Dem
47
GOP
53
Former three-term New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a more-than-passing interest in who wins the mayoral election in NYC this year. When he was mayor and Andrew Cuomo was governor, they fought about many things and clearly disliked each other intensely. But on Friday, they sort of buried the hatchet when Bloomberg donated $5 million to a super PAC supporting Cuomo's comeback attempt (and stepping stone to running for president in 2028).
Does Bloomberg really admire Cuomo now? That is very unlikely. What is surely motivating Bloomberg is that in the polling, the #2 candidate, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who is in his second term in the state Assembly, is closing in on Cuomo. His platform is free city buses, a rent freeze, nationalizing grocery stores in the city, and taxing the rich. He has called Israel's actions in Gaza "genocide."
Bloomberg knows what it takes to run NYC and he doesn't think a 33-year-old Palestinian activist who has never run anything is the right person to manage the fractious city and handle its $117 billion budget. Sloganeering won't do the job. Bloomberg also doubts that Mamdani has the chops to stand up to Donald Trump. There is little doubt that Cuomo would be a giant pain for Trump.
Cuomo, for his many faults, handled budgets twice as big at that and got a lot done during his time as governor, including legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, legalizing cannabis, raising the minimum wage, introducing 12-week paid family leave, and signing the toughest gun-control law in the country. He was also very good at big infrastructure projects, including the Second Avenue subway, a new Tappan Zee bridge over the Hudson (named for his father, Mario Cuomo), the Moynihan Train Hall, and the redevelopment of LaGuardia from the worst airport in the developed world to one of the best. Yes, he was a sleazeball and a jerk, but he was actually very good at governing and got a lot of stuff done. Mamdani has never done anything significant. Bloomberg knows better than most that mayors have to actually get stuff done.
Cuomo's super PAC has been raising and spending money since March. So far it has raised $18 million. Election Day is a week from tomorrow. One factor that makes polling difficult is that the primary will use ranked-choice voting. Neither Cuomo nor Mamdani is polling anywhere near 50%, so the second, third, and further choice votes of the other 9 Democrats will determine who wins. The Republican nominee in November will be conservative radio host Curtis Sliwa. Mayor Eric Adams is running as an independent. (V)