Record turnout in New York City as Mamdani faces Cuomo in generational battle for mayor
New York, Nov 05: A record number of voters cast ballots on Tuesday in the New York City mayor’s race, a generational and ideological contest between a democratic socialist and former governor that will resonate across the nation.
Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary earlier this year, faces former governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who is trying to land a massive upset.
According to the city’s Board of Elections, nearly 1.75 million voters cast ballots as of 6 pm (local time), marking the biggest turnout in a New York mayoral race in at least 30 years. Polls were scheduled to close at 9 pm.
A victory for Mamdani would give the city its first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in generations, while elevating the democratic socialist to political stardom and giving his brand of economic populism one of the most visible political perches in America.
If Cuomo comes out on top, he will have staged a remarkable political comeback four years after resigning as governor over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations.
For Sliwa — the creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group and a longtime New York tabloid fixture — a win would put a Republican in charge of the nation’s largest city at a time when many New Yorkers are seeking a leader who can keep President Donald Trump at bay.
Mamdani and Cuomo voted Tuesday morning in Queens and Manhattan, respectively, while Sliwa had already cast his ballot during early voting.
The race has made Mamdani a national figure as he has drawn the ire of Trump and other Republicans, who have tried to cast him as the face of a new, more radical Democratic Party. Trump has also threatened to take over the city if Mamdani wins, as well as arrest and deport the state assembly member, who was born in Uganda but is a U.S. citizen.
Trump reluctantly endorsed Cuomo on the eve of the election, saying Mamdani would bring “disaster” to the city and encouraging Sliwa backers to vote for the former governor instead.
A rematch with key differences
Mamdani, a 34-year-old state lawmaker, already defeated Cuomo once in the Democratic primary, energizing progressives to score a surprise victory over the once-powerful former governor with a campaign that focused on lowering the cost of living in one of the country’s most expensive cities.
This time, Cuomo is counting on support from moderates and Republicans. And he’s hoping incumbent Mayor Eric Adams’ late exit from the race and eventual endorsement will give him a boost among their overlapping bases of centrists, Black voters and ultra-Orthodox Jews.
He’s also received the endorsement of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who donated USD 1.5 million to a super PAC supporting Cuomo in the final days of the contest.
Mamdani has generated national buzz and won endorsements from big-name progressives, including US Sen. Bernie Sanders and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He has proposed raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers and using the money to make city buses free and provide free, universal child care. He also promised to freeze rent for people living in about 1 million rent-regulated apartments.
“I think he seems like he actually loves this city,” said Emily Edmonds-Langham, 38, as she voted for Mamdani on Tuesday in the Bronx.
“I think he’ll fight for us and make the city more affordable.”
At the same time, Mamdani’s past criticism of the city’s police department and the Israeli government’s military actions in Gaza — which he has called genocidal — have unnerved some centrists who see him as a potential setback in their effort to broaden the party’s national appeal.
Sam Schwarz, 57, an independent who described himself as “mostly conservative”, said he was voting for Cuomo.
“Number one, the guy has zero experience,” Schwarz said of Mamdani, adding that he views the candidate as “a smiling antisemite”.
Tuesday’s general election is being conducted as a traditional one, meaning the candidate who gets the most votes wins. The city’s party primaries were determined using ranked-choice voting, which allowed voters to rank candidates in order of preference.
Sliwa’s path to victory is narrow in the overwhelmingly Democratic city, resting on his ability to secure the GOP vote with his tough-on-crime message and Noo Yawk attitude, while picking up moderates who don’t want to elevate Mamdani or return Cuomo to power.
In the race’s final weeks, Cuomo appealed to Sliwa’s supporters, arguing that a vote for the Republican was a vote for Mamdani.
Damian Koszalka, a carpenter from Queens, said he voted for Sliwa because the Republican is “dedicated to the city”, adding that he wasn’t swayed by the president’s calls for voters to back Cuomo.
“I don’t give a damn, you know, if Trump or whoever, is telling me I have to vote for this guy because that’s the less evil, or this and that,” he said after casting his ballot.
“It doesn’t work that way.”
