A desperate Andrew Cuomo will seek to come out swinging in the final mayoral debate Wednesday as he hopes to rattle the smirking socialist Zohran Mamdani — who maintains a double-digit lead in the polls with under two weeks left to the election.
But the ex-governor is expected to run into a familiar roadblock in Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa — who’s likely to unleash on Cuomo again, potentially helping to deflect any knock-out punches from landing on the front-runner, pundits told The Post.
“As long as Sliwa is there disrupting Cuomo’s attacks on Mamdani and forcing him onto the defensive, it’s going to be difficult, though not impossible, for Cuomo to achieve what he needs,” said longtime communications specialist Andrew Kirtzman.
“Cuomo is in a very tough spot,” Kirtzman said. “He’s got Sliwa standing between him and his target.”
The trio will square off at 7 p.m. from LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City for the second and last debate of the election cycle — with Cuomo and Sliwa facing a near insurmountable task of winning over enough voters to topple the Democratic nominee.
The two candidates would have to work together in one of the most improbable team-ups in recent political history to stand any chance of making a dent in Mamdani’s sizable support, according to experts.
“Ideally, Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa need to get Mamdani off his game a bit,” said Democratic operative Ross Wallenstein. “Rile him up. Get him angry. Have him show his true colors on an issue.
“But really, the only thing Cuomo and Sliwa could do is one of them should drop out,” Wallenstein said. “On stage, one of them should selflessly urge their supporters to vote for the other one in order to save New York City from a Mamdani administration.”
But pundits agreed that scenario, while made-for-TV, was as improbably as a fairytale, with Sliwa more likely to use his time to unload on his longtime foe Cuomo.
The thrice-elected Democratic governor has been pushing hard to get the firebrand Guardian Angels founder to exit the race — but Sliwa has remained defiant, even when his longtime friend and boss John Catsimatidis publicly called on him to unite behind Cuomo in a bid to meet Mamdani this week.
“Unfortunately, Curtis will again muck up the works,” Democratic strategist Ken Frydman said.
The mad rush to get Sliwa to end his campaign with the November 4 election fast approaching came on the heels of a new survey from AARP and Gotham Polling that had Cuomo within the margin of error if solely facing off against Mamdani.
For his part, Mamdani will walk on stage with little to prove to come out on top — as long as he stays upright for 90 minutes, according to insiders, who believe the debate will do little to change voters’ minds.
Kirtzman said Cuomo would have to land a few punches on Mamdani to spur “some kind of game-changing gaffe.”
“But Mamdani hasn’t made a gaffe all campaign,” he noted.
Political operative Alyssa Cass, a partner at Slingshot Strategies, set the bar even lower for the Democratic Socialists of America hopeful.
“If Mamdani can avoid literally self-immolating on stage, he will be mayor,” she said.
“For Cuomo, the opportunity is different: it isn’t a debate but an opportunity to shape and refine the last three sentences of his obituary.”
When and where is the debate taking place?
The debate hosted by Spectrum NY1 will be held at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City.
It will start at 7 p.m. and run 90 minutes.
The moderators will NY1’s Errol Louis, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer and THE CITY’s Katie Honan.
How to watch the debate:
The debate will be hosted by Spectrum’s NY1. It will air live on the channel and be streamed on its website.
Who is participating?
Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa
Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo
Will there be an audience?
Yes. There will be a small studio audience with members of the New York City press corps also in attendance.
What do the polls say?
The latest poll on Monday had Mamdani in first with 43% of the vote, followed by Cuomo with 29% and Sliwa in third with 19% of support.
That survey also found Mamdani with a slight lead over Cuomo, 44.6% to 40.7%, if Sliwa were to drop out of the race.
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