By: Ariella Haviv

In a stunning turn in New York City’s fiercely contested mayoral race, Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, one of former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s most outspoken critics, offered an unexpected endorsement of the Democratic ex-governor — arguing that Cuomo represents the only viable bulwark against what he described as the “radical and dangerous” ideology of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist nominee.

As The New York Post reported on Wednesday, Lawler’s endorsement, delivered on 77 WABC’s Sid & Friends program, marks one of the most unlikely political alliances of the campaign. The congressman, who represents New York’s 17th District just north of the city, has spent years lambasting Cuomo over his COVID-era handling of nursing homes — once branding the former governor a “lying sack of s–t.” Yet in a moment of political clarity, Lawler said New Yorkers must rally behind Cuomo as the “lesser of two evils” to prevent a socialist takeover of City Hall.

“This is about the s–ttiest choice I’ve seen in a mayor’s race — and that’s saying something,” Lawler told host Sid Rosenberg, according to The New York Post. “But between Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo? It’s not even close.”

For a Republican congressman to endorse a lifelong Democrat — and one he once excoriated in national headlines — underscores just how alarmed many moderates and conservatives are about Mamdani’s rise. As The New York Post report detailed, Lawler, a staunch critic of progressive policies, said his endorsement was motivated not by personal affection for Cuomo but by concern for the survival of common sense in city governance.

“New Yorkers have a choice — either have a Marxist, socialist as mayor who doesn’t give a s–t about the Jews, who thinks 9/11 is some prop to be used to make himself the victim, or an alternative,” Lawler said, pulling no punches.

Cuomo, who is running as an independent, has emerged as the only serious challenger capable of preventing Mamdani — a self-described Democratic Socialist and Queens assemblyman — from clinching the mayoralty in what polls show is now a three-way race with Republican Curtis Sliwa trailing far behind.

As The New York Post reported, internal polling and several independent surveys indicate that Sliwa remains mired in the mid-teens, raising fears among anti-Mamdani voters that a split opposition vote could hand the far-left firebrand a decisive victory. Lawler made clear that his endorsement was a matter of mathematical and moral necessity.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about party,” he said. “It’s about protecting the city and the people who live and work here. What happens in New York City has a tremendous impact on my constituents.”

Mamdani’s past remarks — which have drawn widespread condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans — were central to Lawler’s denunciation. As The New York Post reported, Mamdani has previously called for defunding the police, advocated decriminalizing prostitution, and compared the NYPD to the Israel Defense Forces, drawing outrage from Jewish groups and law enforcement unions alike.

Lawler blasted Mamdani’s rhetoric as “reckless and disqualifying,” citing not only his hostility toward Israel but his broader disdain for public safety and fiscal responsibility. “Mamdani wants to raise taxes by billions of dollars, weaken the police, and cozy up to radicals,” Lawler said, echoing The New York Post’s coverage of Mamdani’s far-left platform.

The congressman also condemned Mamdani’s recent press conference, where the candidate focused on Islamophobia rather than commemorating the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “That was disgusting,” Lawler said. “To take the memory of 9/11 — the day that nearly 3,000 Americans were murdered — and turn it into a platform for grievance is appalling.”

Mamdani’s comments, The New York Post report noted, have alienated a wide spectrum of voters, including moderate Democrats, union workers, and New York’s large Orthodox Jewish population, many of whom see his views on Israel as deeply antisemitic.

Lawler’s endorsement — shocking as it may be — is not an isolated event. It follows a similar declaration from Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi of Long Island, who also reaffirmed his support for Cuomo on Wednesday, warning that Mamdani’s vision for New York City would spell “economic ruin and social chaos.”

“I’m a Democratic Capitalist, not a Democratic Socialist,” Suozzi said in a statement reported by The New York Post. “I cannot back a declared socialist with a thin résumé to run the most complex city in America. We need leaders who will fight crime, not undermine the police. Who will create jobs, not harm the economy. Who will keep taxes down, not make it more expensive for middle-class families to live here.”

Suozzi’s remarks, The New York Post report observed, echoed the growing alarm among centrist Democrats who see Cuomo’s independent bid as a pragmatic alternative to the hard-left takeover of their party. The former Nassau County Executive, who endorsed Cuomo ahead of the June primary, said his decision was guided by “the need for stability, competence, and experience.”

Both Lawler and Suozzi represent politically mixed “purple” districts, home to many police officers, firefighters, and financial sector employees — demographics deeply skeptical of Mamdani’s anti-law-enforcement and anti-capitalist rhetoric. As The New York Post reported, their endorsements could prove decisive in consolidating support among outer-borough and suburban voters who might otherwise sit out the race.

Adding to the mounting wave of bipartisan defections, Brooklyn Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov announced that she, too, would back Cuomo, abandoning Sliwa’s campaign. Vernikov, whose 48th district includes neighborhoods such as Gravesend, Brighton Beach, Midwood, and Sheepshead Bay — all home to sizable Jewish populations — said Mamdani’s hostility toward Israel made his candidacy “intolerable.”

As The New York Post reported, Vernikov’s endorsement calls attention to the broader erosion of support for Sliwa among Jewish and moderate Republican voters, many of whom now see Cuomo as the only viable option to defeat Mamdani.

“Cuomo is far from perfect,” Vernikov said, “but he’s not a socialist. He understands how to manage a city and won’t weaponize identity politics against Jewish New Yorkers.”

Her statement reflects a growing sentiment among New Yorkers who, despite long memories of Cuomo’s pandemic controversies, view him as a stabilizing force in contrast to Mamdani’s radicalism.

The shifting alliances have sent shockwaves through both parties. As The New York Post report noted, Lawler’s blunt repudiation of his own party’s candidate — coupled with his profane criticism of Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, whom he called “dumber than a box of rocks” for endorsing Mamdani — underscores just how volatile and polarized this election has become.

For Hochul, whose embrace of Mamdani has baffled moderates, the backlash may prove politically costly. “To throw your support behind someone who mocks 9/11, demonizes Israel, and wants to disband the NYPD shows a profound lack of judgment,” Lawler said, as quoted in The New York Post report.

Meanwhile, Cuomo’s campaign, long seen as a longshot, has gained unexpected momentum in the race’s final stretch. A recent Suffolk University poll reported by The New York Post shows Cuomo closing the gap on Mamdani, buoyed by strong showings among older voters, union households, and moderate Democrats disenchanted with their party’s leftward drift.

For many observers, the endorsements from Lawler, Suozzi, and Vernikov signal a broader political realignment — one that transcends traditional party boundaries and reflects the anxiety of New Yorkers confronting a possible socialist administration.

As The New York Post editorialized earlier this month, Mamdani’s platform “reads less like a governing vision than a manifesto for cultural revolution.” His calls to defund police, redistribute wealth, and dismantle “colonial structures” within the city’s institutions have ignited fierce debate over whether New York — still reeling from crime spikes, housing crises, and economic strain — can survive another experiment in radical governance.

Cuomo, for his part, has framed his independent run as an appeal to reason and balance. “New York doesn’t need ideology right now,” he told The New York Post in a recent interview. “It needs leadership, stability, and the ability to manage this city’s challenges with competence. I’ve made mistakes — but I’ve also led this state through some of its darkest days. And I’ll do it again.”

In a political climate as fractured as New York’s, the notion of a Republican and a centrist Democrat uniting behind a scandal-scarred former governor might once have seemed absurd. Yet as The New York Post report observed, desperation makes for strange alliances — and this election, perhaps more than any in recent memory, has become a referendum on the city’s ideological future.

Lawler put it bluntly: “This isn’t about liking Cuomo. It’s about stopping Mamdani.”

For now, that calculation appears to be gaining traction. With Election Day fast approaching, and Mamdani’s poll numbers stubbornly resilient, Cuomo’s campaign has found unexpected lifelines from both sides of the aisle — a coalition bound not by loyalty, but by fear of what The New York Post report called “the most dangerous experiment in New York City’s modern political history.”

Whether that coalition can withstand the city’s deep political fractures remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: for Andrew Cuomo, redemption — and relevance — may lie in the unlikeliest of alliances.