Mayor Adams, Sliwa Reject Spoilers' Resignation Pact

Attempts at isolating the New York mayoral race between the top two candidates before the November election, a pact verbally signed onto by former New York Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is being rejected by the other parties.

Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, running, like Cuomo, as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa have expressed no desire to a mid-September resignation deadline to try to consolidate the vote against Democrat mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, ABC 7-N.Y. reported Monday.

"Let's not forget the damage he caused as governor," Adams told ABC 7. "Cuomo led the charge on a flawed bail reform. He failed New York's most vulnerable during COVID.

"Now, Cuomo is wasting time and dividing voters. He failed then — and he's failing New Yorkers now."

The resignation/consolidation pact was put forth originally by independent candidate Jim Walden, potentially fearing that Cuomo, Adams, and Sliwa splitting the anti-Mamdani vote would hand the mayor's mansion to the avowed democratic socialist.

"Andrew Cuomo lost his primary and hides in the Hamptons," Sliwa told ABC 7-N.Y. "Eric Adams skipped his and fled to Fort Lauderdale.

"I'm the only candidate with a majority party nomination, a 50-year record of serving New Yorkers, and a real path to victory."

Cuomo is the only candidate to have "joined the pledge," according to Walden, but the Cuomo campaign said "there will be an official announcement soon."

"We do not see any path to victory for Mayor Adams," a Cuomo campaign official told ABC 7-N.Y. "This is the time to put aside the usual political selfishness and agree to do what is truly best for all New Yorkers."

Walden's proposal would force a one-on-one matchup between Mamdani and just one leading opponent, according to "a fair independent survey," by mid-September.

"While Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams are tripping over themselves to cut backroom deals with billionaires and Republicans, Zohran Mamdani is focused on making this city more affordable for New Yorkers," a Mamdani spokesman told ABC 7-N.Y. "That's the choice this November."

Cuomo is reportedly going to announce his independent campaign to be the next mayor of New York City this week, with the caveat he wants all of the potential spoilers to vow to step out of the race.

Cuomo already lost the Democrat primary to Mamdani in a low turnout election, but he hopes an independent general election run can net him the votes to overcome the far-left Democrats in the city who would turn out for Mamdani.

While the power of the incumbency would historically tend to work in Adams' favor, New York City is a Democrat stranglehold that does not tend to vote outside that party's deep-blue line.

A Slingshot Strategies poll has Cuomo as the leading candidate to challenge Mamdani but, according to the Post:

1. Mamdani 35%
2. Cuomo 25%
3. Sliwa 14%
4. Adams 11%

Cuomo resigned his governorship amid a sexual misconduct scandal in 2021.

• Cuomo to Run as Independent, Wants Spoilers to Step Out
• Vivek NYC Ad Targets Mamdani: Ohio's 'Waiting for You'