- New Yorkers elect Zohran Mamdani, sparking showdown with Trump.
- Voters in Virginia and New Jersey will gauge the revival of the Democratic Party on Tuesday.
- Mamdani promises cost cuts, faces opposition over city funds.
New Yorkers are expected to elect leftist Zohran Mamdani as mayor on Tuesday, opening a new front in opposition to 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, out-of-year gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey will be seen as even more critical gauges of the American political mood nearly 10 months into Trump’s bruising right-wing tenure.
Democratic victories there will be seen as signals that the beleaguered opposition is coming back to life ahead of next year’s midterm elections to determine control of Congress.
Mamdani, who describes himself as a socialist and campaigned to cut costs for ordinary New Yorkers, led by seven points at 41% in the latest AtlasIntel poll.
The 34-year-old was followed by former state governor Andrew Cuomo at 34%.
Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels citizen crime patrol group, was at 24% — a margin that could sway the vote if enough of his backers switched to Cuomo.
Polls were to open at 6.00 (11.00 GMT) and close at 9 p.m., while early voting, which ended Sunday, saw more than 735,000 people vote, according to election officials, the highest number ever.
A total of 1.14 million votes were cast in 2021, electing incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who bowed out after his re-election campaign struggled to build momentum amid scandals and corruption allegations. He endorsed Cuomo, 67.
‘Are you ready to win?’
As a final push for votes, Mamdani toured nightclubs over the Halloween weekend, making a pit stop at an event called “Papi Juice” without ditching his trademark dark suit.
If elected, he would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, and far-right Republicans have scorned a video he broadcast in Arabic to supporters in the famously diverse city.
Cuomo visited all five boroughs Monday as Sliwa crisscrossed the city pushing his “tough on crime” message.
The race has centered on the cost of living, crime and how each candidate would deal with Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal funding from the city.
“If communist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the election for mayor of New York City, I am highly unlikely to contribute federal funds, other than the bare minimum required, to my beloved first home,” Trump wrote on social media.
Mamdani fired back during an event in Queens on Monday.
“What was rumored to be what was feared has become bare and brazen — the ‘MAGA’ movement’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo,” he said.
Syracuse University political science professor Grant Reeher said a Mamdani victory would set up a “showdown” with Trump.
“Trump will treat New York City more aggressively,” he said. “There will be some kind of political showdown.”
Mamdani’s unlikely ascension to the helm of America’s largest city has also sent shockwaves through the Democratic Party, which is struggling to decide whether to embrace a centrist or a populist left-wing path.
“I think this should be a party that actually allows Americans to see themselves in it and not just be a reflection of a few people who are engaged in politics,” Mamdani said at a dance event with the elderly on Friday.
Great test of American spirit
Voters in the states of New Jersey and Virginia will choose a new governor on Tuesday.
Democratic candidate Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, faces Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a businessman backed by Trump, with the two neck-and-neck, according to polls.
In Virginia’s race for governor, Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger has polled comfortably ahead of Virginia Republican Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.
Both sides have come out with big guns, with former President Barack Obama rallying support for Spanberger and Sherrill at two separate events this weekend, and Trump planning teleconferences in both Virginia and New Jersey just before the vote.
Obama also reportedly spoke with Mamdani over the weekend, but — reflecting internal party debate — held off on endorsing him.
