The city that never sleeps is apparently sleeping on the dangers of electing a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist as its next mayor, and the impacts will reach far beyond New York, Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins told show host Jenna Ellis.
Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim and a vocal critic of Israel, maintains a healthy lead in the polls over challengers Andrew Cuomo, the state’s former governor, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani, described by many as an open communist, received 56% of the vote in June’s Democrat primary. Cuomo received 44% and is running in the general election as an Independent.
Mamdani has said he’ll spend $65 million in taxpayer funds for gender-manipulation surgeries and that he’ll penalize hospitals that refuse to comply, The Daily Signal reports.
He’s also promised to create an Office of LGBTQIA-plus Affairs that would seek to provide taxpayer funds for housing, education and mental health services for that population.
“Nine-eleven was not that long ago. We have forgotten so much,” Collins said. “This is going to have compounding effects in states like Florida and Texas where people are going to flee to get away from New York. They’ll gut the city.”
There’s precedent for the policies of Democrat-led cities and states impacting – and costing lives – in conservative states.
Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant trucker attempted a U-turn in a big rig on the Florida Turnpike, also illegal, causing a crash with a minivan that killed three people in August.
Singh crossed the southern border in 2018 and gained a commercial driver’s license first in California then in the State of Washington.
Clearly, one state’s policies impact throughout the country.
“Oh, 100%,” Collins said. “It puts our state’s citizenry at risk. We had a truck come across here. Three Floridians lost their lives because somebody couldn't read road signs, didn't know how to follow the law and couldn't communicate in English with our law enforcement. That’s a huge problem.”
Recent polling for the New York mayor’s race shows Mamdani at 43.2%, far ahead of Cuomo at 28.9% and Sliwa at 19.4%.
However, if Sliwa were to drop out, Mamdani’s lead in a two-way race against Cuomo becomes 44.6% to 40.7%, leaving Cuomo inside the four-point margin for error and within striking distance, The New York Post reports.
Polling also shows that 78% of undecided voters are 50 or older, good news for Cuomo as younger New Yorkers tend to back Mamdani.
“The decisive factor in this race may be the older voters who haven’t yet made up their minds,” said Stephen Graves, president of Gotham Polling & Analytics. “If the contest narrows to two leading candidates, the 50-plus electorate -- by far the most reliable voting bloc -- will likely determine who becomes the next mayor of New York City.”
Sliwa says he’s staying in race
A two-man race may be wishful thinking for conservatives with election day just two weeks away.
Sliwa has remained defiant and in a Tuesday press conference refused to drop out, The Post reported.
“So, let’s be very clear: I am not dropping out, under no circumstances,” the GOP nominee for mayor said at a press conference Tuesday morning. “I’ve already been offered money to drop out, I said no.”
Mamdani is a member of the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, a group that increased its profile through Bernie Sanders’ run for president in 2016.
Nine years later, the DSA is backing a stronger horse, one that is sending shockwaves throughout New York’s Jewish community who are troubled by the DSA’s platform which “accuses Israel of apartheid, colonialism and military occupation, while pledging solidarity with the Palestinian cause. The group considers the Gaza war a genocide; supports BDS, the movement to boycott Israel, and calls for an end to American aid to Israel,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports.
Mamdani’s agenda is a problem, Collins said.
“We're going to have a watered-down communist, a socialist, at the helm of the city that never sleeps. This is evil. It is wrong, and his approach to leadership is not commensurate with American values.”
