Former Gov. David Paterson rallies against Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor, echoing stance from some LI Dems

Former Gov. David A. Paterson on Monday called for candidates still in the New York City mayor’s race to "find a way to unite behind one of them" to defeat Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive Democratic candidate.

"If he's the cure to what ails the party, then cyanide is the cure for a headache," said Paterson, a Democrat, at a news conference in midtown Manhattan.

Asked which Mamdani policies he considered unacceptable, Paterson cited only a Mamdani promise to freeze rents.

Paterson, who grew up in Hempstead and is a former chairman of the state Democratic Committee, joins several Long Island Democrats — some facing tough elections in November — in opposing or distancing themselves from Mamdani, the democratic socialist who won a June city primary by significant margins. Paterson dismissed that primary as "party politics" and said voters should focus instead on "the politics of actually running government, the politics of actually improving quality of life for the city’s 9 million residents."

Another Democrat who appeared& Monday, Judge Richard Weinberg, former chief lawyer for the New York City Council, said of Mamdani's mayoral prospects: "This is not a job for young neophytes who do not have real-life experience and it's particularly not a job for someone with left-wing extremist ideology who talks about socialism in our time."

Billionaire radio host and erstwhile mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis also spoke Monday.

None of the speakers said which remaining candidate they saw as a counter to Mamdani, though Paterson previously endorsed former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The candidates include Cuomo, who plans on running as an independent, Mayor Eric Adams, who is also running as an independent, Republican Curtis Sliwa and Jim Walden, also running as an independent in the general election.

Walden last week floated a plan that caught Paterson's eye to set up a "a two-way race in November that pits capitalism against socialism," with each "free-market candidate" agreeing to "back the front-runner in a rigorous, independent poll conducted weeks before the race."

Mamdani's campaign did not respond to an emailed request for comment Monday. Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said Walden had correctly diagnosed that a race with Adams, Cuomo and Mamdani "all but ensures a socialist victory." And, he implied, if anyone does drop out, it should be Adams: "He knew he was anathema to Democrats and unelectable ... We do not see any path to victory for Mayor Adams."

Todd Shapiro, a spokesman for the Adams campaign, said in a statement to Newsday that the mayor’s re-election bid will be based on “results, not resumes.” He said Cuomo “lost embarrassingly” in the primary.

Walden, in a phone interview, said he had not spoken with other candidates about his poll proposal. He said some of Mamdani’s policies, such as a rent freeze or free bus fares, would be impossible for Mamdani to implement, because he would not have the authority as mayor. Walden also said he opposed what he took to be the philosophy underpinning those policies.

“What he’s proposing has its roots in communism,” he said. “It’s terrible policy for the capital of capitalism.”

PolitiFact, the fact-checking website, says “multiple political scientists and communism experts told us Mamdani’s mayoral race positions did not amount to communism.”

Mamdani has the support of high-profile progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens) and some large unions.

Since Mamdani's win, a cadre of centrist Democrats have criticized the 33-year-old's politics, including many in Nassau County.

"His agenda isn’t mine and it’s not the Democratic Party I stand for," Legis. Seth Koslow said in a statement a day after Mamdani’s win.

Koslow, an attorney from Merrick, is the Democrat challenging Republican incumbent Bruce Blakeman in the Nassau County executive race this November. He emphasized his support for "free market growth over socialism" and "safe streets with a strong police force."

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) is among the strongest Democratic opponents. In an interview on Fox News, Gillen warned against Mamdani’s policies, saying, " ... the way forward for my party is to find concrete solutions and not promise to be Santa Claus and give everyone everything for free when you can’t actually do that ..."

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) was more tempered, crediting Mamdani for having "correctly diagnosed the core issue confronting most Americans: The economy isn’t working for them," in a July 2 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.

"His campaign tapped into the same economic discontent that powered Donald Trump’s rise, and his victory should serve as a loud wake-up call for the Democratic Party," Suozzi wrote.

Political experts have mixed opinions on the meaning of Mamdani's mayoral primary win and how the toppling of establishment politics will affect all Democratic candidates in the region.

Basil Smikle, a political strategist and policy adviser, said Mamdani’s campaign has proved a Democrat can create a movement without "simply being the anti-Trump party."

Democratic candidates who don’t ascribe to Mamdani’s brand, however, will need focused campaigns that highlight local issues, he said.

"It’s a big-tent party, so candidates around the country have always been given the latitude to ‘run where they are,’" Smikle said.

He continued: "It would not be intellectually honest to paint with this broad brush. What works in New York City in this moment is not going to work for Nassau County and Suffolk County."

Hank Sheinkopf, a political strategist who has worked for Democrats including Cuomo, said an exodus from New York City would likely impact Long Island.

In the short term, he believes Democrats will suffer in the "swingy" areas of Nassau and Suffolk, where both parties are seeking voters who aren’t affiliated with a political party. They will struggle to define themselves, he said.

"It’s not going to work out well. Look for the Republicans to be salivating these next few months. Joe Cairo and Jesse Garcia should be sending Mamdani flowers because he helped the Long Island Republicans more than anyone," Sheinkopf said, referring to the GOP chairs of Nassau and Suffolk.

Sheinkopf said he believes more Jewish voters in New York City and Long Island will vote Republican, too. New immigrants who, some of whom might have left countries where socialism has failed, will wholeheartedly reject the Democratic brand, he said.

"No one wants a socialist. The word by definition creates fear. It is foreign and alien and taxing on small businesses," Sheinkopf said.

Claudia Borecky, president of the Bellmore-Merrick Democratic Club, which has an email list of about 2,000 mostly South Shore voters, said there are many issues that separate centrist Democrats from their Republican counterparts.

She cited examples such as protecting local immigrants from cruelty and deportation and being against cuts to safety-net federal programs such as Medicaid and SNAP.

She, too, expects Republicans to align even the most centrist Democrat with Mamdani, which would be a lie, she said.

"You cannot call Seth Koslow a socialist," said Borecky, referring to the Democrat Nassau County legislator challenging Blakeman.

On Mamdani: "He’s not our mayor. We can’t vote for him, so we are not taking a position," Borecky said.