Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder and recent New York City mayoral candidate, is facing claims from several campaign canvassers who say they are still owed pay after the campaign wound down. Workers describe weeks of door-knocking and phone banking that were supposed to be compensated, while the campaign maintains that payments must clear routine verification with the city Campaign Finance Board. The dispute has amplified talk about Sliwa’s finances, touched on past legal brushes, and stirred frustration among conservative activists who had hoped his outsider message would hold steady. This article walks through the accusations, the campaign response, relevant financial details, and the way Republicans in the city are reacting.
Multiple canvassers told reporters they were promised wages that never arrived, leaving some out thousands of dollars after supporting Sliwa’s late push in the mayoral contest. One former worker said he is owed about $2,000 and called the situation “disappointing for someone who claimed to run on honesty and reform.” Another canvasser, Alonzo Henderson, said he felt misled. “When someone is promised something, you need to live up to that end of the promise — especially when you’re running on reform,” Henderson told the outlet.
Republican operatives in New York say the complaints are concentrated among hourly-paid canvassers who depend on those checks. One GOP insider described the pay problem as a major point of frustration for lower-level staffers who expected timely cash for weeks of work. That frustration matters politically because it chips away at the image of a populist campaign that positioned itself as loyal to ordinary voters and workers.
The campaign has pushed back on the idea that people are being stiffed, arguing instead that the delay is administrative. Spokesman Rob Cole said “everyone is going to get paid,” explaining that wages need to be verified by the city’s Campaign Finance Board before disbursement. Sliwa echoed that view and said anyone with timesheets would be paid by Dec. 1, describing the verification work as “standard protocol” and rejecting the idea his campaign refused to compensate staff.
Official campaign finance numbers show Sliwa raised a substantial sum—nearly $7 million in total, including public matching funds—leaving about $1.7 million in cash on hand at the end of the race. That makes the claims of unpaid canvassers harder for critics to accept at face value, and it keeps attention on how campaign funds are tracked and processed after an election. The Campaign Finance Board’s rules on post-election payments require verification that can delay payouts until accounting and audits are complete.
The controversy arrives alongside other financial questions that have trailed Sliwa over recent years. In 2023 a complaint from his ex-wife alleged unpaid child support totaling more than $530,000, a claim his team has disputed in public statements. Politico’s reporting also noted a small corporate tax warrant tied to a dissolved company under Sliwa’s name, which the campaign said was a clerical error and insisted that his personal taxes were up to date.
These episodes have fed a narrative among some Republicans that the campaign’s populist pitch and its internal practices are at odds. Party activists, still smarting from the upset win by Zohran Mamdani, say the pay dispute has “further eroded trust” in Sliwa’s claims to speak for everyday New Yorkers. Critics inside the conservative fold also point to disagreements over campaign strategy and timing, with notable donors publicly saying his continued candidacy may have split the conservative vote.
Sliwa finished the race with roughly 7% of the vote on Nov. 4, far behind the top two finishers who moved on. That result, combined with the post-election pay claims and past financial headlines, leaves a complicated political picture for his supporters to navigate. For conservatives in the city looking for a clear standard-bearer, the issues have become both a cautionary tale and a test of party unity.
The campaign maintains it will follow the city’s auditing timetable and make any valid payments before final filings are due. “Throughout the campaign, canvassers were paid weekly or biweekly,” Sliwa said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Many last-minute invoices were sent after November 4.”
“Any timesheets submitted after Election Day must be audited, disclosed, and submitted to CFB by December 1st to validate any post-election payments. This is standard protocol for the campaign. All valid invoices get paid before the final audit is due, with the remaining account funds and the final match payment. The campaign must verify everyone’s invoice to be compliant.”
