Early voting begins in New York mayoral race dominated by Trump nemesis Mamdani

• Early voting will continue until November 2.
• Mamdani has the support of 47% of New Yorkers.
• The top Democratic lawmaker is backing Mamdani.
  

Early voting for New York City’s next mayor begins Saturday with an outsider Democratic candidate the favorite to upend city politics and take on President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly attacked him.

The lopsided race saw state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani, a self-proclaimed socialist, emerge from the political wilderness to become the front-runner in a campaign in which the current mayor retreated and the onetime Democratic favorite lost his primary.

Mamdani’s once unlikely campaign, 34, has been fueled by the eager campaign of young New Yorkers.

The emphasis on the rising cost of living also resonates, with the Queens-based lawmaker promising to freeze rents for two million New Yorkers in rent-stabilized properties.

In the latest twist, scandal-plagued incumbent Mayor Eric Adams endorsed the runner-up, 67-year-old former state governor Andrew Cuomo — after previously calling him a “snake and a liar.”

Early voting allows New Yorkers to vote from Saturday through Nov. 2, with Election Day on Nov. 4 and the winner taking office in the new year.

Mamdani had 47 percent support and led Cuomo by 18 points in the latest citywide poll, conducted by Victory Insights between Oct. 22 and 23. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, 71, was at 16 percent.

Adams, who has been mired in corruption allegations tied to his tenure, dropped out of the race on Sept. 28 but did not initially endorse a challenger.

“You can’t freeze rent, but you lie and tell people you can — we’re fighting a snake oil salesman,” Adams said Thursday with Cuomo at his side.

“The gentrifiers have raised the rent in the city… and (Mamdani’s) king of the gentrifiers.”

It’s unclear what impact Adams’ endorsement will have on the race.

“It’s possible, but highly unlikely, that Cuomo will get Mamdani,” said Lincoln Mitchell, a political science professor at Columbia University, saying the former governor’s “tough persona” dates back to another era.

“Affordability Crisis”

The race has been dominated by the cost of living issue, as well as how each candidate would handle Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal funds from the city where he made his name as a real estate developer and reality TV star.

Trump has branded Mamdani, who wants to make bus rides and childcare free in the city of 8.5 million people, as a “communist”.

“I’ve always been very generous with New York, even when you had opposition there,” Trump said this month.

“I wouldn’t be generous to a communist who takes the money and throws it out the window.”

Mamdani said he would work with Trump if he lowers the cost of living in the city, while Sliwa said he would seek to “negotiate” with the president and Cuomo said he would “confront” the commander in chief.

“I’ve lived in New York for almost 10 years. I’ve always … not necessarily always struggled, but I’ve been trying to get by and put it all together,” said Lex Rudry, 27, a Mamdani supporter and tenant organizer. AFP.

“It’s weird to think what it would be like to have some of that ease” under Mamdani, Rountree added.

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

“Mamdani has been relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and has made an express commitment to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” the top Democrat said.

Mamdani will bring firepower to the table Sunday when he appears alongside left-leaning Sen. Bernie Sanders and Legislator Alexandria Ocasio Cortez at a get-out-the-vote rally at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.