GOP megadonor: Cuomo has best chance of defeating Mamdani in NYC mayoral race

Republican megadonor Ken Langone argued that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has the best chance of defeating New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani in the general election to lead the country’s largest city.

Langone, who also donated to the super PAC backing Cuomo’s candidacy during the Democratic primary, said Tuesday on CNBC that he believes Cuomo didn’t take Mamdani seriously, leading him to not campaign as vigorously as he needed.

But he argued Cuomo can pull off a win in the general election and has a better chance of defeating Mamdani than incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who’s also running as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. 

“I think that Cuomo has the best chance one-on-one of beating [Mamdani],” Langone said. “More importantly, I think if Cuomo wins, he’s got to prove something. He’s got to get some things done. He’s got to be able to say, ‘Not only did I get elected, but look at what I did to fix it.’” 

Langone’s comments come after Cuomo formally announced on Monday that he would go forward with an independent run for mayor after his upset defeat in the Democratic primary. Cuomo argued that only 13 percent of New Yorkers voted in the primary, making the electorate in the general election more representative of the city as a whole. 

He said Mamdani “offers slick slogans but no real solutions” and vowed that he’s “in it to win it.” 

“You deserve a mayor with the experience and ideas to make it happen again and the guts to take on anybody who stands in the way,” he told New Yorkers in his announcement video, leaning into his longtime experience in politics as he had during the primary. 

With Cuomo in, the contest is set to be a five-way race with him, Mamdani, Adams, Sliwa and independent Jim Walden. Some of Mamdani’s opponents have called on the candidates to be willing to get behind whoever appears to be most likely to defeat Mamdani in November, but Adams and Sliwa have both been adamant that they will not drop out. 

Cuomo has indicated support for a proposal that only the candidate who is performing the best against Mamdani in September should stay in the race. 

Early polling has shown Mamdani with a lead, though with less than a majority of voters’ support, followed by Cuomo in second. 

Langone said he believes Adams is the least likely of him, Mamdani and Cuomo to win, and Cuomo had a “wakeup call” from his loss in the primary. 

“Now, he didn’t do himself justice by his mindset in the primary,” he said. “He should have worked his ass off and he didn’t. But history is history. You can’t change it."