Billionaire Michael Bloomberg donated $1.5 million to a super PAC supporting Andrew Cuomo's independent bid for New York City mayor Wednesday, in hopes of stopping democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.
"Being Mayor of New York City is the second toughest job in America, and the next mayor will face immense challenges. Andrew Cuomo has the experience and toughness to stand up for New Yorkers and get things done. I hope you will join me in supporting him," Bloomberg wrote in a social media post Wednesday evening.
Bloomberg's donation went to Fix the City, a Cuomo-aligned committee focused on "empowering and mobilizing the mainstream majority of New Yorkers to prevent a takeover of the city by extremists."
The group has received money from some of the wealthiest people in the world, including Walmart heiress Alice Walton and hedge fund manager and Trump supporter Bill Ackman.
Bloomberg, who served three terms as New York City's mayor first as a Republican and later as an independent, has donated $8.3 million total to the group. Ackman has donated $1.75 million to Fix the City and a separate group, Defend NYC.
Mamdani holds a commanding lead in the race with just days left until Election Day. The 34-year-old assemblyman has made major promises of free buses, universal childcare, and rent freezes.
Mamdani has also proposed an additional 2% tax on New Yorkers earning more than $1 million a year.
He leads Cuomo by 25 points, 50% to 25%, while 21% support Republican Curtis Sliwa, according to an Emerson College poll released Thursday. Four percent remain undecided.
"Mamdani appears to have built a coalition across key demographics, increasing his margin among Black voters since last month, from 50% to 71%, whereas Cuomo dropped 10 points among Black voters since September," said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling.
Dora Pekec, a Mamdani campaign spokesperson, told Forbes that billionaires "are lining up behind a candidate who's spent months chasing their approval and their dollars instead of talking to working-class New Yorkers.
"Cuomo's running on the same tired cynical politics of the past that created the affordability crisis and has driven New Yorkers out of the city. Zohran Mamdani is practicing a politics that puts New Yorkers first — not billionaires."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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