Jim Walden, an independent candidate for New York City mayor, announced Tuesday that he is suspending his campaign and urged his rivals to unite in stopping Democratic primary victor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist whose candidacy has upended the race.

“For those still trailing in the polls by month’s end, I implore each to consider how history will judge them if they allow vanity or stubborn ambition to usher in Mr. Mamdani,” Walden wrote in a statement announcing his withdrawal. He warned that Mamdani would represent a “Trojan Horse taking over City Hall” and cautioned that time was “slipping away” for an alternative candidate to consolidate support.

Mamdani, who could become the city’s first Muslim mayor, is a sharp critic of Israel, backs the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and has said he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the leader were to visit New York. He has also refused to denounce the slogan “Globalize the Intifada,” which encourages violence.

Walden, a high-profile attorney who has represented Robert F. Kennedy Jr., tried to position himself as a free-market technocrat in the mold of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But his campaign failed to gain traction in a crowded field that includes incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.

Last month, Walden issued a “drop out challenge” to those three contenders, proposing that they agree to consolidate behind whichever candidate led the polls in the fall. None agreed to the plan. On Tuesday, Cuomo spokesperson Richard Azzopardi praised Walden for “putting aside ego and ambition,” calling the move proof of “the existential threat our city faces in Zohran Mamdani.”

Adams’ campaign, by contrast, dismissed the idea of stepping aside. “The mayor has no plans of dropping out,” said spokesperson Todd Shapiro. “He’s focused on the future — delivering results and leading this city forward.”

Mamdani’s campaign framed Walden’s withdrawal as evidence that the race is tightening between the establishment and a growing progressive movement. “While support of Zohran’s vision for an affordable New York continues to grow across all five boroughs, the billionaire class is narrowing their selection process — and Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams are pulling out all the stops to charm them alongside Donald Trump,” campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)