July 15, 2025 • 7 mins
Joe Borelli joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about the NYC Mayoral race and who has the best chance of beating Zohran Mamdani in the polls.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And with that, let's get right to Joe Burrelli, Managing
director of Chartwell Strategy Group and former Minority leader of
the New York City Council. Joe, have been looking looking
forward to talking to you all day because I want
to talk Andrew Cuomo. Him getting in the race. Oh yeah,
back in the race. He promises he's actually going to
campaign this time. What do you First of all, let's
(00:22):
just start with the announcement. What do you think of
the announcement?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I mean, it is surprising given how you know, soundly defeated.
He was just less than a month ago. I mean,
this is someone who yeah, he came in second place,
but but it wasn't a close race, especially with the
rank choice system. He didn't really go as far as
people would imagine. Now, the logic is not entirely wrong
(00:48):
in that this is a much wider electorate, a much
more broad spectrum of voters. But look, there's going to
be at least twenty five twenty six percent of people
voting for Curtis Leewa. You know, put that aside, right,
Curtis has made no indication he's getting out, and of
the rest of the voters, you're still talking about, you know,
six to one Democrats or Republican enrollment. This is a
(01:11):
heavy Democratic city, so it's unclear why he believes you
have more penetration with the majority of voters who happen
to be registered as Democrats than he did in the primary.
Now that doesn't discount the logic entirely, but the second
problem is that it's also Andrew Cuomo, and he's gonna
run despite what he says, a very hands off campaign.
(01:33):
He's afraid of the cameras, he's afraid of being questioned,
he's afraid of being, you know, in any sort of
unscripted environment. And when you're running for mayor of New
York City, you have to be in those encounters and
you have to be taking advantage of those opportunities to
meet people. I think the campaign is not going to
pan out, but the only thing that will tell us
(01:54):
is time. Because of the three other candidates, Eric Adams,
Curtis Leewa, and Andrew Cuomo, I personally think that Eric
Adams has the best chance and will be in the
better position down the road. That's just my prediction. But
whoever is leading of those three come late September October
first I think there's going to be a lot of
(02:15):
pressure to get behind one person. And even though the
three candidates have not decided as a group, hey we'll
all bow out for the person who's in the lead.
I think the public is actually going to enforce that
rule no matter what they say.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
That's well said.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
It's interesting though. Mayor Adams, when he's talking about Cuomo
the other day, said he knows the script all the
time with Andrew Cuomo. He will put out his own poll,
He'll pay for his own poll and then say, see,
Eric Adams should drop out of the race. Or he'll
pay some some advisors, some campaign advisors or political analysts
(02:52):
to say that he has the best shot, and then
he'll say I agree with them. Do you see that
playing out in September?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah, I mean, you know, Andrew Cuomo is a he's
an old hat at this game. I mean, he has
been on the ballot statewide or now citywide, you know,
five times, six times in the last eighteen years. So
this is someone who knows how to manipulate the you know,
stock market of politics, will you and he's going to continue.
(03:24):
He's got sharp people working for him. Look rich as
a party is a guy who's his spokesman who gets
a lot of bad rap. People really don't like rich
as a party. They don't like him because he's really
effective at what he does, and that's putting this messaging together,
and he's hiring people like that. He's hiring other people
that know how to turn the turn the screws of
(03:46):
media on their opponents. It just didn't work in the
Democratic primary. Zora and Mandani ran an incredible campaign that
cannot be discounted. And he's going to continue having this
momentum as we see more Democratic leaders, both out of
fear and out of genuine loyalty to the party start
supporting him. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
I loved your column in the New York Post. And
by the way, if you want to read it yourself,
you can go to Nypost dot com. I'm sure you
know how to get to the New York Post online,
but you can read Joe Barelli's column, which is titled
Mandanni's Worst Threat, Unleashing City Council radicals wildest wokest dreams explain.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Yeah. Look, I mean when you get Mamdanni, you're not
just getting Mamdanni, and you're getting Mamdanniism. Throughout city government.
Eric Adams, for whatever flaws you might find at him,
has been a check on the council right. He has
used his veto power or his threat of veto, to
basically negotiate better versions of bills that come out of
(04:51):
the Council. The council is radically far left. Mamdani is
going to do just the opposite. He's already in the
Assembly a sponsor half the bad bills that the Progressive Caucus.
Who's the biggest block in the Council that the Progressive
Caucus wants from you know, free everything for everyone all
the time, to turning our streets into bizaars with unlimited
(05:13):
vendor licenses, to decriminalizing sex work and allowing you know,
brothels to pop up in apartment buildings. All these crazy
ideas are not just things that the Progressive Council wants,
but there are things that Mamdani has actually supported as
an assemblyman. And then you're gonna see, instead of being
that check on power, he's gonna actually be cheering this
(05:35):
stuff on.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, well, let's get you on the record this early out.
What do you think is going to happen? How is
this campaign gonna play out.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I think a lot. I'll tease probably of my next
piece of the post. It's gonna be what I just
said is that, you know, of the three candidates, who's
ever in the best position come you know, October first,
say the public has to unite behind that person. They
have to put party politics aside. You know, they have
two months, two and a half months to run a race.
(06:04):
But whoever is in that number two position really needs
to be consolidated, had the votes consolidated, And if those
three men can't agree to sit out the other two,
then I think the public and you know, influential leaders
around the city should be the ones saying this is
what we got to do. And I don't like Andrew Cuomo.
(06:25):
He's not my friend, but look, if it comes down
to it, yeah you might see me come around to him.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, you have more faith in politicians that I do.
I think their ego maniacs. And these are three of
the most selfish people. I liked them, it's it's you know,
I like it at least two of them very much.
But they're they're very selfish people who put a lot
of time and effort into these campaigns. And I don't
really see anybody dropping out. I hope you're right, though.
(06:52):
I hope you're right, but because that means a zorin
mom Donnie may earlship, and that would be a disaster.
Joe BURRELLI, Managing director Chartwell Strategy Group and former Minority
Leader of the New York City Council. Thanks a lot
for your time, Joe.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
That was great. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
You can read his column by the way, at the
New York Post.
And with that, let's get right to Joe Burrelli, Managing
director of Chartwell Strategy Group and former Minority leader of
the New York City Council. Joe, have been looking looking
forward to talking to you all day because I want
to talk Andrew Cuomo. Him getting in the race. Oh yeah,
back in the race. He promises he's actually going to
campaign this time. What do you First of all, let's
(00:22):
just start with the announcement. What do you think of
the announcement?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I mean, it is surprising given how you know, soundly defeated.
He was just less than a month ago. I mean,
this is someone who yeah, he came in second place,
but but it wasn't a close race, especially with the
rank choice system. He didn't really go as far as
people would imagine. Now, the logic is not entirely wrong
(00:48):
in that this is a much wider electorate, a much
more broad spectrum of voters. But look, there's going to
be at least twenty five twenty six percent of people
voting for Curtis Leewa. You know, put that aside, right,
Curtis has made no indication he's getting out, and of
the rest of the voters, you're still talking about, you know,
six to one Democrats or Republican enrollment. This is a
(01:11):
heavy Democratic city, so it's unclear why he believes you
have more penetration with the majority of voters who happen
to be registered as Democrats than he did in the primary.
Now that doesn't discount the logic entirely, but the second
problem is that it's also Andrew Cuomo, and he's gonna
run despite what he says, a very hands off campaign.
(01:33):
He's afraid of the cameras, he's afraid of being questioned,
he's afraid of being, you know, in any sort of
unscripted environment. And when you're running for mayor of New
York City, you have to be in those encounters and
you have to be taking advantage of those opportunities to
meet people. I think the campaign is not going to
pan out, but the only thing that will tell us
(01:54):
is time. Because of the three other candidates, Eric Adams,
Curtis Leewa, and Andrew Cuomo, I personally think that Eric
Adams has the best chance and will be in the
better position down the road. That's just my prediction. But
whoever is leading of those three come late September October
first I think there's going to be a lot of
(02:15):
pressure to get behind one person. And even though the
three candidates have not decided as a group, hey we'll
all bow out for the person who's in the lead.
I think the public is actually going to enforce that
rule no matter what they say.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
That's well said.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
It's interesting though. Mayor Adams, when he's talking about Cuomo
the other day, said he knows the script all the
time with Andrew Cuomo. He will put out his own poll,
He'll pay for his own poll and then say, see,
Eric Adams should drop out of the race. Or he'll
pay some some advisors, some campaign advisors or political analysts
(02:52):
to say that he has the best shot, and then
he'll say I agree with them. Do you see that
playing out in September?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah, I mean, you know, Andrew Cuomo is a he's
an old hat at this game. I mean, he has
been on the ballot statewide or now citywide, you know,
five times, six times in the last eighteen years. So
this is someone who knows how to manipulate the you know,
stock market of politics, will you and he's going to continue.
(03:24):
He's got sharp people working for him. Look rich as
a party is a guy who's his spokesman who gets
a lot of bad rap. People really don't like rich
as a party. They don't like him because he's really
effective at what he does, and that's putting this messaging together,
and he's hiring people like that. He's hiring other people
that know how to turn the turn the screws of
(03:46):
media on their opponents. It just didn't work in the
Democratic primary. Zora and Mandani ran an incredible campaign that
cannot be discounted. And he's going to continue having this
momentum as we see more Democratic leaders, both out of
fear and out of genuine loyalty to the party start
supporting him. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
I loved your column in the New York Post. And
by the way, if you want to read it yourself,
you can go to Nypost dot com. I'm sure you
know how to get to the New York Post online,
but you can read Joe Barelli's column, which is titled
Mandanni's Worst Threat, Unleashing City Council radicals wildest wokest dreams explain.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Yeah. Look, I mean when you get Mamdanni, you're not
just getting Mamdanni, and you're getting Mamdanniism. Throughout city government.
Eric Adams, for whatever flaws you might find at him,
has been a check on the council right. He has
used his veto power or his threat of veto, to
basically negotiate better versions of bills that come out of
(04:51):
the Council. The council is radically far left. Mamdani is
going to do just the opposite. He's already in the
Assembly a sponsor half the bad bills that the Progressive Caucus.
Who's the biggest block in the Council that the Progressive
Caucus wants from you know, free everything for everyone all
the time, to turning our streets into bizaars with unlimited
(05:13):
vendor licenses, to decriminalizing sex work and allowing you know,
brothels to pop up in apartment buildings. All these crazy
ideas are not just things that the Progressive Council wants,
but there are things that Mamdani has actually supported as
an assemblyman. And then you're gonna see, instead of being
that check on power, he's gonna actually be cheering this
(05:35):
stuff on.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, well, let's get you on the record this early out.
What do you think is going to happen? How is
this campaign gonna play out.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I think a lot. I'll tease probably of my next
piece of the post. It's gonna be what I just
said is that, you know, of the three candidates, who's
ever in the best position come you know, October first,
say the public has to unite behind that person. They
have to put party politics aside. You know, they have
two months, two and a half months to run a race.
(06:04):
But whoever is in that number two position really needs
to be consolidated, had the votes consolidated, And if those
three men can't agree to sit out the other two,
then I think the public and you know, influential leaders
around the city should be the ones saying this is
what we got to do. And I don't like Andrew Cuomo.
(06:25):
He's not my friend, but look, if it comes down
to it, yeah you might see me come around to him.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, you have more faith in politicians that I do.
I think their ego maniacs. And these are three of
the most selfish people. I liked them, it's it's you know,
I like it at least two of them very much.
But they're they're very selfish people who put a lot
of time and effort into these campaigns. And I don't
really see anybody dropping out. I hope you're right, though.
(06:52):
I hope you're right, but because that means a zorin
mom Donnie may earlship, and that would be a disaster.
Joe BURRELLI, Managing director Chartwell Strategy Group and former Minority
Leader of the New York City Council. Thanks a lot
for your time, Joe.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
That was great. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
You can read his column by the way, at the
New York Post.
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