SAT. Next ‘No Kings’ Protest To End By 4 P.M. So Everyone Can Get Home In Time For ‘Matlock’
Andrew Cuomo was the winner of the final New York City mayoral election debate — passing with flying colors as front-runner Zohran Mamdani barely made the grade, a Post panel of political experts said.
Mamdani, the lefty Democratic nominee, was left sweating on stage Wednesday night as he took big hits from independent hopeful Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, making a poor showing with less than two weeks before the election.
“Cuomo won the debate,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion, said of the 90-minute slugfest hosted by Spectrum NY1.
“He had a good night. He landed more punches and exposed weaknesses in Mamdani’s presentation. He presented doubts about Mamdani.”
Here’s how The Post’s group of bipartisan experts graded the candidates:
The longtime politician and three-term governor stole the stage, firing off much sharper and more pointed attacks after a poor showing in the first general election debate last week.
This time, he was effective at making his case that Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblyman, was too green to lead City Hall, repeatedly putting him on his heels, the panelists said.
“He was tonight’s big winner. An A+,” Republican strategist Rob Ryan said of the lifelong Democrat.
“Cuomo was the only candidate who appeared ready to lead on day one. His attack on Mamdani’s lack of experience was strong, on target, and seemed to rattle Mamdani.”
Veteran communication specialist Andrew Kirtzman also gave Cuomo high marks — and noted that “if he had performed this well all year, he might not be in the situation he is in now.”
“Cuomo had his best night of his campaign — he was sharp, quick and brutal in his attacks on Mamdani,” Kirtzman said.
“It was a reminder of the formidable, feared figure he was as governor. He has seemed diminished for much of this campaign. Not tonight.”
For seemingly the first time, Cuomo was particularly effective in confronting the Israel-bashing Mamdani on the issue of antisemitism, and also left the lefty pol rattled when he brought up his smiling photo with a gay-hating politician from Uganda, the experts said.
“When Cuomo attacked him over the gay-hating Ugandan official, Mamdani became visibly nervous. During his response, his eyelids were flapping faster than a Monarch butterfly on its way to Mexico,” quipped Ryan.
Zohran Mamdani: B- to D
The usually smooth-talking front-runner had a surprisingly poor performance, appearing shocked during some of the attacks from his rivals.
“He seemed rattled by Cuomo’s pounding attacks on his lack of experience. It wiped away his usual smirk and he had no real response,” said Ryan, who gave Mamdani a D.
One of the worst moments of the debate for Mamdani was self-inflicted, the panelists said.
He refused to take a position on a ballot initiative aimed at making it easier to build more affordable housing — an issue he claims to champion.
“His lack of specifics on key issues like ballot initiatives gave Cuomo and Sliwa an opening to go on the attack,” said Democratic operative and lobbyist Yvette Buckner.
Miringoff said the “oxygen went out of the room” when Mamdani ducked instead of taking a position on the housing initiative.
“That was the closest you can get to an ‘aha’ moment. He looked a lot like a politician for the first time. He was hemming and hawing. He was inconsistent. He was dodging,” the pollster said.
