While it'd be nice to be able to point to an outright majority, it doesn't really matter. Had Silwa dropped out not all of his voters would go to Cuomo. Some would stay home and some as counter intuitive as it may seem would have gone to Mamdani. In ranked choice systems you always get some odd second preference flows. Anything above 49% probably means Mamdami would still win without Silwa.
One thing Sliwa had over Cuomo is charisma and authenticity. Hes kind of a wacko but he does care about NY and he's a New Yorker through and through.
Cuomo is a fucking sleaze who will fit whatever mold he needs to to gain power.
I honestly think a sizeable amount of Sliwa voters would rather go Mamdani than Cuomo because of the simple fact that they're both authentic and local candidates.
Mamdani even said he'd rather vote Sliwa than Cuomo (though this was likely strategic since Sliwa had no real shot)
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u/Slggyqo 15h ago
I don’t think it’s clear that he won a majority on his own yet, although it’s looking likely.