Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani could become New York City’s first Muslim and first Asian American mayor if he holds off a comeback bid by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
NEW YORK − Will the kid from Kampala ride a youth wave to City Hall? Can a dour former governor find redemption at the ballot box? And what’s up with that guy in the beret? New Yorkers are swarming the polls in record numbers to choose between a historic first, a seismic comeback or a vigilante spoiler for mayor.
Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist in the state Assembly, would be the first Muslim mayor and first Asian American mayor of the nation’s largest city. His nearest competitor is former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a centrist Democrat running as an independent. Republican Curtis Sliwa, who founded the anti-crime group the Guardian Angels, is a distant third in the polls.
In the Nov. 4 general election, voters will replace outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, whose embattled one term has been hampered by scandals that quashed his hopes of winning reelection.
New Yorkers will also be voting in key City Council and local elections, including Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, whose office successfully prosecuted President Donald Trump in 2024 for hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Here’s the latest:
Cuomo apologizes for COVID-19 deaths but says he ‘did nothing wrong’
Cuomo, in an Election Day morning appearance on Fox News, said he was sorry to people whose loved ones died from COVID-19 while he was governor.
“I apologize for any family that lost a loved one during that time. It was on my watch, and I understand how terrible it was,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo has been dogged during his campaign by ongoing accusations that, when he was governor, his administration undercounted the number of nursing home residents who died from the coronavirus.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a report in 2021 finding that the state’s Department of Health published data that may have undercounted those deaths by as much as 50%, and that nursing homes put residents at increased risk by failing to comply with infection control protocols.
Even with his apology, Cuomo continued to defend his record.
“We followed all the federal rules. We did nothing wrong,” he said. “It was horrific, but everyone did the best that they could.”
–Aysha Bagchi
Cuomo says Trump is ‘pragmatic’ in endorsing him
Andrew Cuomo said President Donald Trump was being realistic by telling Republican voters to support him against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
“President Trump is pragmatic,” Andrew Cuomo said on the conservative talk show “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday morning. “He’s telling them the reality of this situation. If you do not vote, Mamdani is going to win.”
Trump has increasingly voiced support for Cuomo against Mamdani, the frontrunner in the race. Cuomo, running as an independent, previously disavowed Trump’s endorsement while also trying to pull Republican voters away from GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa, who trails in third.
“Even if you’re not voting for a Republican, you’re voting to save New York City,” Cuomo said. “This election is not about Democrat or Republican. It’s about saving the city.”
−Eduardo Cuevas
Sliwa, wearing a cat tie, accompanies wife to vote
Sporting his signature red beret and a tie decorated with cats, Curtis Sliwa accompanied his wife, Nancy, on Tuesday as she cast her ballot for her husband in the New York City mayoral race.
Sliwa, the Republican candidate running on the Protect Animals ballot line, said that the results of the city’s election will “be determined by the people, even if they don’t choose me” and not the “political elites.” While holding a book entitled, “Pawverbs for a Cat Lover’s Heart,” Sliwa said that he has the people’s support.
“Hopefully by the time the ballots are counted tonight, when all is said and done, I’ll be the next mayor of the City of New York,” he said. “And you know animals throughout the city will be partying hardy because they’ll have a friend both in Gracie Mansion and in City Hall.”
–Rebecca Morin
Candidates highlight their signature policy proposals
The three candidates vying for mayor gave vastly different closing arguments Tuesday while appearing on WNYC’s popular “The Brian Lehrer Show” to describe their signature policy proposal.
Mamdani, who has run on a campaign to address affordability, said his key issue was universal child care, which he wants to fund via taxes on the city’s wealthiest. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who would have to ultimately approve the tax hike with state lawmakers, has supported Mamdani’s proposal.
Sliwa cited his opposition to the city’s controversial housing proposals, which Cuomo and Mamdani support. Sliwa also pointed to opposition from City Council leadership, which is staunchly Democratic. “Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani are helping developers and realtors,” he said. “I’m standing with the people.”
Cuomo’s signature proposal was public safety, including hiring 5,000 new police officers. “Safety is the foundation,” he said. Mayor Eric Adams, who endorsed Cuomo, recently announced funding to hire 5,000 new NYPD officers. Recent data has showed a continued decline in major crimes in the city, with the lowest October for homicides since NYPD began tracking data in 1994.
−Eduardo Cuevas
Mamdani votes ‘yes’ on NYC housing measures
Outside of his polling place in Astoria, Queens, Mamdani told reporters he voted yes on New York City’s controversial ballot proposals 2 through 4, which Mayor Eric Adams’ administration put forward in what proponents said is needed to address the city’s dire housing shortage.
City Council leadership opposed the measures, arguing it left local officials unable to respond to local needs of neighborhoods while concentrating power in the hands of the mayor and developers.
Mamdani hadn’t said whether he supported proposals until now. In the last mayoral debate on Oct. 22, his opponents and moderators ridiculed him for not having a response.
“We urgently need more housing to be built across the five boroughs,” he told a New York Daily News reporter on Election Day, acknowledging councilmembers who opposed the measures based on concerns over investment in their communities. “I share the commitment to that investment. I look forward to working with them and delivering on that.”
Mamdani also voted no on ballot proposal to move city elections for offices such as mayor to presidential years in order to boost turnout.
−Eduardo Cuevas
Cuomo declines to embrace Trump endorsement
Andrew Cuomo declined to embrace President Donald Trump‘s last-minute endorsement of him in the final hours before Election Day. Trump urged his supporters to cast their ballots for Cuomo in a Nov. 3 evening post on Truth Social.
“Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!” Trump said.
Rather than leaning into the endorsement, Cuomo highlighted that Trump previously called him a “bad Democrat.”
“Trump called me a bad Democrat? No I’m a good Democrat. A proud Democrat,” Cuomo said in a Monday evening post on X.
Cuomo added that Trump wouldn’t be sending ICE or the National Guard into New York City under his watch, and painted himself as someone who could stand up to the Republican president.
−Aysha Bagchi
Mamdani said his economic plan aims to protect the city from President Donald Trump’s threat to provide it less federal funding.
Mamdani calls for a 2% tax on people making more than $1 million per year, to raise $4 billion per year, and seeks to increase the corporate tax rate to 11.5%, to generate $5 billion. Mamdani would also freeze the rent for 2.5 million residents in a city of 8.5 million people.
“It would actually allow us to start Trump-proofing our city,” Mamdani told “The Beat with Ari Melber” on MSNBC on Monday. “We have to protect the New Yorkers with the least from the attacks from the man with the most power in this country.”
Trump calls Mamdani a communist and said the federal government can’t afford to throw good money after bad if he is elected.
“It’s going to be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York,” Trump told “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired Sunday.
−Bart Jansen
NYC mayoral hopefuls rally voters ahead of election day
Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa make their final efforts to connect with voters ahead of NYC election day.
Mamdani called Cuomo Trump’s “hand-picked” candidate in the race.
Trump urged New Yorkers to vote for Cuomo, whom Mamdani already beat in the Democratic primary. Mamdani said voting for Cuomo in the heavily Democratic city would be the same as voting for Trump.
“I’m saying that because Donald Trump has hand-picked his candidate. That candidate’s name is Andrew Cuomo,” Mamdani told “The Beat with Ari Melber” on MSNBC on Monday. “And New Yorkers have the chance to handpick their fighter. And I believe that candidate should be me.”
−Bart Jansen
Who are the candidates for NYC mayor?
Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from Queens, has been ahead in polls following his stunning win in the June primary against Andrew Cuomo, the three-term former New York governor who has sought to revive his political career after resigning in disgrace. If elected, Mamdani would be the first Muslim and the first South Asian to lead the city, and the first immigrant mayor in 80 years.
Cuomo, 67, running as an independent in the general election, has been consolidating voters against Mamdani, shrinking Mamdani’s lead headed into Election Day. A turnaround victory would be a monumental comeback for Cuomo, the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo.
But Cuomo still faces a roadblock by Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, the beret-wearing founder of the Guardian Angels vigilante group. Polls have indicated Sliwa’s conservative base could help Cuomo climb to compete against Mamdani, but Sliwa, 71, did not drop out.
Sliwa, a well-known New York City figure for decades, lost handily to Adams four years earlier. If a fractured electorate can’t decide between Cuomo or Mamdani, Sliwa would be the first Republican elected in the heavily Democratic city since Mike Bloomberg.