New Yorkers are expected to elect Democrat Zohran Mamdani as mayor on Tuesday, opening a new front of opposition to US President Donald Trump and raising the specter that the president will retaliate against the city where he made his name.
While Mamdani’s rise dominates the headlines, off-year gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey will be seen as even more critical indicators of the American political mood nearly 10 months into Trump’s painful right-wing reign.
Democratic victories there will be seen as signs that the embattled opposition is coming back to life ahead of next year’s midterm elections to decide control of Congress.
Mamdani, who describes himself as a socialist and campaigned to reduce costs for ordinary New Yorkers, led by seven points (41 percent) in the latest AtlasIntel poll. Former state Governor Andrew Cuomo came in behind the 34-year-old with 34%.
Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the citizen crime patrol group Guardian Angels, polled at 24%, a margin that could swing the vote if enough supporters swung toward Cuomo.
Shortly after the polls opened, Denise Gibbs, 46, a doctor of physical therapy, voted at Uncommon Bed-Stuy West School in Brooklyn.
“I hope it improves the city. I want it to decrease division and increase the livelihoods of working-class households and services for children,” she said, dressed in a green robe.
Polls close at 9 pm (7 am PKT on Wednesday).
A total of 1.14 million votes were cast in 2021, the year that elected current Mayor Eric Adams, who retired after his re-election campaign struggled to gain momentum amid scandals and corruption allegations. He endorsed Cuomo, 67.
Trump threat
In a final effort to get votes, Mamdani hit nightclubs over Halloween weekend, stopping at an event called “Papi Juice” without ditching his trademark dark suit.
If elected, he would be the city’s first Muslim mayor.
Far-right Republicans have scorned a video he broadcast in Arabic to supporters in the famously diverse city.
Cuomo visited all five boroughs of the city on Monday, while Sliwa toured the city pushing his “tough on crime” message.
The race has focused on the cost of living, crime and how each candidate would handle Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal funds from the city.
“If communist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the election for mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will contribute federal funds, other than the minimum required, to my beloved first home,” Trump wrote on social media.
Mamdani responded during a prospecting event in Queens on Monday.
“What was rumored, what was feared has become naked and brazen: the ‘MAGA’ movement’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo,” he said.
Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University, said a victory for Mamdani would spark a “showdown” with Trump.
“Trump will treat New York City more aggressively,” he said. “There will be some kind of political confrontation.” Mamdani’s unlikely rise to the top of America’s largest city has also sent shockwaves through the Democratic Party, which is struggling to decide whether to embrace a centrist or left-populist path.
“I think this has to be a party that really allows Americans to see themselves in it and not just be a reflection of a few people who participate in politics,” Mamdani said at a dance with seniors on Friday.
Great test of the American mood
Voters in the states of New Jersey and Virginia will elect a new governor on Tuesday.
Democratic Party candidate Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, faces Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a businessman backed by Trump, and the two are tied according to polls.
In the race for Virginia governor, Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger has gained a comfortable lead in polls over Virginia’s Republican lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears.
Both sides have brought out the big guns: Former President Barack Obama rallied support for Spanberger and Sherrill at two separate events over the weekend and Trump scheduled telerallies for both Virginia and New Jersey on the eve of the vote.
Obama also reportedly spoke with Mamdani over the weekend but, reflecting the party’s internal debate, stopped short of endorsing him.
