He won\u2019t leave them bere(f)t.<\/p>\n
GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa won\u2019t bow to growing pressure \u2014 including from the White House<\/a> \u2014 to drop out of New York City\u2019s mayoral race, insiders said Thursday.<\/p>\n The red beret-wearing Guardian Angels founder has been encouraged by the massive mound of cash \u2014 more than $3 million, according to campaign finance records \u2014 he has raised since June from thousands of donors.<\/p>\n And Sliwa feels an \u201cobligation\u201d to down-ballot Republicans as the GOP\u2019s standard bearer, the insiders said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has an obligation to other Republican candidates running down ballot,\u201d former three-term GOP Gov. George Pataki, a major Sliwa booster, told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would be abandoning them. That\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d Pataki said. \u201cCurtis is committed to the city. I don\u2019t understand the pressure to get him out.\u201d<\/p>\n Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa has no intention of dropping out, despite pressure. Getty Images<\/p>\n The pressure comes as polls show Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani holding a commanding lead ahead of November\u2019s election \u2014 an edge amplified by the divided four-candidate field.<\/p>\n The prospect of a socialist-run City Hall prompted President Trump, in an historic interjection, to set an unenforceable 10-day deadline for long-shot mayoral candidates to bow out and make it a more-winnable head-to-head contest against Mamdani.<\/p>\n Trump hopes that Sliwa and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams will step aside in favor of\u00a0ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo<\/a>, who polls show is running in second place and stands the best chance of besting Mamdani<\/a>, sources have said.<\/p>\n But Sliwa and his backers argue that Cuomo\u2019s supposed edge is a red herring.<\/p>\n \u201cCurtis is a real alternative here,\u201d said state Republican Party chairman Ed Cox, who noted Sliwa has millions of dollars to spend as the election approaches.<\/p>\n Sliwa\u2019s campaign had about $3.4 million in cash on hand as of Thursday, campaign finance records show.<\/p>\n His sister, Maria Sliwa, is the president of Freedom Now Communications, which has been paid $10,000 by his campaign for media outreach and other services, records show.<\/p>\n Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo would fare the best in a one-on-one race against socialist Zohran Mamdani, polls show. Robert Miller<\/p>\n His massive, 7,200-strong army of donors \u2014 who averaged $118 contributions \u2014 far outnumber Cuomo\u2019s 1,000 and Adams\u2019 2,100, the records show.<\/p>\n Mamdani has had 18,000 donors, according to the records.<\/p>\n Under state campaign finance rules, Sliwa would have to pay back nearly $3.3 million in matching funds he has raked in from the $878,793 in cash raised if he drops out.<\/p>\n Mayor Eric Adams is polling in a distant fourth place. Stephen Yang for the New York Post<\/p>\n And even if he stays in the race and loses, he\u2019d have to repay any leftover matching funds after settling up approved expenses, defined as being in \u201cfurtherance of the campaign.\u201d <\/p>\n Sliwa has been carrying a consistent third-place position in polls and is far ahead of fourth-place Adams, who trounced him during 2021\u2019s election<\/a>.<\/p>\n He also holds the Republican Party line on ballots, with the backing of all local New York City Republican party organizations. Adams and Cuomo are running as independents.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy isn\u2019t there pressure to get Andrew Cuomo out?\u201d Pataki said. \u201cHe got crushed by Mamdani in the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want a one-on-one, get Cuomo out of the race. In a one-on-one, Curtis has a real shot to win.\u201d<\/p>\n