New York City politics is basically a contact sport. Honestly, if you aren't ready to get your hair messed up, you shouldn't be in the arena. For the new york mayor republican hopefuls, the 2025 election cycle was less of a "grand old party" and more of a gritty, one-man stand against a changing tide.
Curtis Sliwa. You know the name. You definitely know the red beret.
While the Democratic side was a chaotic whirlwind of indictments, primary upsets, and Andrew Cuomo’s attempt at a "Phoenix rising" comeback, the Republican side was surprisingly... quiet. Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels and a fixture of New York airwaves for decades, basically had the Republican nomination to himself. He ran uncontested. No primary brawls. No internal GOP civil war. Just Sliwa and his cats against the world.
But why? Why does a city with nearly 8 million people struggle to field a diverse slate of Republican contenders?
The Loneliness of the New York Mayor Republican
Winning as a Republican in the five boroughs is like trying to find a parking spot in Midtown on a Friday night. It's technically possible, but the odds are miserable. The registration gap is just massive. We’re talking about a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 7-to-1.
In 2025, Sliwa leaned hard into his brand. He focused on "law and order," animal welfare—he’s famously a cat lover—and the rising cost of living. He positioned himself as the only guy standing between the city and what he called the "far-left" agenda of Zohran Mamdani.
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He didn't just run on the Republican line, either. He grabbed the Protect Animals Party line too.
Despite the effort, the numbers were tough. When the dust settled on November 4, 2025, Sliwa pulled in about 7% of the total vote. That's roughly 153,749 votes. Compare that to the winner, Zohran Mamdani, who crossed the 1.1 million mark. Even Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary, managed to snag over 900,000 votes.
Why other big names sat it out
You might wonder where the "moderate" Republicans were. People like Eric Ulrich, the former Buildings Commissioner, or Nicole Malliotakis, the Congresswoman from Staten Island.
Ulrich was caught up in his own legal tangles during the cycle, and Malliotakis—the last Republican representing NYC in Congress—seemed content to keep her seat in D.C. She knows the math. She ran for mayor in 2017 against Bill de Blasio and got 28% of the vote. In a three-way race with Mamdani and Cuomo, the path to 50% looked more like a vertical cliff than a trail.
Paul Massey, another name that usually pops up in these circles, stayed on the sidelines this time, though he did toss an endorsement toward independent Jim Walden before Walden eventually dropped out.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the NYC GOP
There is a misconception that the new york mayor republican platform is just a carbon copy of the national GOP. It isn't. Or at least, it shouldn't be if they want to win.
Sliwa, for instance, has a complicated relationship with Donald Trump. In 2025, he tried to keep the focus local. He talked about "dismantling bureaucracy" and "tough on crime" policies that echo the Rudy Giuliani era.
He literally told reporters he wanted to be a mix of Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg.
The problem is that the city has moved on from the 1990s. The coalition that elected Mamdani—younger, more progressive, and highly organized—wasn't looking for a return to "broken windows" policing. They were looking for free buses and rent control.
The Staten Island Factor
Staten Island remains the heartbeat of the Republican party in New York. If you look at the 2025 map, it’s the only place where the red wasn't completely drowned out, though even there, Cuomo’s independent run carved out a huge chunk of the "centrist" and "conservative" leaning vote.
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When Andrew Cuomo entered the race as an independent, he basically sucked the air out of the room for any Republican who wasn't Curtis Sliwa. Cuomo campaigned on crime and antisemitism, two big GOP talking points. This left Sliwa fighting for a very narrow slice of the electorate.
The Future of the Republican Brand in NYC
If the GOP wants to be more than a footnote in the next mayoral race, they’ve got some soul-searching to do.
The 2025 results were a wake-up call. Sliwa's 7% is a far cry from the 27% he got in 2021 against Eric Adams. The "independent" lane—occupied by Cuomo and briefly by Adams himself—is where the non-socialist votes went.
For a Republican to win again, they probably need to look less like a "MAGA" firebrand and more like a "back-to-basics" manager. Think less about national culture wars and more about why the trash isn't being picked up and why the subway is delayed.
Basically, the city is looking for a plumber, not a preacher.
Actionable Insights for Following NYC Politics
- Watch the Independent Lines: In New York, the "Republican" might not be the real challenger. Independent ballot lines (like Cuomo's "Fight and Deliver") are becoming the new home for centrist voters.
- Voter Registration Trends: Keep an eye on the influx of younger voters. The 2025 election had the highest turnout since 1993, largely driven by Gen Z and Millennial voters who are overwhelmingly Democratic.
- Local GOP Leadership: Pay attention to the five borough-specific Republican chairs. Their ability to recruit a "moderate" candidate early is the only way to avoid another uncontested primary.
- Policy Over Personality: If a candidate starts talking about property tax reform and small business deregulation without the "culture war" rhetoric, that’s someone who might actually have a shot at a coalition.
The 2025 election proved that New York is currently a city of two halves: the Democratic Socialists and everyone else. Right now, the "everyone else" is split between independents and a shrinking Republican base. Until the GOP can bridge that gap, the mayor's office will likely stay out of reach.
To stay ahead of the next cycle, start looking at the City Council's Republican caucus members. Names like Joe Borelli or Joann Ariola are the ones to watch for 2029. They are the ones currently "doing the work" in the trenches of city government.