{"id":24039,"date":"2025-10-31T13:36:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T13:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/24039\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T13:36:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T13:36:07","slug":"who-is-curtis-sliwa-the-republican-in-new-york-citys-2025-mayoral-race-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/24039\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Curtis Sliwa, the Republican in New York City\u2019s 2025 mayoral race? | Politics News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York City mayoral election is dominated by Democrats, a reflection of the US metropolis\u2019s deeply liberal bent. But a Republican could make the difference in the race.<\/p>\n

Candidate Curtis Sliwa has remained defiant ahead of the November 4 election, shrugging off appeals from some top conservatives to drop out and boost the chances<\/a> of former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent after being routed in June\u2019s Democratic primary.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Some political observers see Sliwa\u2019s exit as the only way for Cuomo to have a shot at defeating frontrunner<\/a> Zohran Mamdani, who has surged to the top of voter polls on a Democratic Socialist platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers are tired of Andrew Cuomo, but Andrew Cuomo doesn\u2019t seem to understand when \u2018no\u2019 means \u2018no\u2019,\u201d said Rusat Ramgopal, Sliwa\u2019s deputy campaign manager, with a pointed reference to the sexual misconduct allegations that forced Cuomo from his post as New York State\u2019s governor in 2021.<\/p>\n

\"CurtisCurtis Sliwa supporters gather in midtown Manhattan ahead of the first mayoral debate on October 17 [Joseph Stepansky\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n

Sliwa has also doled out blows to both of his opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cZohran, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin, and Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library in New York City,\u201d he said<\/a> during the final mayoral debate on October 22.<\/p>\n

Sliwa has also dipped into the same Islamophobic tropes<\/a> perpetuated by Mamdani\u2019s critics, falsely claiming during the final debate that the leading candidate supports \u201cglobal jihad\u201d.<\/p>\n

Local showman or subway hero?<\/p>\n

So who is Curtis Sliwa? It is a question that has dogged Sliwa since he rose to prominence as the leader of the Guardian Angels, a volunteer crime-fighting group that became famous for its patrols of the New York City subway system.<\/p>\n

Supporters have identified with the do-it-yourself ethos of the group, which Sliwa started in 1979, when he was a 24-year-old night manager at a McDonald\u2019s restaurant in the Bronx. Many continue to hail him as an emblem of New Yorkers stepping up when city administration fails.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people see that red beret, they think about subway safety, public safety. They remember what he\u2019s done for the city,\u201d Ramgopal said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a larger-than-life figure who\u2019s been integral to New York life for so many decades at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GuardianA member of the Guardian Angels is seen on the subway in Brooklyn in 2021 [David Boe\/The Associated Press]<\/p>\n

Others have accused the Guardian Angels, who do not carry weapons, of perpetuating a dangerous brand of vigilantism. The group has also faced criticism for alleged racial profiling, demonising immigrants, and wrongfully accusing individuals of committing crimes.<\/p>\n

On the campaign trail, Sliwa has regularly condemned \u201cmigrant\u201d crime.<\/p>\n

The authenticity of the group\u2019s exploits have been scrutinised, with Sliwa admitting<\/a> in 1992 that he faked some crimes to boost publicity.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Sliwa has been a candidate in local politics, a radio host and a media personality.<\/p>\n

What are his platforms?<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, Sliwa has made public safety, particularly in the transit system, the focus of his campaign. Even as crime dropped, Sliwa maintained the city is \u201cfacing a crisis of crime, lawlessness and failed leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n

He has vowed to hire 7,000 new New York Police Department (NYPD) officers, re-up controversial police units, and \u2014 as his website puts it \u2014 \u201cenhance proactive and intrusive policing strategies to target illegal firearm carriers, repeat offenders, and violent criminals before crimes occur\u201d.<\/p>\n

Critics have said those strategies have historically led to increased racial profiling, the over-policing of minority communities, and intrusions on civil liberties.<\/p>\n

He has also pushed affordability, an issue that has been dominant this campaign season, pledging to overhaul the system the city currently uses to coordinate with affordable housing programmes.<\/p>\n

In addition, Sliwa, who owns several cats, has made animal protection a key plank of his campaign.<\/p>\n

What do supporters see in him?<\/p>\n

As the only right-wing candidate in the race, Sliwa has strong support among registered Republicans, who comprise 11 percent of New York\u2019s 4.7 million registered voters.<\/p>\n

Despite rising to prominence decades ago, he continues to rally new supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis work with the Guardian Angels has resonated with me a lot,\u201d Shan Singh, a 30-year-old cab driver from Richmond Hill, Queens, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Singh had previously been a Democrat but switched his support to US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the 2024 presidential election. He perceives the recent protests that have swept the city as dangerous.<\/p>\n

\"FILEDemocratic candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a mayoral debate with Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and independent candidate former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo [Reuters]<\/p>\n

The fact that Sliwa is trailing in the polls, he added, is not enough to lose his vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of the numbers, Curtis is the person who seems most real to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Russell, a 28-year-old from Brooklyn who asked that his last name be withheld, came out to show support for Sliwa ahead of the first mayoral debate in midtown Manhattan.<\/p>\n

He said both Cuomo and Mamdani were too soft on crime, and he took particular issue with their support for bail reform programmes, designed to eliminate cash bail for low-level offences and avoid mass incarceration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt emboldens criminals to keep committing crimes, because there are no repercussions for it,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n

Does he have any chance at winning?<\/p>\n

Short of a miracle, Sliwa has no real path to victory. The latest Quinnipiac University poll found he had the support of 14 percent of likely voters. That paled in comparison to Mamdani\u2019s 43 percent and Cuomo\u2019s 33 percent support.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Cuomo has pushed so hard for him to exit the race. The former governor made repeated overtures to conservative voters, saying a vote for Sliwa is, in essence, a vote for Mamdani.<\/p>\n

Cuomo has even left the door open to giving Sliwa a role in his administration if he were to drop out.<\/p>\n

As of yet, the appeals have been to no avail. It also remains unclear how many of Sliwa\u2019s staunchest supporters would be willing to cross party lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Sliwa leaves the race, I wouldn\u2019t vote for either [Cuomo or Mamdani],\u201d Russell told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York City mayoral election is dominated by Democrats, a reflection of the US metropolis\u2019s deeply liberal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[416,609,9,24,55,54,12,56,87,901,2272],"class_list":{"0":"post-24039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-elections","9":"tag-government","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-city-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-us-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}