Billionaires Want Sliwa Out But He Won't Budge

"The big story of the 2025 mayoral election may be the utter failure of New York's business elite to mobilize effectively and take down a socialist. The Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa during a protest outside of Gracie Mansion in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images A GOP insider says "titans of industry" at New York City are threatening to withhold donations to the New York Republican Party if they don't force mayoral nominee, Curtis Sliwa, to drop out of the race."

""They're really considering not supporting the state party. It does not mean that they will not support a candidate," a former New York GOP finance chairman, Arcadio Casillas, tells The New York Sun. "Would you invest in something that you feel you're not going to get a return or you're going to lose every penny you put into it?""

""Curtis should pull out right now," Mr. Catsimatidis said on his radio show Monday morning. "People will be proud of him that he did the right thing for New York City." "We cannot take a chance on Zohran winning," he said. Mr. Sliwa is defiant. He won the Republican nomination unopposed, while Mr. Cuomo ran and lost in the Democratic primary and is now trying to push a major party candidate out. Mr. Cuomo called Mr. Sliwa "a spoiler" on Sunday - a term normally reserved for a third-party candidate. "Let's be very clear: I am not dropping out. Under no circumstance. I've already been offered money to drop out, I said no," Mr. Sliwa said Tuesday morning outside the West 7"

Business and GOP donor panic centers on the possibility that 33-year-old state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani could win the mayoralty. GOP insiders say titans of industry are threatening to withhold donations from the New York Republican Party unless Curtis Sliwa drops out. John Catsimatidis urged Sliwa to withdraw to improve Governor Andrew Cuomo's chances. Sliwa won the Republican nomination unopposed and refuses to quit, saying he has been offered money to drop out and has declined. Cuomo labeled Sliwa a spoiler and is pressing for a major party shift.

Read at The New York Sun