Young Muslim leftist Mamdani on track to win New York mayor vote, shaking up US politics

NEW YORK - New Yorkers looked set to elect a young Muslim leftist as mayor on Nov 4 as US voters cast judgment for the first time on President Donald Trump’s tumultuous second presidency in nationwide local elections.

While Mr Zohran Mamdani’s rise has dominated headlines, elections for governor in Virginia and New Jersey could also be revealing gauges of the US political mood nearly 10 months since Mr Trump’s return to the White House.

Democratic wins in those states may indicate a revived opposition ahead of 2026’s midterm elections to decide control of Congress.

In New York, Mr Mamdani, aged just 34, is a self-described socialist who was virtually unknown before his upset victory to secure the Democratic nomination.

He has focused on reducing living costs for ordinary New Yorkers, building support through his informal personal style and social media-friendly clips of him walking the streets chatting with voters.

Unabashedly playing the race card, President Trump on Nov 4 labelled Mr Mamdani, who would be New York’s first Muslim mayor, as a “Jew hater”.

“Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self-professed Jew hater, is a stupid person!!!” the Republican President posted on his social media platform.

His social media post followed comments on Nov 3 in which he urged New Yorkers to vote for former New York governor Andrew Cuomo
, who is trailing Mr Mamdani in the polls. He also threatened to withhold federal funds from New York City if Mr Mamdani wins the Nov 4 election.

Mr Mamdani, who identifies as Muslim, has been critical of the current Israeli government but vehemently rejects accusations of anti-Semitism, which he has faced from many Republican leaders.

Mr Trump and his fellow Republicans have been unpopular among Jewish Americans for many years, a fact that is known to rankle the President. In a September 2024 Pew Research Centre survey, Mr Trump trailed then Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris by some 32 percentage points.

“If I don't win this election – and the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens because if 40 per cent, I mean, 60 per cent of the people are voting for the enemy – Israel, in my opinion, will cease to exist within two years,” Mr Trump told an Israeli-American summit ahead of his election in 2024.

Mr Mamdani was at about 44 per cent in latest polls, several points ahead of Mr Cuomo, who is running as an independent.

Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels citizen crime patrol group, was at 24 per cent – a margin that could sway the vote if enough of his backers shifted to Mr Cuomo.

Turnout by midday, with nine hours of voting remaining, was 1.195 million, exceeding the total of 1.14 million votes cast in 2021, which saw the election of current Mayor Eric Adams, who bowed out when his re-election campaign was hit by scandals and corruption allegations. He endorsed Mr Cuomo, 67.

Ms Denise Gibbs, 46, a doctor of physiotherapy, voted at a school in Brooklyn.

“I sure hope it improves the city. I want to see it decrease divisiveness and increase livelihoods of working-class households and services for children,” she said, dressed in green scrubs.

Polls close at 9pm (10am on Nov 5, Singapore time).

Mamdani’s improbable rise

The race has centred on cost of living, crime and how each candidate would handle Mr Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal funds from New York.

Syracuse University political science professor Grant Reeher said a Mamdani win would set up a clash with Mr Trump.

“Trump will treat New York City more aggressively,” he said. “There will be some kind of political showdown.”

Mr Mamdani’s improbable rise highlights the Democratic Party’s debate over a centrist or a leftist future.

Mr Mamdani said last week: “I think that this has to be a party that actually allows Americans to see themselves in it.”

But Mr Cuomo said there was “a civil war in the Democratic Party”.

“You have an extreme radical left that is run by the socialists that is challenging what they would call moderate Democrats. I’m a moderate Democrat,” he said after voting.

In New Jersey, Democratic Party candidate Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, faces off against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a businessman backed by Mr Trump.

In Virginia’s race for governor, Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger has been polling ahead of Virginia’s Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.

Both sides wheeled out big guns, with former president Barack Obama rallying support for Ms Spanberger and Ms Sherrill at the weekend and Mr Trump scheduling tele-rallies for both Virginia and New Jersey on the eve of voting.

Mr Obama also reportedly spoke to Mr Mamdani at the weekend
but – reflecting the internal party debate – held off endorsing him.

E-mailed bomb threats involving polling stations across New Jersey forced a brief closure of several sites, said state Attorney-General Matthew Platkin.

Mr Mamdani called the threats “incredibly concerning”.

“It’s an illustration of the attacks we are seeing on our democracy,” he said after voting in Astoria, Queens. AFP, REUTERS