Zohran Mamdani Leads New York Mayoral Race with Progressive Platform as Early Voting Begins

Mamdani holds a commanding 18-point lead over Cuomo in the latest citywide poll with 47 percent support.

United States:

Early voting for New York's mayoral election commences Saturday with Democratic outsider candidate Zohran Mamdani emerging as the frontrunner, poised to transform the city's political landscape and potentially clash with President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized him.

The race has taken numerous unexpected turns, with 34-year-old Mamdani, a self-proclaimed socialist state lawmaker, rising from relative obscurity to lead a campaign that has seen the incumbent mayor withdraw and the former Democratic favorite lose his primary election.

Mamdani's campaign has gained remarkable momentum, particularly among young New Yorkers who have enthusiastically rallied behind his candidacy.

His focus on addressing the escalating cost of living crisis has resonated strongly with voters, with the Queens-based legislator promising to implement a rent freeze for two million residents living in rent-stabilized apartments.

In a surprising development, scandal-plagued current mayor Eric Adams has endorsed second-place candidate Andrew Cuomo, the 67-year-old former state governor—despite previously describing him as a "snake and a liar."

The early voting period allows New Yorkers to cast ballots from Saturday through November 2, with Election Day scheduled for November 4. The winner will assume office in January.

According to the most recent citywide poll conducted by Victory Insights between October 22-23, Mamdani commands 47 percent support, leading Cuomo by 18 points. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, 71, trails with 16 percent.

Adams, who has been embroiled in corruption allegations related to his administration, withdrew from the race on September 28 but initially declined to endorse any candidate.

"You can't freeze rent, but you are lying and telling people you could—we're fighting against a snake oil salesman," Adams declared Thursday while standing alongside Cuomo. "Gentrifiers have raised the rent in the city... and [Mamdani's] the king of the gentrifiers."

The impact of Adams's endorsement on the race remains uncertain.

"It is possible, but extremely unlikely, Cuomo can catch Mamdani," observed Lincoln Mitchell, political science professor at Columbia University, noting that the former governor's "tough guy persona" belongs to a bygone era.

The affordability crisis has dominated the mayoral race, along with how each candidate would manage relations with Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal funding from the city where he built his real estate empire and television career.

Trump has labeled Mamdani, who advocates for free bus transportation and childcare in the city of 8.5 million residents, a "communist."

"I was always very generous with New York, even when you had opposition there," Trump stated this month. "I wouldn't be generous to a communist guy that's going to take the money and throw it out the window."

Mamdani has indicated willingness to cooperate with Trump if it would reduce living costs in the city, while Sliwa has expressed intentions to "negotiate" with the president, and Cuomo has stated he would "confront" the commander-in-chief.

"I've lived in New York for 10 years almost. I've always been... not necessarily always struggling, but trying to hustle and get things together," Mamdani supporter and tenant organizer Lex Rountree, 27, told AFP.

"It feels strange to kind of think about what it would look like to have some of that ease" under Mamdani, Rountree added.

Mamdani's campaign received a significant boost Friday when Hakeem Jeffries, a New York congressman and the top Democrat in the US House of Representatives, endorsed him.

"Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy," the prominent Democrat stated.

Mamdani will bring considerable political star power to his campaign Sunday when he appears alongside progressive Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a "get out the vote" rally at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.