A Brooklyn Democratic lawmaker has infuriated party activists by backing Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa — while slamming ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s political comeback bid.
Assemblywoman Jamie Williams spoke at the opening of Sliwa’s campaign office on Flatbush Avenue on September 14, effusively praising the GOP hopeful as the best candidate for her constituents, as she ripped his Democratic opponents.
“I have to say, Curtis has stood with our community from day one for everything the former governor, Andrew Cuomo, did to us, and also Eric Adams,” said Williams, in a video of the event obtained by The Post.
“So today, we are here to support the best candidate for us…. the people’s mayor… who is going to fight for you,” said Williams, who has represented the 59th District that includes the southern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Canarsie, Flatlands, Georgetown, Bergen Beach, Mill Basin, Mill Island and Gerritsen Beach since 2016.
Sliwa joined Williams and other community leaders in opposing the migrant encampment at Floyd Bennett Field, other homeless shelters and battery storage facilities in the more moderate conservative one-and-two family homeowner neighborhoods.
He has also stood out for opposing congestion pricing and more dense housing in southern Brooklyn.
Williams praised the work of the Guardian Angels, the red-beret and jacket-clad civic patrol volunteers founded by Sliwa.
“We need someone we can trust, not someone who is recycled with their bad behavior and their bad actors. But with Curtis we have someone who is going to represent the community, our people and every single New Yorker,” the assemblywoman said.
In response, Democratic activists starting a new political club in Canarsie wrote an open letter calling Williams out for her endorsement of Sliwa.
“As someone elected in the Democratic primary and caucuses with the Democratic Party in Albany, your decision to openly support a Republican candidate raises serious concerns,” wrote Canarsie Democracy Club co-founder Aissata Diallo.
“It calls into question how this action serves the constituents who elected you and how it aligns with the values and obligations you committed to when seeking office.”
The letter quoted a section of the New York State Democratic Party Rule saying, “All persons seeking or holding party or public office under the Democratic Party label or Democratic Party name, thereby undertake, while so serving or seeking to serve, not to oppose publicly the election of any Democratic nominee for the office in New York State.”
“Your public endorsement of Mr. Sliwa appears to be in direct violation of this rule, undermining both the Democratic nominee and the broader efforts of the party to deliver for the communities we represent,” Diallo wrote.
“This not only creates a serious conflict within the party but also raises concerns about your ability to maintain credibility and influence within the caucus you rely on to secure resources for our district.”
Williams, in a subsequent Post interview, claimed her support for Sliwa was not an official endorsement.
“Curtis showed up for me. I supported him back. It’s the respectful thing to do,” she said.
“At the end of the day, it’s about doing the right thing.”
She insisted: “I did not endorse anyone.”
Williams describes herself as a “conservative Democrat” and said backing the radical left-wing Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani for mayor was out of the question.
Cuomo is running on an independent line in the November election, as was incumbent mayor Adams, before he suspended his campaign Sunday.
Williams said she served with Mamdani in the Assembly and praised him as a hard worker — “but I will not support a socialist agenda.”
Williams, who also receives backing from Republicans and conservatives, noted that state Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs did not support the Queens assemblyman, either.
“At the end of the day it’s about the people who elected me,” Williams said.
Brooklyn Democratic Party chairwoman Rodneyse Bichotte, who is backing democratic socialist Mamdani after he defeated Cuomo in the June primary, did not turn on Williams.
Bichotte believed that Williams’ pro-Sliwa speech at the Republican candidate’s event was not an endorsement, a spokesperson for the party leader said.
But Sliwa said it was “absolutely an endorsement” and vowed to “knock on doors” to help Williams next year if she faces a Democratic Party challenge.
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