Jim Walden’s ‘drop-out challenge’ could have a snag (other than huge egos)

Zohran Mamdani is the likely next mayor of New York City, partly because three of his opponents are expected to split the moderate and conservative vote. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa all insist they are the best candidate to beat the democratic socialist who stunned the city by winning the Democratic primary in June. None of them is polling higher than 30%.

The going assumption is that the only way to beat Mamdani would be for the anti-Mamdani interests to coalesce behind a single candidate. In a plan endorsed by Cuomo, longshot independent candidate Jim Walden suggested the “free-market candidates” agree to back the one among them with a lead in polls come fall. (Cuomo has been saying mid-September, while Walden suggests October.) Walden called it the “drop-out challenge” because the low-polling candidates would agree to “suspend their campaigns.” It’s very challenging to get off the ballot at this point, but they would publicly announce their campaign was over. Adams has strenuously objected, insisting he will not quit, but Cuomo continued to tout the unity plan at a private Hamptons fundraiser over the weekend, Politico New York reported. Cuomo maintains a lead among the anti-Mamdani candidates, followed by Sliwa, according to recent polls.

The only problem is that for Sliwa, Walden and Cuomo, dropping out of the mayor’s race could be expensive. As Walden has noted, the New York City Campaign Finance Board has rules in place to ensure public matching funds are used for campaigning. According to the rules, candidates who fail “to actively campaign for a covered office may be required to repay an amount equal to the total public funds received” and candidates who cease to campaign “may be required to repay an amount equivalent to the amount of public funds paid to the candidate that were not spent on qualified expenditures.” 

In other words, the Campaign Finance Board might want its money back. The board would decide whether and how much to charge candidates who drop out. And it’s given these candidates a lot of money. Walden received more than $2.2 million in public funds. (His spokesperson said, “until all candidates agree, these CFB discussions are premature.”) Sliwa has raised more than $1.9 million in public funds so far. Cuomo has yet to receive matching funds for the general election, but a campaign spokesperson confirmed he’s applying for matching funds in the latest cycle. Ironically, Eric Adams is the only candidate who wouldn’t face this problem because the Campaign Finance Board has so far denied his matching funds claims on the basis of mismanagement. He’s suing them for that.