to exit, he appears more committed than ever to remain in the race.

“The billionaires are not going to determine who the next mayor is. You, the people will,” he said in a campaign video this week that called for his supporters to cast their ballots on the first day of early voting this weekend.