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Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani said the first general election debate \u2018went well\u2019 for him. Firday, Oct. 18, 2025.<\/p>\n
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n
Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani said on Friday he feels the\u00a0first general election mayoral debate<\/a> the night before \u201cwent well\u201d for him.<\/p>\n Mamdani, a democratic socialist Assembly member from Queens, appeared prepared for most of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa\u2019s attack lines on subjects including his experience level and Israel, while constantly shifting the focus back to his core campaign issue: affordability.<\/p>\n As for Cuomo, the independent candidate took to talk radio to tout his performance and argue that he had exposed Mamdani. Sliwa, meanwhile, rebuffed any notion that he would drop out of the race to potentially help Cuomo win, charging that the former governor has already given up based on his debate performance Thursday.<\/p>\n During an unrelated Friday campaign event, Mamdani told reporters that he was happy with his debate performance because it gave him a chance to show voters the choice between himself and Cuomo.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI do feel that the debate went well because it was an opportunity to speak directly to New Yorkers about our agenda, to speak about our agenda,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cTo have that opportunity on the same debate stage as the architect of this affordability crisis shows New Yorkers the real choices as it comes on Election Day.\u201d<\/p>\n The Assembly member slammed Cuomo over the upwards of $60 million<\/a> the state has spent on legal matters related to the nursing home and sexual harassment scandals that led to his resignation \u2014 money Mamdani said could have been spent on programs to make the city more affordable instead.<\/p>\n A Cuomo spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.\n<\/p>\n Cuomo thinks Mamdani \u2018got exposed\u2019 On Friday, Cuomo told conservative talk radio host Sid Rosenberg the opposite: that Mamdani exposed himself as a fraud during the debate.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Mamdani got exposed, I think there\u2019s no there there, he changes his answers, and I think it was obvious yesterday,\u201d Cuomo said. \u201cI got a chance to call him on a few of them and he did a total flip-flop.\u201d<\/p>\n The former governor has gone after Mamdani for shifting toward the center on some of the harder left stances he embraced before running for mayor. For instance, Mamdani has disavowed past social media posts in which he endorsed defunding the police and called the NYPD racist.<\/p>\n Mamdani, who holds a commanding polling lead over Cuomo, expressed that he no longer sees the former governor\u2019s candidacy as much of a threat to his winning the general election.\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe has a very narrow path to winning this race, because what New Yorkers saw is the fact that it\u2019s more of the same with Andrew Cuomo,\u201d Mamdani said about Cuomo\u2019s debate performance. \u201cIt\u2019s more of the same with the affordability crisis. It\u2019s more of the same with the style of politics. It\u2019s more of the same with the cow town to the very billionaires who gave us Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n The Democratic nominee\u2019s comments came in response to Cuomo telling Rosenberg that it will be \u201cvery, very hard mathematically\u201d for him to win the race if Sliwa stays in. The former governor picked up a significant 10% boost when current Mayor Eric Adams exited<\/a> the race late last month, but that was not enough to catch up to Mamdani.<\/p>\n Cuomo insisted, as he has repeatedly, that Sliwa is \u201ca spoiler,\u201d who will hand the mayoralty to Mamdani by splitting the moderate and Republican votes between the two of them.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no way he wins, but all he can do is make Mamdani a winner,\u201d Cuomo said, while charging that the Republican County party bosses who nominated Sliwa want Mamdani to serve as a GOP bogeyman. \u201cThat\u2019s why the bosses are keeping him there.\u201d<\/p>\n Sliwa, during a Friday morning interview on Pix11, rejected that notion, charging that Cuomo has already \u201ctossed in the towel\u201d by saying he cannot win unless Sliwa drops out.\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s already given up, going no mas, no mas,\u201d Sliwa said of Cuomo. \u201cHe lost the primary, he\u2019s just admitted he can\u2019t win if I\u2019m in the race. So, why not Andrew Cuomo drop out?\u201d<\/p>\n
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Independent candidate and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a mayoral debate, in New York, Oct. 16, 2025.Angelina Katsanis\/Pool via REUTERS<\/p>\n