Journalism of Courage
Democratic Party candidate Zohran Mamdani is maintaining his lead in opinion polls as New Yorkers head to the polls in arguably one of the most high-profile elections to choose the city’s mayor.
According to the latest RealClearPolitics opinion poll, Mamdani leads with 45.8 per cent, holding a 14.7-point advantage over independent Andrew Cuomo at 31.1 per cent and a 28.5-point lead over Republican Curtis Sliwa at 17.3 per cent.
The Atlas Intel survey, released on Monday, also showed Mamdani in a comfortable lead over his two rivals. According to Atlas Intel, Mamdani leads with 43.9 per cent of the vote while Cuomo trails close behind at 39.4 per cent.
Ahead of the election day on Tuesday, more than 735,000 early votes have already been cast — the highest number ever in a New York City mayoral election — dwarfing 2021’s early in-person turnout, which was the first mayoral race in the city with early voting.
If elected, 34-year-old Mamdani, a state assemblymember who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor. The Indian-origin Democratic Socialist, who is running on a campaign to make America’s biggest city affordable to everyone, continued to post viral social media videos and run a relentless ground game, urging his progressive fan base to keep up the enthusiasm and send as many supporters to the polls as possible.
In an interview on “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, President Donald Trump said if Mamdani wins, “it’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York.”
Calling Mamdani a communist, Trump said he would choose Cuomo between the two of them.
“I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other, but if it’s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you,” he said.
Asked about those comments Monday, Cuomo said Trump had not endorsed him, while playing up the president’s threats to punish New York if Mamdani is elected.
“He said if Mamdani wins, he’s going to cut off funding for New York,” Cuomo said of Trump. “He calls him a communist. He’ll send the National Guard. We need a mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump, who can get the funding New York deserves, who can make sure the National Guard doesn’t come to New York.”
Sliwa, the creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group and a longtime fixture on New York’s airwaves, seeks to spoil both Democrats’ chances. He’s been heavily canvassing the streets and subways in his signature red beret to spread his message of public safety.
