By: Jared Evan

In a race that’s growing more unpredictable by the week, former Governor Andrew Cuomo is polling closer to frontrunner Zohran Mamdani than either Mayor Eric Adams or Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa — a surprising shift that could complicate efforts by establishment Democrats and Republicans alike to block Mamdani’s path to City Hall, the New York Post reported.

Adams, who controversially skipped the Democratic primary after trailing badly in early surveys, is now running as an independent. According to the New York Post, Adams faces an uphill battle in deep-blue New York City, where Mamdani — a self-identified democratic socialist and staunch Israel critic — swept the primary and is now leading the general election race. Despite Adams’ attempt to assemble a bipartisan coalition, critics from both sides say he lacks a viable path.

Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani in the Democratic primary, remains on the general election ballot as a minor party candidate. While some political figures like former GOP hopeful Fernando Mateo are calling him a “spoiler,” recent polling cited by the Post shows that Cuomo is actually within striking distance of Mamdani — far closer than Adams or Sliwa. The implication is clear: in the eyes of many disillusioned voters, Cuomo may be the only candidate with a realistic shot at stopping Mamdani’s rise.

Mateo, who was trounced by Sliwa in the 2021 GOP primary by 40 points, made his plea Sunday on WABC’s “Cats Roundtable,” hosted by billionaire John Catsimatidis. “We need to make sure that Eric wins. Andrew Cuomo should not be on the ballot,” Mateo said, calling the former governor a “divider” who “loves himself” more than the city he once led. “If Cuomo and Sliwa dropped out and Adams had the support of every New Yorker, there’s no way we could lose,” he insisted.

But that scenario seems far from reality.

Sliwa responded with scorn, reminding listeners that he “crushed Mateo” in their Republican primary showdown and has no plans to step aside. “It’s over. I’m on the ballot. There’s no way to get me out,” Sliwa told the Post, adding that Adams is just as unpopular among Republicans as he is among Democrats — a sentiment reflected in consistent polling showing the mayor’s dismal favorability numbers.

Adding another layer of intrigue is Catsimatidis himself, who has hosted fundraisers for Adams and is reportedly attempting to court Republican support on his behalf — even as he continues to employ Sliwa as a host on his radio network. When pressed by the New York Post, Catsimatidis declined to say whether he had spoken with Donald Trump about backing Adams.

Former Governor David Paterson weighed in as well, telling WABC that Mamdani is “going to be very hard to beat” in the general election. Paterson likened Mamdani’s grassroots energy and mass mobilization efforts to an ideological mirror image of Donald Trump. “The number of people Mamdani’s registering, the rallies, the excitement — if I blinked, it’s 2015 and Trump is on the rise,” he said.

Still, Paterson isn’t joining the Mateo chorus. Instead, he’s sticking with Cuomo, his pick in the Democratic primary, saying the ex-governor remains “the best shot” to stop Mamdani in November.

While Cuomo’s path is unconventional, the numbers are starting to tell a different story than Mateo’s narrative. As the New York Post emphasized, with Mamdani leading, Cuomo is statistically closer than either Adams or Sliwa — a fact that could upend all assumptions about how the general election will play out.