Curtis Sliwa reportedly stiffed NYC campaign workers after failed mayoral bid

Guardian Angels founder and former New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa is facing new accusations of failing to pay campaign workers after his third-place finish in the city’s chaotic 2025 mayoral race, according to a report from the New York Post.

Several canvassers told the outlet they were promised wages that never materialized, leaving them owed thousands of dollars after weeks of door-knocking and phone banking during the final stretch of Sliwa’s campaign against Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

One former worker interviewed by The Post said he is owed about $2,000, calling the situation “disappointing for someone who claimed to run on honesty and reform.” Another canvasser, Alonzo Henderson, said he felt misled. “When someone is promised something, you need to live up to that end of the promise — especially when you’re running on reform,” Henderson told the outlet.

Republican operatives in the city told the paper the issue has become a major point of frustration among lower-level staffers. “The biggest source of complaints is from the hourly paid canvassers. They need the money,” one GOP insider said.

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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.

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Sliwa ultimately received just 7% of the vote in the Nov. 4 election, trailing Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent.

The pay dispute has renewed attention to a series of financial controversies that have followed Sliwa in recent years.

In 2023, The Daily Beast reported that Sliwa’s ex-wife, Mary Paterson, sued him for more than $530,000 in unpaid child support, alleging he unilaterally cut his court-ordered payments. Her attorney accused Sliwa at the time of “disregard for legal process.”

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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.

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.”