On Tuesday night, New York City will be fixated on the results of one race: the Democratic mayoral primary. Meanwhile, in an afterthought for most city residents, a 71-year-old radio host named Curtis Sliwa will capture the Republican nomination and formally become the party’s pick for the general election in November.
You might think that the Republicans have a golden opportunity to win a race like this.
There’s a better than even chance that the Democrats will choose 33-year-old socialist state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani to be their nominee, a darling of the party’s far left who otherwise seems designed in a lab to alienate moderates. If Mamdani doesn’t get the nod, voters will almost certainly go with Andrew Cuomo, New York’s tough-to-love former governor.
The Democratic incumbent, Eric Adams, is so unpopular that he skipped the primary altogether. And Cuomo says he’ll do the same if he loses to Mamdani, perhaps setting the stage for a crowded November contest where the eventual victor could squeak by with just a slim plurality of the vote.
Will Sliwa be the one squeaking by? No. Allow me to explain.