New York will elect its new mayor this Tuesday the 4th
New York will elect its new mayor this Tuesday the 4th. There are three candidates in the running. Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Muslim of Indian origins, from the left wing of the Democratic Party and “convinced” opponent of Donald Trump, is the favourite. Veteran and former governor Andrew Cuomo, who is also a member of the Democratic Party, is running as an independent candidate after being defeated in the primaries. Curtis Sliwa, known as the man in the red hat, is the candidate of the Republican Party.
Voting will begin at 6:00 local time (8:00 in Brasilia) and end at 9:00 pm. Attendance is expected to increase. About 735,300 voters voted in advance, four times more than in the last municipal elections in 2021. Four years ago, the mayoral election mobilized a total of 1.15 million people, with a participation rate of just 23.3%. More than five million voters in the largest city in the United States are eligible to vote, more than 60 percent of whom are Democrats.
For months, polls have shown Zohran Mamdani’s lead. According to the latest polls, he would have between 4.5 and 16 points ahead of Andrew Cuomo. Republican Curtis Sliwa refused to drop out of the race in favor of Andrew Cuomo, who has pro-business and pro-security views close to his own.
US President Donald Trump intervened regularly in the campaign. On Monday evening (3) he asked voters to vote for the state’s former governor, Andrew Cuomo.
“If Communist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral election of New York, it is very likely that I will stop contributing federal funds except the bare minimum,” Trump threatened on social media.
Zohran Mamdani, socialist outsider and favorite in the polls
Born in Uganda, to a family of Indian origins, Zohran Mamdani arrived in New York at the age of 7 and became naturalized American in 2018. He is the surprise of this electoral campaign. The candidate unexpectedly won the Democratic Party primaries, shaking the party leadership.
The state representative from Queens has an atypical profile due to his origins, his Muslim religion and also due to his commitment to the left wing of the Democratic Party, which earned him the support of veteran Bernie Sanders.
Mamdani carried out a hand-to-hand campaign involving around 90,000 volunteers. The cost of living, housing, security and the threat posed by Donald Trump to the White House are the main themes of his campaign.
The Republican president has sent troops to several Democratic strongholds (Portland, Chicago, Washington, Memphis and Los Angeles), and Zohran Mamdani has promised to “firmly” oppose the anti-immigration policy and the judicial war against “political enemies” launched by Trump.
“Mamdani is an unusual political figure who reflects the current political moment. He is an anti-Trump personality who stands out in the largest city in the United States,” analyzes Lincoln Mitchell, a professor at Columbia University in New York. AFP.
The latest poll carried out by Victory Insights points to the victory of Zohran Mamdani with 47% of the votes, followed by the former governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo.
Andrew Cuomo, veteran Democrat defeated in the primaries
Despite being an independent candidate, Andrew Cuomo, 67, has received the support of much of the Democratic leadership, starting with current mayor Eric Adams. “I will be walking around the city with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to mobilize voters,” said Adams, who was the second African-American mayor in the city’s history and withdrew from running for re-election due to a corruption scandal. The investigation against him was dropped by order of the Trump administration, in exchange for cooperation on immigration issues, recalled Loubna Anaki, RFI’s New York correspondent.
Andrew Cuomo governed New York state for ten years. He is the son of former governor Mario Cuomo and was married to Bobby Kennedy’s daughter. The former governor gained national prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic, and many analysts thought he might run for president in the future.
But his political trajectory was marred by a sex scandal. Cuomo has been accused by eight women of sexual harassment and assault. The complaints were dismissed. According to polls, he should get around 29% of the votes in these municipal elections.
Curtis Sliwa, populist Republican in red cap
Curtis Sliwa faces challenges facing competitors. In one of the television debates of the election campaign, at the end of October, the 71-year-old Republican seemed isolated and even complained of having been “marginalized” by his interlocutors.
Born in Brooklyn, Curtis Sliwa had already run against Eric Adams in November 2021. In the last election he had obtained just over 20% of the votes. Now he repeats the same campaign strategy. The radio host defends the success of the Guardian Angels militia, which he created more than 40 years ago to fight the crime that plagued the city. The group is made up of “citizen vigilantes” in red berets, like their mentor.
Sliwa calls himself a populist Republican and has at times shown disagreement with Donald Trump’s immigration policies. He champions issues related to the daily lives of New Yorkers, such as safety, the cost of living, homeless assistance and animal protection. In 1992 he escaped a kidnapping and attempted murder by the mafia. He later admitted that he had lied several times about some of the Guardian Angels’ findings.
New York’s election results are expected to be announced Tuesday evening, and New York’s 111th mayor will take office on January 1, 2026.
(RFI with agencies)
Source: Terra
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