NEW YORK (AP) – Jim Walden, an independent candidate for the New York City Mayor Competition, announced Tuesday that he is suspending his campaign while urging his candidates to unite against Democratic primary champion Zohran Mamdani.
“For those who are still behind the polls until the end of the month, I beg everyone to consider how history will judge whether they allow vanity or stubborn ambitions to greet Mr. Mamdani,” Walden wrote in a statement.
He warned that Democratic socialist Mamdani represented “Trojan Horses Take Over Town Hall”, adding that the time was “sliding” in search of another option to gain momentum in a crowded field.
Walden, the lawyer representing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the hybrid martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, positioned himself as a free market tech expert imitated by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
But he struggled to register among voters who have competed under several familiar names: current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, founder of Guardian Angels.
Walden issued an “exit challenge” to the three candidates last month, believing that they will beat Mamdani to the greatest extent if they collectively agree to fall behind anyone who leads in the poll.
Although both Adams and Cuomo called on each other to drop out of school, none of the candidates agreed to the proposal.
On Tuesday, Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi praised Walden for “abandoning self and ambitions” and added that he “emphasized the existence threat our city faces in Zohran Mamdani” decision.
Todd Shapiro, spokesman for the Adams campaign, said the mayor had no plans to drop out and was “focused on the future – to achieve results and lead the city forward.”
“While support for Zohran’s vision for affordable New York is growing across all five boroughs, the billionaire class is shrinking their selection process, while Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams have stopped everyone with Donald Trump Trumps,” said Mamdani’s spokesman Dora Pekec in a statement.
