Guardian Angels Founder Curtis Sliwa Faces Allegations of Unpaid Campaign Workers

Former New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa is confronting new accusations that his campaign failed to pay workers after his third-place finish in the city’s recent mayoral election, according to a New York Post report.

Multiple canvassers claim they are owed thousands of dollars for work performed during the final weeks of Sliwa’s campaign against Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Workers reported knocking on doors and phone banking for weeks, only to be left waiting for promised wages after the election concluded.

“When someone is promised something, you need to live up to that end of the promise — especially when you’re running on reform,” said Alonzo Henderson, one of the affected campaign workers. Another former staffer told the Post he is owed approximately $2,000, calling the situation “disappointing for someone who claimed to run on honesty and reform.”

The payment controversy has become a significant point of frustration among Republican operatives in the city, particularly for hourly workers who relied on the income. “The biggest source of complaints is from the hourly paid canvassers. They need the money,” one GOP insider explained to the Post.

Sliwa’s campaign has firmly denied allegations that workers won’t receive payment. Campaign spokesman Rob Cole insisted “everyone is going to get paid,” attributing the delay to verification processes required by the New York City Campaign Finance Board. Sliwa himself stated that any worker who can produce time sheets will be paid by December 1, describing the verification process as “standard protocol.”

“Throughout the campaign, canvassers were paid weekly or biweekly,” Sliwa said in a statement. “Many last-minute invoices were sent after Nov. 4. Any time sheets submitted after Election Day must be audited, disclosed, and submitted to CFB by Dec. 1 to validate any post-election payments.”

The controversy appears particularly problematic given the campaign’s substantial financial resources. According to the Campaign Finance Board, Sliwa raised nearly $7 million, including more than $5 million in public matching funds. Financial records indicate approximately $1.7 million remained in campaign coffers at the election’s conclusion on November 4, when Sliwa received just 7% of the vote, trailing both Mamdani and former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent.

These allegations have renewed attention to a series of financial controversies that have dogged 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, claiming he unilaterally reduced court-ordered payments. Her attorney accused Sliwa at the time of showing “disregard for legal process.”

Additionally, 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 attributed this to an old clerical error involving a dissolved company and maintained he has paid all personal taxes.

The payment dispute has angered Republican activists still processing Mamdani’s unexpected victory. Some party officials told the Post the situation has “further eroded trust” in Sliwa’s populist messaging, arguing that unpaid canvassers undermine the image of a candidate who positioned himself as a champion for ordinary New Yorkers.

His former employer, billionaire WABC owner John Catsimatidis, has also criticized Sliwa for refusing to exit the race earlier this year—a decision Catsimatidis believes fractured the conservative vote, contributing to Mamdani’s win.

Sliwa, who gained prominence in the 1970s as founder of the red beret-wearing Guardian Angels civilian patrol group, campaigned on a law-and-order platform promising to “take back New York.” Now, as the dust settles on his unsuccessful campaign, he faces accusations from his own workers that his organization failed to honor its financial commitments.