In a bid to rally conservative voters, Andrew Cuomo candidly admitted on Friday that securing a victory in the upcoming mayoral election would be “extremely challenging” if Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa remains in the contest.

Running as an independent in the November 4 election, Cuomo faces an uphill battle against Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani, as he lags significantly behind in the polls. This revelation came during his guest appearance on Sid Rosenberg’s 77 WABC radio show.

Rosenberg’s program, which predominantly attracts a conservative audience, highlights the necessity for Cuomo to garner Republican support if he hopes to bridge the gap with Mamdani, who holds a strong lead among Democratic voters.

Cuomo made a direct appeal to Rosenberg’s listeners, urging them to cast their votes for him rather than Sliwa. This appeal is somewhat unexpected given that Sliwa shows no inclination to withdraw from the race.

“Sliwa cannot win,” Cuomo stated, referencing Sliwa’s third-place position in the polls behind both Cuomo and Mamdani.

“If you vote for Curtis, you might as well be voting for Mamdani. That’s the reality of the situation,” Cuomo added.

Conversely, Cuomo argued Mamdani will have no shot if Sliwa ends his “spoiler” campaign.

“If Curtis is not in the race, I win and that’s the choice for the Republicans,” he said.

Early voting in the mayoral election starts Oct. 25.

Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels who has his own talk show on 77 WABC, said Cuomo’s pitch reeked of “desperation” and urged him to step aside so he can alone take on Mamdani.

“He threw in the white towel there, he basically said to his supporters: ‘If Curtis is in it, I lose.’ Why would he even say that? You need your supporters to be enthusiastic right now … I don’t know why anyone would be when he’s basically already saying that he’s lost,” Sliwa told the Daily News.

“It’s over for Cuomo, and he should do himself a favor and drop out and let this race be between me and Zohran.”

Sliwa and Cuomo have both been adamant they won’t abandon their campaigns.

Cuomo received a slight boost in the polls after Mayor Adams, who was also running as an independent, ditched his bid for reelection late last month amid record low approval ratings.

But Adams’ exit does not appear to be enough for Cuomo.

On Thursday evening, Fox News released a poll showing Mamdani pulling 52% support from likely Nov. 4 voters, putting him way ahead of Cuomo, who netted 28% in the survey, and Sliwa, who received 14%.

By that poll’s account, Cuomo would still trail Mamdani by 10% even if he secures support from all of Sliwa’s voters.

Cuomo’s radio comments came the morning after the three candidates faced off on stage at the first general mayoral election debate.

Cuomo faced broadsides during the two-hour showdown from both Sliwa and Mamdani over various controversial aspects of his record, such as his 2021 resignation as governor amid sexual and professional misconduct accusations that he now denies.

The ex-governor punched back, mainly at Mamdani, seeking to portray him as ideologically extreme and inexperienced, but some of his attack lines didn’t land as the debate quickly devolved into shouting matches.

Speaking to reporters after a Friday morning town hall event in Manhattan with local union members, Mamdani said he agrees with Cuomo’s assessment about the state of the race.

“I’d probably have the same acknowledgement if i was the governor after last night’s debate, which is that he has a very narrow path to winning this race because what New Yorkers saw is the fact that it’s more of the same with Andrew Cuomo,” he said. “It’s more of the same with the affordability crisis, it’s more of the same with the style of politics.”

Originally Published: October 17, 2025 at 4:07 PM EDT