NEW YORK − Centrists are making last-ditch efforts to block Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s path to becoming New York City mayor.

Mike Bloomberg, the three-term former mayor and businessman with a net worth of $109.4 billion, became the latest to try boosting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s odds as the independent candidate trailing Mamdani, a democratic socialist, ahead of the Nov. 4 election.

On Oct. 29, Bloomberg donated $1.5 million to a pro-Cuomo super PAC, according to state elections board filings. The same day, two members of Congress from New York’s purple suburbs rallied around Cuomo.

Rep. Mike Lawler, a House Republican in the lower Hudson Valley, once said Cuomo was a “lying sociopath." He now said Cuomo was the “lesser of two evils.” Lawler represents a swing district with many commuters working in the city.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about party,” Lawler said on the conservative talk radio show “Sid and Friends in the Morning,” where Cuomo a week earlier seemingly agreed with Islamophobic comments about Mamdani.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-New York, who represents part of Queens and Long Island, declared he was a “Democratic Capitalist,” rejecting Mamdani’s self-identification as a democratic socialist. Suozzi endorsed Cuomo again.

On X, Bloomberg, a Democrat who previously became mayor as a Republican in 2001 before becoming an independent, said he wanted to reiterate support for Cuomo during early voting.

“Being Mayor of New York City is the second toughest job in America, and the next mayor will face immense challenges,” Bloomberg said. “Andrew Cuomo has the experience and toughness to stand up for New Yorkers and get things done.”

Mamdani’s campaign didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Mamdani, a Queens state assemblymember, has led by double digits in polls against Cuomo less than a week before the general election.

Prominent centrists such as Bloomberg and Suozzi previously supported Cuomo in his shocking loss in the June Democratic primary to Mamdani, who reconfigured the race to focus on affordability. Bloomberg spent over $8 million to help Cuomo’s primary run.

Other billionaires − including major Republican and Trump donors − have backed Cuomo by injecting millions in the race. Cuomo has made overtures to conservatives, hoping to consolidate anti-Mamdani votes. But polls indicate Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels vigilante group founder, holds a chunk of support while trailing in third.

Cuomo welcomed Bloomberg’s second endorsement.

“This election is about the future of New York City: whether we choose experience and proven leadership or take a dangerous gamble on inexperience and extremism,” Cuomo said in a statement.

In addition to Lawler, others who previously insulted Cuomo have come around to the three-term former Democratic governor who resigned in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment and mismanagement of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A week earlier, moderate Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped his long-shot re-election after scandals hampered his administration, backed Cuomo. Less than two months ago, Adams called Cuomo a “snake and a liar” trying to force him out of office as the city’s second Black mayor.

Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bloomberg, congressional centrists back Cuomo to block Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor

Reporting by Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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