Who won final NYC mayoral debate? Cuomo gets an A and Mamdani barely makes the grade: experts

Andrew Cuomo was the winner of the final New York City mayoral election debate — passing with flying colors as front-runner Zohran Mamdani barely made the grade, a Post panel of political experts said.

Mamdani, the lefty Democratic nominee, was left sweating on stage Wednesday night as he took big hits from independent hopeful Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, making a poor showing with less than two weeks before the election.

“Cuomo won the debate,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion, said of the 90 minute slugfest hosted by Spectrum NY1.

“He had a good night. He landed more punches and exposed weaknesses in Mamdani’s presentation. He presented doubts about Mamdani.”

Here’s how The Post’s group of bipartisan experts graded the candidates:

Andrew Cuomo: A to A+ performance

The longtime politician and three-term governor stole the stage, firing off much sharper and more pointed attacks after a poor showing in the first general election debate last week.

This time, he was effective at making his case that Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblyman, was too green to lead City Hall, repeatedly putting him on his heels, the panelists said.

“He was tonight’s big winner. An A+,” Republican strategist Rob Ryan said of the lifelong Democrat.

“Cuomo was the only candidate who appeared ready to lead on day one. His attack on Mamdani’s lack of experience was strong, on target, and seemed to rattle Mamdani.”

Veteran communication specialist Andrew Kirtzman also gave Cuomo high marks — and noted that “if he had performed this well all year, he might not be in the situation he is in now.”

“Cuomo had his best night of his campaign – he was sharp, quick and brutal in his attacks on Mamdani,” Kirtzman said.

“It was a reminder of the formidable, feared figure he was as governor. He has seemed diminished for much of this campaign. Not tonight.”

For seemingly the first time, Cuomo was particularly effective in confronting the Israel-bashing Mamdani on the issue of antisemitism, and also left the lefty pol rattled when he brought up his smiling photo with a gay-hating politician from Uganda, the experts said.

“When Cuomo attacked him over the gay-hating Ugandan official, Mamdani became visibly nervous. During his response, his eyelids were flapping faster than a Monarch butterfly on its way to Mexico,” quipped Ryan.

Zohran Mamdani: B- to D performance

The usually smooth-talking front-runner had a surprisingly poor performance, appearing shocked during some of the attacks from his rivals.

“He seemed rattled by Cuomo’s pounding attacks on his lack of experience. It wiped away his usual smirk and he had no real response,” said Ryan, who gave Mamdani a D.

One of the worst moments of the debate for Mamdani was self-inflicted, the panelists said.

He refused to take a position on a ballot initiative aimed at making it easier to build more affordable housing — an issue he claims to champion.

“His lack of specifics on key issues like ballot initiatives gave Cuomo and Sliwa an opening to go on the attack,” said Democratic operative and lobbyist Yvette Buckner.

Miringoff said “oxygen went out of the room ” when Mamdani ducked instead of taking a position on the housing initiative.

“That was the closest you can get to an ‘aha’ moment. He looked a lot like a politician for the first time. He was hemming and hawing. He was inconsistent. He was dodging,” the pollster said.

Here are some highlights from the final 2025 NYC Mayoral Debate

Kirtzman noted that Cuomo and Sliwa were “literally laughing at him from both sides.”

“Mamdani is an extremely talented debater but he seemed besieged,” he said, adding the Dem nominee still walked away with a B-.

Curtis Sliwa: A performance

Sliwa notched some breakout moments, distinguishing himself from both Mamdani and Cuomo, the panelists said.

“Sliwa had a terrific night. He has grown as a candidate this year – it’s impressive,” Kirtzman said.

Sliwa frequently delivered zingers against Cuomo, as he did against Mamdani.

“The allegations of sexual harassment continued to haunt Cuomo. They reinforce people’s negatives about him,” Miringoff said of the attacks, launched against the ex-governor by both of the candidates.

Sliwa also shined when slamming a law that Cuomo signed as governor which raised the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18, the experts noted.

Cuomo defended signing the controversial Raise the Age bill, which has mandated that some teens who commit violent crimes get treated as juveniles instead of adults, and Mamdani also backed the edict.

But Sliwa railed against the law, noting that his son Anthony was attacked by juveniles who got a slap on the wrist instead of severe punishment.

“No one wanted to mix with Sliwa on that one,” Miringoff said.

Final thoughts ahead of the Nov. 4 election

Democratic operative Ken Frydman said Cuomo and Sliwa “probably each picked up polling points” due to the debate.

“But it’s highly unlikely either of them can close the wide gap against Mamdani” before the Nov. 4 election, he said.

The Democratic Socialists of America candidate has benefitted from divided opposition during the campaign, with Cuomo and Sliwa splitting the anti-Mamdani vote.

“The problem for Cuomo, though, is that he needed both of them [Mamdani and Sliwa] to have a bad night,” Kirtzman said.

“If Sliwa’s numbers don’t fall there is no way Cuomo can win.”

And Mamdani still had some fine moments, including leaking his intention to keep Jessica Tisch as police commissioner to the media prior to debate — and then confirming it when asked about it on stage, the panelists said.

The move was aimed at easing concerns that Mamdani, who previously advocated defunding the police, won’t be tough on crime.

He also had a clever moment.

“A key moment is when Mamdani said he would list Sliwa second on his ranked choice ballot [if there was one for the general election],” said John Mollenkopf, director of CUNY’s Center for Urban Research.

“It was two against one and Cuomo came out the worse for it.”

Still, the consensus was that the performances from Sliwa and Cuomo outperformed Mamdani’s lackluster display.

“Mamdani had the weakest performance in this debate. The race might tighten up a little bit. It may be too little, too late. We’ll find out,” Miringoff said.