**Republican City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov Backs Andrew Cuomo Over Curtis Sliwa in NYC Mayor’s Race**
Republican City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov is pulling her support from “loyal friend” Curtis Sliwa and endorsing Andrew Cuomo in the hotly contested New York City mayoral race, The Post has learned.
“As much as it hurts me to say this, a vote for Curtis Sliwa is a vote for Zohran Mamdani,” Vernikov told The Post on Tuesday.
The firebrand conservative councilwoman, who represents the 48th District in Brooklyn and regularly stumped for Sliwa, noted that the long-shot Republican mayoral candidate and Guardian Angels founder has been a “loyal friend” to her.
“I’m grateful for everything he’s done for the city and the Jewish community,” she said.
However, Vernikov, like some other New York Republicans—including billionaire supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis—is ditching the GOP’s standard-bearer to back ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a veteran Democrat running as an independent. They believe that a one-on-one race would boost Cuomo and help prevent the left-leaning Democratic candidate’s rise to City Hall.
The fierce conservative and Ukrainian-born Zionist, who was first elected in 2021, explained in a video exclusively obtained by The Post that the race “is not a game; it’s not about egos.”
“This is beyond party lines. This is about our future,” she added.
Vernikov stressed in her video that Cuomo, “the guy we may not like,” is the “only one who has a shot” to defeat the “anti-American, anti-Israel, anti-cop” Mamdani, whom she called a “danger” and an “existential threat.”
She also emphasized that she still “encourages everyone to vote Republican down ballot,” including critical City Council races, “but reality is reality.”
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### Related Coverage:
– Cuomo torches Mamdani as ‘child of wealth’ who’s ‘never had a real job’ in appearance on Logan Paul podcast
– Curtis Sliwa quits radio gig in on-air shouting match after calls to drop NYC mayor bid
– Eric Adams will endorse Andrew Cuomo for NYC mayor
– Adams could block Mamdani’s signature ‘rent freeze’ plan possibly with help from reality TV star: sources
– Jeffries finally endorses Mamdani for NYC mayor despite having ‘areas of principled disagreement’
https://nypost.com/2025/10/28/us-news/firebrand-nyc-councilwoman-latest-in-gop-to-back-cuomo-over-sliwa-to-thwart-mamdani/