Republican candidate for mayor of New York City, Curtis Sliwa, campaigns on November 2, 2025 in the Manhattan borough in New York City (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
Sliwa’s campaign is rejecting the allegation that workers won’t be paid. Spokesman Rob Cole told The Post that "everyone is going to get paid," insisting the process takes time because wages must be verified by the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
Sliwa echoed that explanation when pressed by the outlet, saying any worker who can produce timesheets will be paid by Dec. 1. He described the verification process as "standard protocol" and denied that his campaign stiffed anyone.
The controversy comes despite the campaign’s sizable budget. According to the Campaign Finance Board, Sliwa raised nearly $7 million, including more than $5 million in public matching funds — leaving roughly $1.7 million in cash remaining at the end of the race, The Post reported.
Curtis Sliwa, New York City mayoral candidate, during a mayoral debate in New York, US, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. Millions of dollars are pouring into the mayoral election with less than two weeks to go until New Yorkers go to the polls. Photographer: Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Photographer: Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Politico’s Playbook noted in October that a corporation registered under Sliwa’s name owes nearly $4,000 in unpaid state taxes, according to New York State tax warrants. Sliwa’s campaign blamed the issue on an old clerical error involving a dissolved company and said he has paid all personal taxes.
The allegations have sparked anger among Republican activists still reeling from Mamdani’s upset victory. Some party officials told The Post the situation has "further eroded trust" in Sliwa’s populist messaging, arguing that stiffed canvassers undercut the image of a candidate who billed himself as a champion of ordinary New Yorkers.
His former employer, billionaire WABC owner John Catsimatidis, has also blasted Sliwa for refusing to drop out of the race earlier this year — a move Catsimatidis believes split the conservative vote.
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Sliwa, who rose to fame in the 1970s as the founder of the red-beret-wearing Guardian Angels, ran on a law-and-order platform promising to "take back New York." Instead, he now faces allegations from some of his own workers that his campaign broke its word.
"Throughout the campaign, canvassers were paid weekly or biweekly," Sliwa said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Many last-minute invoices were sent after November 4."
"Any timesheets submitted after Election Day must be audited, disclosed, and submitted to CFB by December 1st to validate any post-election payments. This is standard protocol for the campaign. All valid invoices get paid before the final audit is due, with the remaining account funds and the final match payment. The campaign must verify everyone's invoice to be compliant."
Jasmine Baehr is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, faith and culture.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/curtis-sliwa-reportedly-stiffed-nyc-campaign-workers-failed-mayoral-bid