A powerful coalition of former New York City and state officials is mobilizing to block Zohran Mamdani, the leading Democratic mayoral candidate, from claiming victory in November’s election. 

The group, “SaveNYC,” is spearheaded by the city’s former police commissioner Ray Kelly and the former New York lieutenant governor, Betsy McCaughey. The group filed paperwork with the state’s Board of Elections on Friday launching a new independent expenditure committee designed to derail Mamdani’s campaign.

Rather than rally behind a single candidate, the group will bankroll an “aggressive field outreach” campaign — deploying door-to-door canvassers and launching a social media blitz to warn voters about the potential consequences of Mr. Mamdani’s redistributive policies for everyday New Yorkers.

“Mamdani claims to have knocked on 1 million doors. We can out-knock him,” a SaveNYC fundraising email says.

“We have a plan. We’re going to be on the ground by the end of July,” Ms. McCaughey tells the New York Sun, where she is an occasional contributor. “Mamdani’s big spending plans will put New York on the brink of bankruptcy, leading to severe cuts in city services, including police and sanitation.”

SaveNYC is the latest political action committee to form in the wake of the democratic primary that thrust Mamdani into the spotlight.

“New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25” recently launched a campaign to torpedo Mamdani’s candidacy, boasting a $20 million war chest, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal citing Board of Elections filings.

In a major upset, Mr. Mamdani won the city’s Democratic primary two weeks ago by more than 12 points – striking a blow to former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s campaign and the state’s democratic establishment. Business leaders, moderate Democrats, independents, and some Republicans have debated how best to prevent the 33-year-old self-declared socialist from occupying Gracie Mansion. One point of agreement is that the general election field needs to be narrowed.

The current ballot is crowded with candidates vying for a chance to run city hall. Mr. Mamdani is running on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines. Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is running as a Republican. Mayor Adams is running on two independent lines he created, “End Antisemitism” and “Safe & Affordable.” Mr. Cuomo is also running on an independent line, as is former U.S. Attorney Jim Walden.

In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than five to one, Mr. Mamdani is well positioned for a November victory. Early polling is reinforcing his frontrunner status while none of the other candidates—save for Mr. Walden—has shown any willingness to exit the race.

Former New York Governor, David Paterson, held a press conference earlier this week calling for the field to consolidate behind one candidate to face Mr. Mamdani in the fall – but did not say who that candidate should be.

“I’m really not here to represent any candidate,” he said. “This is really a job for someone who has experience, it’s a job for someone who can make a plan work, and it’s got to be someone who is going to consider the people in the city and not single them out for some type of retribution.”

Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime adviser to Ms. McCaughey, tells the Sun the new expenditure committees could help sway the election in November — but only if they get scrappy. He believes they need to ditch the traditional consultants and pollsters.

“If they run the same kind of campaigns that are very traditional, using the same group of people from the political-industrial complex that has done such a good job with the Brad Lander campaign and the Andrew Cuomo campaign, they will have the same outcome,” Mr. Sheinkopf says.

The Democratic Socialists of America have unleashed a huge ground operation to promote the Mamdani campaign, deploying 50,000 volunteers who have pounded on 1 million doors and dialed 2 million phones. In response, SaveNYC is preparing to blanket all five boroughs with its own field operatives, dispatching door-to-door canvassers and positioning street teams throughout the city.

“Political experts advise that this assault must be executed quickly,” a recent SaveNYC fundraising email reads. “Even before the field has been narrowed and his opponent is identified.”