Ackman: Buy Cuomo And Sliwa, Not Votes

Billionaire Bill Ackman – and millions of other New Yorkers and Americans – are appalled at the victory of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City. Ackman has been vocal about an anyone-but-Mamdani campaign and willingness to put millions of dollars behind a new candidate to run against Mamdani in the general election. He’s even asked Andrew Cuomo to drop out of the race while endorsing Mayor Eric Adams.

That’s not the way politics works.

Politicians run for office. That’s what they do. They don’t care about what millions of people want outside the framework of what it means for them personally. They don’t run for office for you any more than teacher unions work for students. Each is selfish and looks after themselves.

Ackman, realizing the flaw in the logic of adding yet another person into the race, announced that he is going to back Eric Adams, sort of like Elon Musk’s backing of Trump for president: a billionaire backing an incumbent with baggage.

Unsurprisingly, Cuomo said that he is not dropping out of the race, and President Donald Trump said Cuomo should stay in the race. A recent poll has Cuomo ahead of both Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Yet Ackman seems to think that money alone can turn the tide towards Adams.

In the multi-horse race and deeply Democratic city where people instinctively vote for the Democratic candidate regardless of who it is, Mamdani is likely to win in November.

Backing Mamdani is the alt-left who use Ackman’s comments to rally their comrades. Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders who thinks that capitalism is evil, sees this as yet another manifestation of it: people with money can run the table and buy the votes – and everything else that non-rich people have.

The correct play for Ackman is to buy Cuomo, not New Yorkers. Promise Cuomo some board seats in companies or other plum positions. Adams can win in a less crowded race but not with Cuomo still running, regardless of how much money backs Adams.

People – rich and poor – only have a single vote and millions of dollars cannot change that. Money can assist in getting out the vote, an important dynamic but not decisive for all of the candidates. Millions of dollars poured into Mamdani’s campaign from bundlers and via George Soros’s network of socialist charities like the Open Society Foundations (212-548-0600), which were effective in getting out the vote in the primary. Ackman money would have similar benefit but not enough.

In this race, the millions to be spent by anti-Mamdani people will only guarantee that Mamdani wins a plurality of votes but below a 50% majority in a crowded field. He will still become mayor.

ACTION PLAN

It is time for influential people to encourage Cuomo to accept another exciting position to drop out of the race for selfish, not benevolent reasons. Saving New York may depend on it.

Organize the vote. Make sure that older New Yorkers get to vote early.