Independent candidate for New York City mayor Jim Walden announced Tuesday he is suspending his campaign.
According to the polls, Walden never broke out of single-digit support in the campaign. The frontrunner is Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
A recent poll by Tulchin Research shows Mamdani leading his nearest challenger, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, by double digits.
However, if the crowded field of Mamdani, Cuomo, Republican Curtis Sliwa and incumbent Eric Adams, who is running for reelection as an independent, was narrowed to just a head-to-head matchup of Mamdani and Cuomo, the same poll shows Cuomo winning by 11 points.
Walden is urging other candidates to get out of the race to clear a path for a one-on-one matchup in order to defeat Mamdani, a Democratic socialist.
“I implore each to consider how history will judge them”
“In a choice between values and ambitions, values must win. For months I have been steadfast in my view that, unless there is a one-on-one race in November, a Trojan Horse will take control of City Hall. I cannot spend more public money in the futile hope I am the one called to battle,” Walden posted on social media.
Walden went on to address the other candidates, urging them to quit the race if they continue to lag in the polls by the end of September.
“For those still trailing in the polls by month’s end, I implore each to consider how history will judge them if they allow vanity or stubborn ambition to usher in Mr. Mamdani,” Walden wrote.
Mamdani, Cuomo campaigns react
“While support of Zohran’s vision for an affordable New York continues to grow across all five boroughs, the billionaire class is narrowing their selection process — and Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams are pulling out all the stops to charm them alongside Donald Trump,” Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec said.
Walden’s decision was hailed by the Cuomo campaign.
“Today Jim Walden put ego and ambition aside for the good of New York City. His decision underscores the existential threat our city faces in Zohran Mamdani—a dangerously inexperienced 33-year-old socialist with no meaningful work experience, no record of governing or accomplishment, and a reckless ideology that would jeopardize public safety, economic growth, and the very future of New York City,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said.