Independent candidate for New York City mayor Jim Walden announced Tuesday he is suspending his campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the polls, Walden never broke out of single-digit support in the campaign. The frontrunner is Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A recent poll by Tulchin Research shows Mamdani leading his nearest challenger, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, by double digits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I implore each to consider how history will judge them”<\/p>\n “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<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n Mamdani, Cuomo campaigns react<\/p>\n “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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Walden’s decision was hailed by the Cuomo campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Today Jim Walden put ego and ambition aside for the good of New York City.\u00a0 His decision underscores the existential threat our city faces in Zohran Mamdani\u2014a 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n