Hedge-fund billionaire Bill Ackman plans to bankroll a New York City mayoral campaign, arguing that his affluent associates are poised to flood the election with money in an effort to defeat Democratic Socialist frontrunner Zohran Mamdani.
Ackman said he was “gravely concerned” because he believed the left-wing candidate’s policies would be disastrous, triggering an exodus of the wealthy that would endanger New York’s public services by hollowing out its tax base.
Arguing that his own support of President Trump would automatically disqualify anyone Ackman might put forward, the activist investor said he was making a public appeal: Anyone capable of taking down Mamdani in the Nov. 4 election should step forward and volunteer.
“Importantly, there are hundreds of millions of dollars of capital available to back a competitor to Mamdani that can be put together overnight (believe me, I am in the text strings and the WhatsApp groups) so that a great alternative candidate won’t spend any time,” he wrote.
“So if the right candidate would raise his or her hand tomorrow, the funds will pour in.”
It’s unclear whether New Yorkers would honor such a candidate. The recent intervention by Elon Musk in Wisconsin’s state supreme court election indicated the voting public does not always respond well to billionaires using their money to sway races.
New York mayoral races are notoriously unpredictable due to the city’s chronically low turnout. In 2017, for example, Bill de Blasio won reelection with only 14% of registered voters coming out to support him.
A large influx of New Yorkers heading to the voting booth because they are as concerned as Ackman could easily affect the outcome. If Cuomo can hold on to enough fundraisers, political pundits also point out, it’s possible he could run as an independent like Adams, splitting the left vote and spoiling the race.
Ackman, however, argued all these factors would support the emergence of a centrist candidate looking to position themself on the national stage. It could even be another businessman like Bloomberg, he suggested, although Ackman in an earlier post appeared to indicate he would not seek to run himself.
“For the aspiring politician there is no better way to get name recognition, build relationships with long-term donors, and to showcase oneself,” the hedge fund manager wrote, pitching the campaign like a business deal. “The risk/reward of running for mayor over the next 132 days is extremely compelling as the cost in time and energy is small and the upside is enormous.”
Honestly, I’m really liking how this race is shaping up. Adams is refusing to drop out because, well, he can’t; the second he loses power he stops becoming useful to the Trump administration, and then he’s vulnerable to prosecution. Cuomo is also staying in because he’s a narcissist, and Ackman is willing to throw money at anyone else who wants to run.
So that means the centrist shit-libs and conservative ghouls are splitting their vote between at least two, probably three candidates, while the progressive vote will go entirely to Mamdani. I’m still wary of DNC fuckery, but so far, so good.
Is the NYC Mayor General also ranked choice? Vote splitting is less impactful with ranked choice.
Still, it would be nice to see what a democratic socialist executive can do with NYC.
Great question, IT IS NOT! Only the NYC primaries and special elections are ranked choice, but the general elections are still first-past-the-post! So Cuomo and Adams will most certainly hurt each other if they both refuse to drop out!
Hopefully, the DNC won’t do something stupid (e.g. support someone other than Mamdani).
Honestly, given how unpopular they are at this point, that might help him.
Anyone working-class that’s unhappy with the DNC should look into the Working Families Party. They are non-existent where I am, but I believe they are fairly active in NYC in particular, and on the other coast as well.
Zohran should drop a diss track collab with Kendrick on Spotify. No amount of billionaire money could combat that.
Billionaires should not exist.
Huh. I wonder why he just doesn’t vote for the other person. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work? Isn’t that what poor people do? I was told voting was important… /s
That got tossed overboard by Citizens United. Money is free speech, and for most cases money is a big bag of votes.
Billionaires are scared. That’s a good sign …
Luigi saved lives and billionaires cried.
What’s super ironic to me is that taxing them actually makes them safer because if they pay their fair share people wouldn’t want to murder them as much as they do now.
They think they can buy enough guards to keep this from happening to them.
They absolutely can not if people finally decide it’s time. Guards are good against individuals wanting to fight, not against a mob, or against assassins who really want to kill them. Guards can’t stop bullets or bombs, and they can’t hold back much more than one person each if those people want through.
Gotta remember we’re talking about state guards too - cops, military, etc. They stopped an invasion of the capitol by killing one lady. They would’ve killed many more if necessary… And those were their own fascist protestors. They’ll murder progressives/leftists en masse without remorse. Just check out any fascist state (eg. pinochet)…
they can’t hold back much more than one person each if those people want through.
Keyword “IF” those people want through. A lot of people still seem to think the world would crumble without billionaires, but that vibe is visibly shifting which is nice to see.
You don’t think the entire police/military is already enough guards? They need a few more personal ones?
https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/15/one-nation-under-guard/
Billionaires control the actual weapons of murder, surveillance, torture, etc. They’re completely protected regardless of their tax bill. One Luigi isn’t going to change that.
And if they paid as much of a percentage as you or me they’d still have more wealth than they could spend in a hundred lifetimes. When a hoarder can’t self-regulate, others have to step in.
That’s why taxing the ultra-rich and closing all the loopholes needs to be seen as the compassionate option: it’s literally better for everyone. All of society is harmed when the wealth gap further widens…
People of NYC: your vote is far more powerful than this dude throwing his lunch money at the opposition.
Billionaires are against Mamdani, eh? Something tells me he is the right guy for the job then.
An amazing endorsement from Ackman.
Surely this billionaire Trump supporter cares about the interests of democratic voters
What a “centrist” guy this billionaire Trump supporter is.
Surely, the billionaires have the common people’s best interests at heart, right?
Right?!?!
I mean, this guy must live in an insane bubble if he doesn’t understand that this will help Mamdami more than if he had endorsed them. I am sure NYC voters will just rally around a guy who, through funding, owns its allegiance to billionaires.
He wants to flood the FPTP ballot with progressive and centrist candidates so that those votes are spread so thin, the single conservative candidate is a shoe in with a landslide 3% of the votes.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the NYC election ranked choice?
The democratic primary was ranked choice. The general election is still the old broken system.
Sometimes a left leaning candidate is a great, effective leader (think AOC, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren). Sometimes they are bat shit (think Kshama Sawant). I’m not sure where his guy lands on the spectrum. But as voters, I think we have to look at the candidates through a critical lens and remember left-leaning doesn’t always make a great leader.
okay centrist
I wasn’t clear. I’m not saying centrist candidates are a good idea. I’m saying it is incumbent on us to select strong left-leaning leadership because the alternative can do more harm than good (ranging from being ineffective to outright divisive and undermining the movement). I want the left to be successful but it’s like they looked around and chose the worst possible representation.
Well, the proposal here is to prop a billionaire’s pawn to replace a left-leaning candidate who proved himself by winning the primaries.
Take your time with your assessment.
And he’ll totally win the election even with an alternative running against him. I’m saying he’s gonna do a bad job in office and make the left look bad, while simultaneously not delivering on his political promises.
“Vote blue no matter who” just evaporates into nothingness the instant someone other than a centrist wins a primary.
Maybe, but do you prefer someone failing while trying to improve things or someone successful at trickling up money? And how do you actually know the alternative will not be a total failure?
Any candidate is a risk of failure. Why would he be a bigger risk?
At least if he wins, he’ll show a leftist can win! That may inspire some more to get in politics.
There’s a greater risk of negative consequences when people try to make a sweeping change, which Mamdani is trying to - especially if some of that sweeping change is not well tethered to reality. I’m not spun up about the tax thing. That piece will be fine, good even. But his ideas around grocery stores shows a huge ignorance about the mechanics (and therefore costs and how much the customer will actually save) of running stores. Fair collection isn’t the biggest, or even a substantial, cause of delay to public buses. If he wants free buses, that should be the end of the discussion. Closing streets for kids to play has all sorts of impacts to residents (how will they move?) that appear to be unconsidered. Mamdani has displayed poor thinking and bad decision making already - which I think will continue into his term. He is the best candidate, but not a good candidate.
Why bother “recommending caution” if you aren’t informed in the topic?
You could’ve asked. You could’ve read about his policies and endorsements. You could’ve just stayed silent.
Instead, you fearmonger about nothing
The point was never about learning anything. The point was to sew divisiveness. Hey, higher poster than the one I’m replying to: fuck off.
You’re putting WARREN with the likes of AOC and Bernie?
The fact that this guy put together a political apparatus from grassroots that ran rings around the NYC Democratic establishment despite being outspent 4:1 speaks very well about his leadership abilities.
Anyone who the billionaire hedge fund manager is planning to bankroll is the guy you probably should be voting against.
the left-wing candidate’s policies would be disastrous, triggering an exodus of the wealthy
Is that a promise? Look dude I’m already sold on him, you don’t need to keep selling him
That is what they always claim, don’t they? You can’t tax the rich, they’ll leave!!
Cool.
Where?
Where will they leave to? Europe? Good luck, taxes are way higher there (not enough , though) either way, you’ll be gone from what made you rich in the first place. You’re not going anywhere
They’ll go to some red state where fascist stormtroopers keep their boots on the necks of the poor… (ok yeah florida)
Florida. We have no income tax, an increasing population of millionaires, mosquitos, alligators and homeless people.
Ohh! What’s not to like? 😵💫
What a crook.
Literally buying elected officials.
A true enemy of the people
So hes a Trump supporter but doesn’t like Sliwa so he’s just going to fund an independent? Lmao.
Its good that he’s not just funding Sliwa, looks like a rift is forming in the red party.
Question is whether he dislikes Silwa or just recognizes he can’t just spend Silwa into sufficient popularity.
However if he funds a “plausible Democrat”, he might split the left vote.
Ackman said he was “gravely concerned” because he believed the left-wing candidate’s policies would be disastrous, triggering an exodus of the wealthy that would endanger New York’s public services by hollowing out its tax base.
Fucking seriously.
Those rich people aren’t going anywhere. Theres not another New York City. They’re not gonna pack up their factories and offices with datacenters and move them elsewhere.
Schroedinger’s billionaires. They’re propping up the economy with all the tax they pay, but they’ll leave if they have to pay tax.
Remember when Bloomberg tried running for president for like 2 weeks?
Somehow I expect similar effect, burning cash without budging almost anyone.
