With the New York City mayor's race now in the homestretch, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa is facing mounting pressure to drop out to pave the way for a showdown between former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner for months.

However, Sliwa continues to insist he remains in it to win it, saying Tuesday, "Let's be very clear: I am not dropping out, under no circumstance."

The founder of the Guardian Angels added, "I've already been offered money to drop out. I said no. Fourteen days left, and I am going to put every hour of the day into it that is humanly possible."

The candidates will engage in their second debate on Wednesday night.  

What the latest polling says   

The push to get Sliwa to drop out follows a poll released by AARP that has Mamdani leading with 43% of the vote in a three-man race, 14 points ahead of Cuomo, which would set up the Queens assemblyman for a decisive victory come Nov. 4.

However, that same poll says in a two-man race, Cuomo, a moderate Democrat running as an independent, pulls within the 4-point margin of error against Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, setting up a closer battle between the two.

Sliwa, though, added Tuesday he plans to cast his vote for himself on the first day of early voting on Saturday, putting a theoretical nail in the coffin for the chances of him dropping out.

His candidacy has been bolstered by the support of the five Republican county chairmen, who say he should stay in the race because party loyalists will not back Cuomo.

"Republicans should not have to clean up the mess Andrew Cuomo and the Democrats created, and we will not allow the political class to interfere with voters or hijack our ballot," the chairmen said in a statement.

Sliwa went after Cuomo, who at times has been accused of running a lackluster campaign.

"I don't see any sign of a Cuomo campaign, other than every day ad nauseam, 'Sliwa must drop out or I can't win.' Why not wave the white flag now and do a Roberto Duran and say, 'No mas, no mas, I can't win unless Sliwa drops out,'" he said.

Cuomo responds, and announces new proposals

On Tuesday morning on WABC radio, the station that Sliwa has had a talk show on for years, Cuomo responded to the idea of the Republican candidate dropping out and joining forces with his campaign.

"I don't have anything against him. I want support from everyone I can get support from," Cuomo said.

Speaking later at the Association for a Better New York, the former governor called on Sliwa to be realistic about his chances and to take heed of what staying in the race could mean.

"Curtis cannot, will not be mayor of New York. He could cause Mamdani to be mayor of New York. Those are his options," Cuomo said. "It's not about you. It's not about you, Curtis. It's not about me. It's not about Mayor Eric Adams. It's not about any of us. It's about New York City."

Cuomo's campaign on Tuesday proposed to fix the MTA with an independent, city-run construction management team, and launched a digital ad claiming Mamdani is clone of former mayor Bill de Blasio.

• Read more: Andrew Cuomo reflects on what he thinks New Yorkers want as mayor's race enters homestretch

"I continue to be confident no matter who's on the ballot"

Mamdani, for his part, remains indifferent about the possibility of a two-man race, saying he believes the right to occupy Gracie Mansion is his to lose.

"I continue to be confident no matter who's on the ballot. No matter who's there on Nov. 4, we're going to win this race. We're going to deliver the city New Yorkers deserve," Mamdani said.

He also launched a plan to make the Department of Education more efficient by renegotiating consultant contracts, and slammed Cuomo for trying to get Sliwa out of the race, saying the election is a battle for the soul of the Democratic party.

"We have a former governor who has used many of the very tactics that we have often thought are exclusive to the Republican party in that same primary, and now that governor is continuing to use those tactics while taking on a movement that brought more Democrats, more Democratic votes in a New York City primary than any in history," Mamdani said.