\u201cIt is a day we have been dreaming of for more than a year and as much as things have changed over the course of this campaign, in many ways it is the same campaign that we opened on October 23 [2024].\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he was a relative unknown. Now the little playground near his home in Astoria was packed with reporters and photographers perched on playground sets to get their shot.<\/p>\n
When will the new mayor be sworn in?<\/p>\n
The winner of the 2025 New York City mayoral race will be sworn on January 1, 2026, marking the official start of his term.<\/p>\n
Eric Adams, the current mayor, was sworn in a minute after midnight on January 1, 2021 in Times Square. Although City Hall is where swearing-in ceremonies are traditionally held, the mayor ultimately has the decision to choose the location.<\/p>\n
Long lines in deep blue district<\/p>\n
The lines at my polling station in Brooklyn were long \u2014 one person had to leave after waiting 20 minutes (Josie Ensor writes). Poll workers who had volunteered at previous elections said they had not seen lines this long before at 8.30am.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\/f368f76d-2f2a-4268-af25-eb086b290ad3.jpg\")
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A busy polling station in Brooklyn<\/p>\n
MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n
My district is deep blue on the electoral map, so it was no surprise that of the ten people I surveyed, seven said they had voted for the Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, the other three for Andrew Cuomo, the independent candidate.<\/p>\n
James Graham, a 30-year-old software engineer, voted for Cuomo in 2018 but believes the former Democrat has lost his magic. \u201cHe\u2019s run a totally uninspiring campaign,\u201d he said \u201cAll he talks about is the things he can\u2019t do. That\u2019s not the attitude we need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maeve Newman, 26, a data analyst, voted for Mamdani. \u201cSo many people here are existing at the bottom and only one candidate is trying to address that,\u201d she said. \u201cRent freezes, free childcare \u2014 people scoff but these things are all achievable.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\/52e0aa0a-9662-4bea-bdf7-d5b1a29f92ea.jpg\")
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Andrew Cuomo visits a polling station at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan<\/p>\n
REUTERS\/KYLIE COOPER<\/p>\n
Elon Musk<\/a> endorsed Andrew Cuomo on Monday, telling his followers on X that a vote for Curtis Sliwa was a vote for \u201cMumdani \u2026 or whatever his name is\u201d.<\/p>\n President Trump backed Cuomo during a CBS 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, saying he would choose a \u201cbad democrat\u201d over Mamdani, a self-described democrat socialist. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a fan of Cuomo one way or another, but if it\u2019s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I\u2019m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Could radical Democrat be last straw for Staten Island?<\/p>\n The light of an October afternoon is fading as Curtis Sliwa stands on a roadside deep in suburban Staten Island, greeting his people (Will Pavia writes). <\/p>\n He is perched on a rock on a narrow grassy verge and looks from a distance, in his suit and his beret, like a military statue on a pedestal. Occasionally a passing car honks and the statue raises a palm in acknowledgment.<\/p>\n Curtis Sliwa with supporters in Staten Island last week<\/p>\n JOHN TAGGART FOR THE TIMES<\/p>\n The half a million residents of this island are the only constituency of New York City\u2019s five boroughs that is majority Republican. And Sliwa, the Republican candidate for mayor, believes that they may demand to secede from the city if the democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani wins the race as expected.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they will want to join New Jersey,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u2022 Read in full: <\/b>Will Staten Island secede if NYC elects Mamdani?<\/b><\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n Trump is pragmatic, says Cuomo in plea for votes<\/p>\n Andrew Cuomo has urged Republicans to vote for him and not Curtis Sliwa, after being endorsed by President Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump is pragmatic. He is telling them the reality of the situation, which is if you don\u2019t get out and vote, Mamdani is going to win,\u201d Cuomo said during an appearance on Fox and Friends on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n Trump gave his last-minute endorsement on Truth Social, claiming: \u201cWhether 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!\u201d<\/p>\n In response, Mamdani mocked Cuomo, writing on social media: \u201cCongratulations Andrew Cuomo. I know how hard you worked for this.\u201d<\/p>\n Comment: Mamdani\u2019s hard-left economics have willing British audience<\/p>\n The ripples from today\u2019s mayoral election in New York extend across the Atlantic (Melanie Phillips writes). <\/p>\n The upstart Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani is expected to win. His agenda, combining extreme left-wing policies with a pitch about \u201cgenocide\u201d in Gaza, is prompting enthusiasm in Britain among hard-left politicians who think he\u2019s mapping out the route to hitherto unattainable electoral success.<\/p>\n In New York over the past few days, I\u2019ve found a city divided between horror and jubilation over the prospect of Mamdani in City Hall. With many postal votes already in, people are wearing \u201cI voted for Zohran\u201d stickers. But a poll suggests that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are preparing to bolt from the city if he wins. <\/p>\n \u2022 Read in full: <\/b>New York radical will embolden UK Green fantasy<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Illustrator who could be NYC\u2019s first lady Mamdani with his wife, Rama Duwaji, after he was announced as the Democratic nominee in June<\/p>\n MICHAEL M SANTIAGO\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n Fresh out of university and with her parents in Dubai, a Syrian-American artist named Rama Duwaji wondered what she would do with the rest of her life (Will Pavia writes).<\/p>\n \u201cThe ideal scenario is I\u2019d be living in New York,\u201d she told an interviewer. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s kind of a clich\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n That was in 2020. The next year she moved to the US where she met a man called Zohran Mamdani on a dating app and started working as a ceramicist and illustrator. This year they got married. Now she is expected to become the first lady of New York City.<\/p>\n \u2022 Who is Zohran Mamdani\u2019s wife? Artist fighting \u2018American imperialism\u2019<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u2018Best candidate in the race\u2019<\/p>\n Among the New Yorkers to cast their votes early were Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji. The couple voted at a high school in Queens.<\/p>\n Asked by journalists who had gathered outside who he had voted for, the Democratic Party candidate laughed and replied: \u201cBest candidate in the race.\u201d<\/p>\n Cuomo began race as frontrunner Andrew Cuomo campaign in the Washington Heights neighbourhood of Manhattan on Monday<\/p>\n TIMOTHY A CLARY\/AFP\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n Cuomo launched his campaign in March, saying he wished to \u201cdo the right thing\u201d and rescue his home town from crime, homelessness and disorder on the subway (Will Pavia writes).<\/p>\n There seemed to be little standing in his way. An unpopular, scandal-plagued incumbent, Eric Adams, and a handful of politicians with modest profiles were the only other candidates running in the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n Every poll showed Cuomo comfortably ahead of a crowded field, with at least 30 per cent support. The path to Gracie Mansion appeared all but assured in a city where Democrats make up two thirds of the electorate.<\/p>\n Primary voters, however, had a different plan. In June, Zohran Mamdani \u2014 self-described Democratic socialist \u2014 defeated Cuomo by 13 points. In an \u201cage-quake\u201d, Mamdani brought record numbers of young voters to the polls, and for the first time in a city primary, voters under 50 outnumbered those over 50.<\/p>\n \u2022 Read in full:<\/b> Who is Andrew Cuomo? Former governor and NYC mayoral election candidate<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u2018Toxic energy\u2019: how campaign got personal <\/p>\n The insults have got increasingly personal during the mayoral campaign.<\/p>\n Cuomo has called Mamdani, 34, a \u201ckid\u201d who would get knocked \u201con his tuchus\u201d by President Trump. He also accused Mamdani of bringing a \u201ctoxic energy\u201d to New York.<\/p>\n A group supporting Cuomo recently ran an advert depicting Mamdani in front of the Twin Towers on 9\/11. <\/p>\n Mamdani, in response, said he faced \u201cracist, baseless\u201d attacks. He has called Cuomo a \u201cdesperate man\u201d and \u201cTrump\u2019s puppet\u201d, as well as highlighting allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo \u2014 which Cuomo has denied.<\/p>\n Mamdani leading in latest poll<\/p>\n The last opinion poll before the election in New York put Mamdani at 43.9 per cent, Cuomo at 39.4 per cent and Sliwa at 15.5 per cent.<\/p>\n More than 2,400 \u201clikely voters\u201d were asked for their voting intentions by AtlasPoll, between October 31 and November 2.<\/p>\n \u2022 NYC election polls: latest predictions for mayoral race<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Redrawing the electoral map in California<\/p>\n Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, who is frequently mentioned as a 2028 presidential hopeful, is leading a charge to redraw congressional maps to give Democrats as many as five more House seats in upcoming elections.<\/p>\n Gavin Newsom<\/p>\n JUSTIN SULLIVAN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n The push is the centrepiece of a Democratic effort to counter new Republican maps in Texas and elsewhere that were drawn to boost the GOP\u2019s chances in next year\u2019s fight to control Congress. <\/p>\n In order for the new maps to count in 2026, however, voters will first have to approve a yes-or-no ballot question known as Proposition 50. <\/p>\n New Jersey vote on a knife-edge<\/p>\n In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, a fomer helicopter pilot for the US navy, is standing for the Democrats. <\/p>\n Sherrill was only marginally ahead in the polls and Tuesday\u2019s vote is expected to be on a knife-edge.<\/p>\n Standing against Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia is Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA agent who spent years working undercover overseas.<\/p>\n Spanberger was leading by seven points in opinion polls heading in to the vote. Virginia is home to more than 300,000 federal workers, many of whom may have been affected by Trump\u2019s DOGE cutbacks<\/a> as well as the ongoing government shutdown<\/a>. <\/p>\n Both Sherrill and Spanberger have downplayed their support for progressive policies, including LGBT rights during the campaign.<\/p>\n Governor elections are test for Trump<\/p>\n Other elections taking place today include the vote for a state governor in Virginia<\/a> and New Jersey. They are the the only states electing governors this year, and their results could be seen as mini-referendums on Trump\u2019s second term. <\/p>\n Both states voted Democrat<\/a> in last year\u2019s presidential election, but voters in each have a history of electing Republicans for state office.<\/p>\n The Republican<\/a> candidates have closely aligned themselves with the president, even though he did not appear in either state to campaign.<\/p>\n \u2022 What the New Jersey and Virginia elections say about the Democrats \u2014 and Trump<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Trump has endorsed Jack Ciattarelli in New Jersey<\/a>, but held only two town halls by telephone on his behalf.<\/p>\n The president also did a telephone town hall for Virginia on the eve of the election but gave the candidate Winsome Earle-Sears only a half-hearted endorsement and did not use her name.<\/p>\n What do the three candidates stand for? Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa and Zohran Mamdani took part in a debate on October 16<\/p>\n ANGELINA KATSANIS\/AP<\/p>\n Mamdani has campaigned on a ticket of trying to make New York more affordable for its residents. <\/p>\n He has vowed to increase publicly subsidised housing, raise corporate taxes and taxes on the city\u2019s wealthiest.<\/p>\n Cuomo, who is standing as an independent after losing the Democratic race to Mamdani, has made a pitch to reduce crime and hire more police officers and compared Mamdani to socialist leaders in Latin America, including Venezuela and Cuba.<\/p>\n Sliwa is running as the Republican Party candidate. The founder of the Guardian Angels, a voluntary crime prevention organisation, has emphasised public safety and quality of life for New Yorkers, especially in the city\u2019s outer boroughs. <\/p>\n When will the result be announced?<\/p>\n Polls in New York opened at 6am ET (11am GMT) and will close at 9pm ET (2am GMT).<\/p>\n A result is expected to be announced soon after polls close. In 2021 a winner was announced about ten minutes after voting ended. However, polls have narrowed in the final days before voting, which may mean a result will be announced later this time.<\/p>\n \u2022 NYC mayoral election 2025: candidates, key issues and when polls open<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Last month one poll gave Mamdani a 26-point lead.<\/p>\n However, the latest AtlasIntel poll, published on the eve of voting, showed Mamdani\u2019s lead over Cuomo down to under five points.<\/p>\n Trump: I\u2019ll deport Mamdani if he wins<\/p>\n Trump has also threatened to take over the city if Mamdani wins, as well as arrest and deport him.<\/p>\n Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to parents of Indian descent. He lived in Uganda until he was five then his family moved to South Africa. The family settled in New York when he was aged seven. Mamdani is a US citizen.<\/p>\n His middle name is Kwame, named after the Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah, who was prime minister of the country when it gained independence from Britain in 1957.<\/p>\n \u2022 Read in full: <\/b>Who is Zohran Mamdani? Democratic candidate in line to be NYC mayor<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Trump threatens to withhold funds<\/p>\n On the eve of the election, President Trump threatened to withhold federal funds from New York<\/a> if Mamdani wins.<\/p>\n In a Truth Social post, the US president said: \u201cIf communist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, It is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump told people to vote for Andrew Cuomo, an independent candidate<\/p>\n MARK SCHIEFELBEIN\/AP<\/p>\n New York received about $7.4 billion (\u00a35.6 billion) in federal funding this year.<\/p>\n In an interview with CBS News\u2019s 60 Minutes programme, Trump<\/a> said: \u201cIt\u2019s going to be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York. Because if you have a communist running New York, all you\u2019re doing is wasting the money you\u2019re sending there.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani has denied he is a communist and called himself a democratic socialist. In one interview he described himself as \u201ckind of like a Scandinavian politician\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump urged New Yorkers to vote for Andrew Cuomo<\/a>, even if they do not like the former governor.<\/p>\n World watches as New Yorkers head to polls<\/p>\n New York City\u2019s voters are choosing who they want as the next mayor of America\u2019s largest city \u2014 and the outcome is being keenly watched at home and abroad.<\/p>\n![\"Curtis](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\/ce9d7b5d-38fc-46be-92f9-253f57647897.jpg\")
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