Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) called former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo the “lesser of two evils” in the New York City mayoral race in a radio appearance Wednesday.
“This is a choice for New Yorkers. And, ultimately, they have to choose, you know, between the lesser of two evils. And in this instance, between [New York mayoral candidate] Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo, it’s not even close,” Lawler told radio host Sid Rosenberg on WABC’s “Sid & Friends In The Morning.”
On Monday, Mamdani said that he does not “begrudge New Yorkers who are skeptical” about him as Election Day nears.
“I don’t begrudge New Yorkers who are skeptical, because they’ve also lived through tens of millions of dollars of commercials telling them to fear me,” Mamdani told host Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show.”
“You know, they have lived through waking up every morning and seeing a photo of me and just feeling like, ‘Oh my God,’ because the language that’s written around me is as if I’m a threat to the city that they love.”
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, burst onto the national stage after an upset win against Cuomo in the June Democratic primary for New York City mayor. The New York State Assembly member’s rise has sparked conversations about the future of the Democratic Party and campaigning.
Mamdani has also faced attacks directed at his religious background as a Muslim during his campaign. He recently went after Cuomo for comments he made during a radio show appearance about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Mamdani is leading Cuomo by 10 points in the mayoral race to succeed outgoing Mayor Eric Adams. The poll, released Wednesday, shows Mamdani in first place at 43 percent support, followed by Cuomo at 33 percent and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa at 14 percent. A separate 6 percent of survey respondents said they were undecided.
The Hill has reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.
