Paterson calls on leaders to come together to defeat Mamdani in NYC mayoral election

[Polybius]

Source: ABC News

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Former Governor David Paterson, along with several other political leaders, held a press conference in Midtown to discuss New York City's mayoral election.

The former governor of New York is calling on members of the Democratic party to come together to defeat current Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani.

"I'm really not here to represent any candidate," Paterson said.

However, with three independent candidates currently in the race, he says there's an urgent need for strategic unity in order to defeat Mamdani in the general election.

Read more: https://abc7ny.com/post/former-governor-david-paterson-call-leaders-come-together-defeat-mamdani-new-york-city-mayoral-election/16999200/

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[SSJVegeta]

1. The more the establishment comes out against him, the better he likely does.

[hlthe2b]

10. Pretty amazing to see the panic from all these established politicians... I kinda think that is saying something

that the electorate will see for what it is. I know no more about the Democratic primary winner, Mr. Mamdani, than the snippets I get on MSNBC or videos here, but I do see a concerted effort to smear him. That combined with the establishment "freak-out," seems to be backfiring. We shall see, but damn. Adams? Cuormo? That awful Sliwa guy for the R's? That's a three-way creepy, corrupt, clan...

But, no, I don't know Mamdani beyond his articulate presence in interviews. Still, is he likely to be as bad as the latter three? Good luck New Yorkers. No matter what you decide.

[tulipsandroses]

2. You know what is so disgusting about this?? All of these men have questionable morals. (And that is putting it nicely)

Patterson quit because of his own misdeeds. Not to mention his infidelity.

[Grins]

3. Patterson turned out to be a complete flop as Governor

He needs to back into the oblivion he came from.

[choie]

4. Who on god's green earth

gives a flying fuck what Patterson says or thinks?

[Prairie Gates]

5. Mamdani is the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York

He won his primary convincingly, 56%-44%.

I would hope he gets the same protections from constant negative attacks on this board as other Democratic nominees. Fair is fair.

Support Democrats. Oppose sore loser candidacies.

[Renew Deal]

8. This is a legitimate story

It's not advocating for an alternative candidate

[Prairie Gates]

9. We can hold different opinions on that question

[gab13by13]

13. What do I know

but it seems to be an attack on Democrats to me, or does that just apply to moderates?

[Polybius]

29. Well, in this thread, the only one attacking is Paterson

And he's not a member of DU. At least that I know of.

[Polybius]

11. I haven't seen anyone here say that they won't support him

It's just that these types of stories might garner interest.

[iemanja]

20. I have. Nt

[c-rational]

17. Bingo +1

[Autumn]

6. Wasn't Patterson a bit of a married sleezeball cheater?

[angrychair]

18. Yes

Yes he was

[no_hypocrisy]

31. See my post below. Paterson's now married to the ex-wife of Republican

candidate, Curtis Sliwa.

[Polybius]

35. I'm not entirely sure this is relevant

He may have said the same thing even if he was married to my ex-wife.

[no_hypocrisy]

36. His ties to Sliwa are suspect. That's all.

[Polybius]

37. Unless his ex-wife hates Sliwa

But I see where you're coming from, Patterson has WABC Radio ties.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

40. He hosted a show with Sliwa. Curtis & The Gov

[Renew Deal]

7. David Paterson is another crook that had to leave office in disgrace

Where do these guys come from?

[timms139]

12. All three independents against him

are freshly out of the dust bin of corruption .

[gab13by13]

14. No wonder Democrats lose,

this thread is insulting.

[stopdiggin]

15. did you imagine that the OP was endorsing this man's rhetoric?

I certainly didn't read it that way.
(and incidentally, I do not - but I find the OP and the coverage informative)

[debsy]

16. The "establishment" needs to STFU

People want the change that is represented by Zohran Mamdani. Stop trying to change election results with dirty tricks! Shame on them all for not standing behind the Democratic nominee.

[msongs]

19. squashing freedom of speech sounds vaguely un democratic to me nt

[angrychair]

21. This is toxic

And Democratic Party leadership needs to get out ahead of this shit show and stomp it to death with a quickness.
The narrative is that "establishment Dems" are against him.
We do NOT want the public perception of infighting and snipping at each other to become a thing.
To be clear Paterson is a sleezeball, Cuomo is a sleezeball and Eric Adams is a sleezeball.
These guys do not represent the Democratic Party. They are not even running as Democrats.

[AZProgressive]

22. From the outside looking in of New York state

I think the Democratic Party there needs to accept primary winners and if a candidate fits their district like a glove they need to accept that and focus on finding the right candidates that fit in rural areas. Both of the wings of the party can co-exist but they are committing a lot of self-inflicted wounds like the party also committed when they tried to stop Bernie Sanders who thru the first 3 states was the strongest candidate but they got lucky that Biden was able to defeat Trump. In this case Mamdani won the primary so they self sabotage makes even less sense.

[SADAR]

33. THIS!!

NT

[mountain grammy]

23. I think this is a mistake

and that is not a pretty picture.. they look like republicans.

[Mz Pip]

24. Watching from afar

It’s fascinating how this guy gets under so many people’s skin. So he wins? If he’s as awful as his detractors think, then NYC will be in deep shit.

That should please MAGA immensely. I think they’re afraid he’ll be successful.

[SouthBayDem]

25. Notice the "77 WABC" mic he's speaking in?

Turns out Paterson is now hosting a weekend show on that station (which divorced from WABC-TV back in 2006), The Left vs. the Right. Basically a Dollar General version of Gavin Newsom's "talk to conservatives" show, considering WABC radio is owned by Republican billionaire John Catsimatidis.

[Buddyzbuddy]

26. Just more confirmation as to who are in the pockets of big money.

The list is growing and includes Fed, State and local politicians. Like the racists that back the Felon, I want to know who these people are. It's not just about Mandami, it's bigger, it's about changing of the guard. Republicans no longer work for their constituents unless your talking about the billionaire class. Will Democrats learn or will they too, ignore the will of the people.

We shall see.

[fujiyamasan]

27. What do you see is the main reason

For a lot of the former establishment politicians in the state going after Mamdani? I’ve noticed Hochul, Schumer, Gilibrand, and Jeffries have mostly been quiet (aside from the Gillibrand’s somewhat unhinged radio interview which she later apologized to Mamdani for).

Do you think it’s the real estate lobby? From what I’ve followed, it has taken a dive since Mamdani won the primary, and landlords are really freaking out. Many of the publically traded funds based on NY real estate took a hit.

From outside of the state looking in, it looks like a lot of this is based on racial dynamics too. It will be interesting to see how much Mamdani improves with black voters, since that was perhaps the group he did worst with during the primaries.

Right now, I see the anti Mamdani candidates completely split and unable to mount any effective opposition to him. I have my own reservations about some of the things he has said in the past, but so far the attacks appear desperate and pathetic.

I don’t see why anyone cares what Patterson has to say, since he resigned in disgrace years ago. Clearly Adams and Cuomo have giant egos which won’t allow any of them to quit. Silwa isn’t even worth mentioning.

[Polybius]

28. I think it's his stance on Israel

He's highly critical of it, and is extremely pro-Palestinian. Sorta like Rashida Tlaib, but with a smile.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. He's too mainstream for the Democratic establishment?

Could be.

https://globalaffairs.org/research/public-opinion-survey/americans-grow-more-divided-us-support-israel

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/06/03/most-people-across-24-surveyed-countries-have-negative-views-of-israel-and-netanyahu/

[no_hypocrisy]

30. I'd rather see Paterson recommend that Republic Curtis Sliwa

drop out of the race. (BTW, Paterson is married to the THIRD ex-wife of Curtis Sliwa.)

As an aside, Paterson is employed by RW talk radio, WABC. Owner, John Catsimatidis, fancies himself a king-maker and wants Eric Adams to be re-elected because TSF wants Eric Adams to be re-elected. (Notice that Catsimatidis has essentially thrown the OTHER employee (former talk show host), Curtis Sliwa, under the bus. The hypocrisy is all the hosts used to trash Adams until Trump bailed him out.

[Polybius]

39. If you support Mamdani, that would be a problem

If Sliwa drops out, his supporters won't go to Mamdani. He doesn't have much support of course, but he did get around 28% last time.

[muriel_volestrangler]

41. Yeah, but if Paterson were still pretending to be a Democrat, he would be advocating the true Republican drop out

rather than suggesting he'd be better than the choice of the New York Democrats. If he were just saying "Adams was a Democratic candidate once; Cuomo was a Democratic candidate once; I still like them better than the actual Democratic candidate", he'd have a fig-leaf to hide behind. But instead, he's now saying he prefers Republicans to actual Democrats. Sad to see that Paterson has joined the PUMA movement.

[republianmushroom]

34. That old guard trembling in their socks.

A change is coming.

[Torchlight]

38. Thankfully, Mamdani's not turning out to be the agent of division

The 'unaffiliated' voices are being met with a resounding ''meh.'