George Santos Announces Exit from New York City Following Mayor Election

By Newsmax Wires | Friday, 07 November 2025 12:54 PM EST
Former New York GOP Rep. George Santos announced this week that he is leaving New York City following the election of democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani as mayor earlier this week. “Good luck, New York,” Santos said in a video posted on X. “It was nice knowing you. After 37 years, I’m out.” He went on to criticize Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa for staying in the race, saying he should have dropped out to support former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani. “Curtis could have never won,” Santos said. “He not only could have never won, he underperformed [in] his 2021 election campaign by a remarkable 24 points.” He added, “Cuomo was by far a flawed candidate — terrible human being — but much better than what we just landed ourselves with. I’d rather the evil I know than the evil I don’t want to know.” Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives in 2023 after a report from the House Ethics Committee found that he had “repeatedly, egregiously and brazenly violated the public’s trust.” He later pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, serving about three months of his seven-year sentence before President Donald Trump issued a clemency order last month.