Curtis Sliwa, who recently lost a New York City mayoral bid as the Republican candidate, has endorsed Andrew Giuliani, the son of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, for governor.
In remarks to the New York Post, Sliwa accused state Republican Party leaders of trying to “anoint” Long Island Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin as the party’s nominee for governor.
ERIC ADAMS ELECTED NEW YORK CITY MAYOR
Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, a volunteer crime prevention organization, argued Giuliani is the party’s best shot to win.
“I ran into Andrew all the time on the campaign trail. I observed the way he works a crowd. He plunges into a crowd like it’s a mosh pit,” Sliwa told the New York Post. “Andrew is a natural when it comes to retail politics. He’s even better than Rudy.”
Though Sliwa got crushed in the mayoral race by Mayor-elect Eric Adams, a Democrat, he is a familiar face in conservative circles. Sliwa founded the Guardian Angels in the late 1970s as a citizen's patrol group, as crime rose in New York City. Sliwa also was a longtime radio show host before his mayoral run, which ended in a 67%-28% thumping at the hands of Adams, a 22-year veteran of the New York Police Department who went on to be a state senator and then Brooklyn borough president.
Sliwa said he and both Giulianis will campaign together like “the three horsemen.”
Rudy Giuliani, a once-popular mayor of New York City who later sought the Republican nomination for president, is facing a slew of lawsuits for his efforts to help former President Donald Trump try to overturn the results of last year’s election. Andrew Giuliani was an aide to Trump.
Zeldin has won the support of most county Republican leaders in the state and is likely to win enough delegates at the GOP convention to force the younger Giuliani or other candidates to gain enough Republican voter signatures to qualify to compete in a primary.
“We’re going to take it to the GOP leadership. They should have given Andrew a fair shake,” Sliwa said. “Stop this nonsense of trying to anoint Lee Zeldin the nominee.”
Sliwa also claimed the Republican Party worked against him in both the primary and general election during his mayoral bid.
Andrew Giuliani said Sliwa’s endorsement “means the world to me.”
“I’m very excited for Curtis being on board. It will be entertaining to campaign with him whether people like it or not,” he said.
The Zeldin campaign touted its endorsements.
“The endorsements for Congressman Zeldin‘s candidacy for Governor have been pouring in from all corners of New York and all walks of life,” said Zeldin spokeswoman Katie Vincentz. “Hundreds of endorsements have come in from members of Congress, State Senators, State Assemblymen, County Executives, and others and these have included Republicans and Democrats.”
Vincentz added that Zeldin has campaigned in all of the Empire State’s 62 counties at least twice, has won seven races in swing districts, has been endorsed by 57 of the 62 GOP county committees, and raised millions for his gubernatorial bid.
Zeldin said last month that he believes he can follow the same political road map to an upset victory as Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin.
But New York Democrats appear poised to maintain control of the governor’s mansion, as the state has not elected a Republican governor since it reelected its former Gov. George Pataki to a third term in 2002.
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New York Democrats appear likely to renominate their incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, who replaced Gov. Andrew Cuomo after his August resignation. New York Attorney General Letitia James entered and then exited the race for the Democratic nomination for governor, deciding to seek reelection to her current role instead.