NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — In the race for mayor of New York City, a new Super PAC is forming to help Democratic nominee Zohran Mandani, but business groups and others opposed to Mandani are also raising major dollars.
The destination is City Hall, but Wall Street could be the determining factor in the spending of millions of dollars to defeat Mamdani.
“Not surprising that Wall Street and people with a lot of money want to say, ‘wait a second Mamdani… we don’t want you,'” said political analyst Hank Sheinkopf.
Financiers like billionaire Bill Ackman and JP Morgan head Jamie Dimon have made no secret of their opposition to the self-described socialist candidate.
What still remains to be seen is if Mamdani’s opponents will use their money to support former Governor Andrew Cuomo or Mayor Eric Adams in the four-way race this November.
A Super PAC backing former Governor Cuomo is still raising money, and Mayor Adams raised a million dollars at an event this week.
Now, a new Super PAC has been formed. New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25 is prepared to spend $20 million to defeat Mamdani.
The question is: could it backfire given Mamdani’s grass roots appeal?
“The problem with independent expenditures is if they run the same campaigns that just got run, with the same people, with the same ideas, they should save their money and buy a house,” Sheinkopf said.
Meanwhile, a pro-Mamdani Super PAC called OneNYC, was formed on Thursday.
As for Governor Kathy Hochul, she has yet to endorse a candidate, and on Friday, pledged to work with whoever prevails, but says she too has concerns.
“Everyone’s concerned… what will happen to the policing of the city, what will happen with the environment for businesses,” Hochul said. “So, conversations are important, you know I talk to everybody, and I think that’s a start. But I don’t know the outcome, none of us have a crystal ball to know what’s going to happen in November,” Hochul said.
Affordability is the theme of Mamdani’s campaign. It’s a bit ironic that this will likely be the most expensive mayoral race in city history.
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