When Curtis Sliwa and Zohran Mamdani cast Andrew M. Cuomo as the candidate backed by billionaires, it was not merely campaign rhetoric. Mr. Cuomo is the candidate favored by super PACs, and those super PACs are heavily funded by billionaires.
Over the course of the election, super PACs supporting Mr. Cuomo have raised more than $40 million from donors, compared with less than $10 million for Mr. Mamdani and around $1 million for Mr. Sliwa.
Even so, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat running on an independent ballot line, is trailing Mr. Mamdani, a Democrat and a democratic socialist, in the polls. Mr. Sliwa, the Republican candidate, is in third place.
Nearly 70 percent of that super PAC fund-raising happened during the Democratic primary for mayor. During the general election, more of the donor class has remained on the sidelines.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, had no immediate comment.
The donors to the pro-Cuomo super PACs have included Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor; William Lauder, the chair of the Estée Lauder Companies; Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress; Bill Ackman, the investor; Steve Wynn, the casino investor; Daniel Loeb, the hedge fund manager; Barry Diller, the chairman of IAC; and Joe Gebbia, the co-founder of Airbnb. Forbes magazine lists them all as billionaires.
Ashley Cai is a graphics reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class.
Dana Rubinstein covers New York City politics and government for The Times.
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