NYC's Mayoral Race: Three Paths to Bigger Government – And Why Florida's Beaches Beckon Louder
In a contest of socialists, scandal-plagued centrists, and faux conservatives, no one champions liberty or shrinks the state's grip—proving once again that cronyism thrives.
So, I’m not sure you heard, but New York City is electing a new mayor today. I know, I know, exciting stuff. Some Republican Florida Realtors and investors are rooting for socialist Zohran Mamdani so they can line their pockets as the migration of wealthy New Yorkers heads south. Florida may not be utopia, but with its beaches, pro-business environment, and low regulations, it’s one of the best in the country.
But seriously, let’s take a look at the situation.
Mamdani is polling the highest, but we’ll see how well that holds up as polls close this evening. Sometimes voters will tell surveyors one thing and then vote for a completely different person once in the voting booth—we have seen this repeated many times. In addition to state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, you have former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa (whom you may remember with his signature red beret and his Guardian Angels). Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams is not in the running.
From my point of view, I would like to see which candidate is most likely to shrink the footprint of the government while empowering individual freedoms and ending the cronyism, New York City is known for. Well, let’s be frank, none of the three meet that criteria, so it goes back to the sad, “lesser of two (three) evils.” You’ll still get some evil.
Mamdani, seems to be the worst of the three choices as he is seeking greater government involvement in New Yorkers’ lives with city-owned grocery stores, free buses, rent control, etc. All of his ideas have been tried with dismal results, often if not always leading to worse lives for the poorest among us, even though he is promising what surface-level thinking looks like a utopia. A vote for Mamdani, is to bring NYC back to how life was there in the 1970s.
And then Cuomo seems to be the second-worst choice, since we already know what he’s capable of. Many feel the guy should be in jail for any number of offenses. Cuomo is often touted as a Democratic Party centrist, yet he is almost universally hated.
Sliwa is the only “conservative” in the race, and he has polled the lowest of the three, and from an individual freedom perspective, he’d be a no-go, but he may be the best of the worst.
Will the next mayor aggressively reduce burdens on business, protect speech and property rights, scale back municipal overreach — or will the office be used as a platform for expansion of state power? I think we know the answer. As New Yorkers flee south for lower taxes and freer markets, this election underscores why—vote for ‘evil’ today, regret tomorrow. What’s your escape plan?
