The current date is Wednesday, November 5, 2025. Last night, one of the biggest anticipated races in this country was not held in a sports arena. The race did not involve a 26-mile marathon covering the five boroughs of New York City. Rather, this race was a political one that would dictate the future of this city. The race was for the position of Mayor of NYC, and the winner was Zohran Mamdani. The losers were
Former-Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Mr. Curtis Sliwa. So...what happened?!
Before we go any further, it is important to get some background on the players of this political arena. They have been extensively covered on social-media, and have shared some of their points-of-view, as well as their vision on how to tackle some of the most pressing issues that are affecting residents of the Big Apple.
We should begin with the man of the hour...the dude that lots of people are afraid of: Zohran Mamdani. Who is he? Where did he come from? For starters, he is a current Representative of the New York State Assembly, and assumed office on January 1, 2021. He is a member of the following parties: the Democratic Party, the Democratic Socialists of America, and the Working Families Party. He gained prominence when his platform started promoting controversial issues, such as government-run stores, a $30 minimum-wage, deploying mental-health members instead of the police, promoting free public-transportation, and expanding corporate taxes, as well as raising taxes for high-income earners. You can imagine that the last item is what is worrying lots of people to the point that they are threatening an exodus from New York City.
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| The future of New York City? |
What about Andrew Cuomo, the guy many predicted would have won the mayoral race? As the Former-Governor of the Empire State, he had lots of political influence on business owners, and constituents. He has been involved in politics in one way or another. In the early 1980s, he assisted his father, Mario Cuomo, with his gubernatorial election. Then, throughout the years, he gained prominent positions such as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Attorney General of New York, and finally Governor of New York (January 1, 2011 – August 23, 2021). That last position ended in controversy when he felt forced to resign due to unsavory allegations that did not go anywhere. However, he turned things around with his quest to become the “Comeback Kid” when he announced his mayoral candidacy for NYC on March of 2025.
Finally, we have the underdog of the race-pack: Mister Guardian Angel himself, Curtis Sliwa. He has been a fixture of the public-eye since the late 1970s, answering the call to combat crime and assisting those in need. He comes complete with a superhero uniform (with the exception of a cape). His most famous gear is his red beret, which clearly identifies him and his group. He has been known to be actively-involved in subway patrols, confronting aggressive people, and getting hurt in the process. Sliwa is very outspoken, specially on his radio show. Unfortunately, this may have incurred some insults to some of Sliwa’s critical targets, and these may have contributed to his assassination attempt in 1992. In 2021, as a member of the Republican Party, he ran for mayor of New York City on a campaign of strong law-and-order initiatives. Ultimately, he lost that race to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. Now, in 2025. Sliwa ran again on the same platform, promoting more support for the police. Did he have any chance of winning the mayoral race? Did he act as a spoiler in this election cycle and ruin Andrew Cuomo’s chances of winning? The jury is still deciding on the merits of that last question.
Zohran Mamdani ran a very successful campaign. He appealed to the younger generation with his socialist ideas that many found enticing, such as affordable housing, and better wages. He gained the upper hand when he managed to defeat Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primaries of 2025. Overnight, Mamdani became the leader of the party. After much consideration, Cuomo decided to run as an Independent for the position of Mayor of New York City. After many candidates had left the race, including Mayor Eric Adams, only Mamdani, Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa remained in the race. Their campaigns included ads on social-media, television interviews, and three-way debates. Meanwhile, agitators from both –er-- all sides of the aisle were projecting Doomsday-scenarios if the other candidates won. It got to the point where many powerful interest-groups were urging Sliwa to step aside in order to allow Cuomo a better chance at winning. That did not happen, and Sliwa lost, and Cuomo lost. So...did Sliwa actually prevent Cuomo from winning the election? That question may not be necessarily true.
Here are the results of the New York City mayoral race for 2025, as extracted from Ballotpedia:
| CANDIDATE | VOTES | PERCENT |
| Zohran Mamdani – Dem | 1036051 | 50.40% |
| Andrew Cuomo – Oth | 854995 | 41.60% |
| Curtis Sliwa – GOP | 146137 | 7.10% |
| Eric Adams * Oth | 6382 | 0.30% |
| Total Write-ins | 6290 | 0.30% |
| Irene Estrada – Con | 2643 | 0.10% |
| Jim Walden – Oth | 2170 | 0.10% |
| Joseph Hernandez – Oth | 1253 | 0.06% |
According to the data, Zohran Mamdani was able to obtain 1,036,051 votes. The combined amount of votes for the other candidates were 1,019,870. That means that if Cuomo would have been given all of the other votes (including Sliwa’s), he, still, would have lost by 16,181 votes. So, mathematically, I would have to (objectively) say that Curtis Sliwa was NOT a spoiler of this hotly-contested race. Of course, I could be wrong in this matter, and the outcome may have been different had Sliwa decided to quit the race. I guess we will never find out.
Be considerate that I wrote this article based on my personal observation of current events. Your point-of-view and opinion may be different than mine, and that is okay. As long as we respect each other, we should be fine.