Primary Day 2021: Curtis Sliwa wins Republican mayoral primary

Curtis Sliwa talks victory

The founder of the Guardian Angels won the Republican primary for mayor of New York City. He told Good Day New York that he's "the real deal."

NEW YORK (AP) - Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa has won the Republican mayoral primary in New York City.

Sliwa defeated businessman Fernando Mateo. Ranked choice voting wasn’t a factor because there were only two candidates in the race.

Sliwa does not have much of a chance to win the November general election in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 7 to 1.

Former allies, the two Republicans Sliwa and Mateo traded personal insults and tried to shout over each other during one debate on Zoom.

Sliwa wins GOP primary

Radio host and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is projected to win the Republican nomination for mayor of New York.

Sliwa, a radio host who still wears his red Guardian Angels beret when he appears in public, got an endorsement from former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who called him "my great friend" in a robocall to Republican voters.

Mateo, a restaurateur who has led organizations advocating for car service drivers and bodega owners, was endorsed by Michael Flynn, former president Donald Trump’s first national security adviser.

Primary Day 2021: Voting ends; now a long wait for results in NYC mayoral race