Tuesday’s mayoral election should be a wake-up call for NY’s GOP

Tuesday’s mayoral election should be a wake-up call for New York Republicans.

Their candidate, Curtis Sliwa, failed even to break double digits. More than nine out 10 voters backed either Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani or Democrat Andrew Cuomo.

That’s a far worse showing than the GOP should’ve gotten based on the Democrats’ 6-1 edge in voter registration.

Something is clearly broken here. Republicans have to get serious about running candidates in the city.

True, Sliwa might’ve finished a lot closer if Andrew Cuomo had dropped out after losing the Democratic primary.

But Cuomo — who was badly tarnished — was able to pull 42% of the vote because Democrats and Republicans who wanted to avoid an antisemitic socialist as mayor thought Sliwa had no shot.

That was understandable: He has zero experience in government. And zero experience running anything even close to an enterprise with a $125 billion budget and more than 350,000 employees.

Indeed, his record and life history, as the founder of the Guardian Angels, made him a quirky, if not something of a joke, candidate.

We get it: Republicans face a steep uphill climb in New York.

The city has a long history of identity politics that favors the left and Democratic political machines and clubs that reinforce the view that voting for anyone who isn’t a Democrat is heresy.

Even the schools tilt young minds leftward.

All of which makes it hard for Republicans to find good candidates, and harder still when the weak ones who do run lose, discouraging others.

Say hello to Democratic domination with no accountability — and a steady, downward spiral.

Still, it’s not like a Republican has never prevailed in New York: Rudolph Giuliani won twice and Michael Bloomberg claimed victory as a GOPer in 2001 and 2005.

Last year, the supposedly despised Donald Trump pulled an impressive 30% of the city vote.

Clearly, getting the GOP’s act together requires building a bench — but also a far stronger party apparatus: New York really has no Republican establishment, just scattered clubs.

It needs donors who don’t just jump in at the last minute, but engage in party-building and candidate cultivation — and realize that politics means compromise, not simply dictating or dangling cash to magically get exactly what you what.

A long-term strategy involves trying, failing and learning lessons so you succeed next time; worthwhile potential candidates need to know they’ll be more than just another sacrificial lamb.

Having viable Republican candidates — if only to keep Democrats honest — is essential to the city’s health.

Tuesday was proof: With Sliwa as the GOP nominee, and Cuomo running as an independent, the city wound up with a radical socialist who’ll surely test New Yorkers’ endurance.

New York needs a stronger opposition party.

Let’s hope Republicans learn from Tuesday’s results.