(NEW YORK) -- Just weeks after New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani declared victory in the primary, other candidates set to be on the ballot -- particularly incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo – are facing calls to unite behind another candidate in order to stymie Mamdani's bid, even if that means dropping out themselves.
The calls come as Mamdani consolidates other support for his mayoral bid. He has received newfound endorsements from groups and people who had endorsed Cuomo in the primary, including the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council AFL-CIO and the 32BJ SEIU property service workers union. On Thursday, New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat also endorsed him after having previously endorsed Cuomo.
Other Democrats have sounded a sharply different tone.
Former New York Gov. David Paterson, in a press conference on Monday, called on mayoral candidates to unite behind one candidate in order to stop Mamdani. He framed Mamdani as "antagonistic" and too inexperienced to run a city as complex as New York.
Paterson -- who supported Cuomo in the primary -- brought up a recent suggestion by independent candidate Jim Walden that an independent poll should be run close to the election, and the candidates that lose in the poll would endorse whoever won and stop campaigning.
"What we are really doing is calling on the candidates who are still in the race to find a way to unite behind one of them," he said.
A spokesperson for Cuomo said that the Cuomo campaign would review the poll proposal from Walden, but did not make any commitments.
"Jim proposed a fair independent survey be taken in September to determine whose candidacy and vision for New York is strongest in a one-on-one race in November. Today, Governor David Paterson supported that proposal. While this is unorthodox, these are unusual times. We are at a dangerous moment for our city," spokesperson Rich Azzopardi wrote, adding that their campaign does not see any path to victory for Adams.
Adams did not run in the Democratic mayoral primary and is running in the election as an independent. Cuomo conceded in the Democratic primary, but has qualified for an independent ballot line in the general election. Cuomo has not yet said if he'll actively campaign.
Adams told ABC station WABC-TV on Monday, "I've said that over and over again, over and over again, that -- do the right thing for the people of this city and mobilize around one candidate so we can look at the extreme threat that we're having with Mamdani."
Adams, in an appearance on CNBC on Monday morning, claimed that Cuomo had asked him to step aside from the mayoral race. Asked for comment on Adams' claim, a spokesperson for Cuomo did not deny it, but said the campaign would not discuss private conversations.
Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa will also be on the ballot and has rebuffed calls to withdraw as well.
"Andrew Cuomo couldn't defeat Zohran Mamdani in a primary, and Eric Adams has failed to win the support of either party and is now polling dead last," he said in a statement after Paterson's comments. "I'm running on the issues, and I will beat Mamdani on November 4th. I will bring this city back."
Laura Tamman, a political science professor at Pace University, said it does not look likely any candidate will withdraw, given how candidates such as Adams and Sliwa have indicated strongly that they'll stay in. She said she could predict some scenarios where Cuomo could endorse a different candidate.
"There just aren't really incentives for anyone to get out of the race, because Mamdani looks so certain to win," she told ABC News.
It's also unlikely an independent candidate would win anyways, she added, and Mamdani is still the favorite.
"It's not because he's the Democratic nominee, although he is, but because [Mamdani] demonstrated that he has such broad appeal during the primary election campaign, he won over voters from almost every demographic, and there wasn't a clear ideological split … he appealed to moderate Democrats as well as progressive, left Democrats."
Some real estate and business interests in the city have also aligned against Mamdani. Tamman told ABC News that “there are business interests that think a Mamdani mayoralty will be bad for their pocketbooks, so they have a financial incentive to oppose his candidacy.”
Mamdani has reached out to members of the business community to meet with and hear from them.
One major outside group involved in the race is hedging its bets.
Fix the City, an independent expenditure group that spent more than $14 million supporting Cuomo in the primary, may choose a candidate to support in the general election. A source close to the super PAC said that some donors want Fix the City to support "a free-market candidate with the experience to govern effectively."
"Fix The City is currently assessing the evolving situation and has yet to decide what role it intends to play in the general election," spokesperson Liz Benjamin told ABC News.
Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who donated hundreds of thousands to the Fix the City, said earlier this month that he met with both Cuomo and Adams and said he believes Cuomo should step aside to let Adams take on Mamdani.