A first significant test for Donald Trump is taking place today, with citizens of New York heading to the polls to elect their mayor in a highly polarized race, where 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani emerges as the strong favorite – a political figure largely unknown just months ago, who brings his own signature to the Democrats, who find themselves in turmoil after their defeat in last November’s presidential election.
Both the electoral contest in “blue” Democratic New York, as well as the races being held to elect governors in Virginia and New Jersey, have their own significance ahead of the midterm elections to be held a year from now, which will shape the balance of power in Congress.
Trump threatens to cut New York funding if Mamdani wins
The U.S. president is threatening the city with economic consequences if Zohran Mamdani prevails.
“If Communist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the New York mayoral election, it is extremely unlikely that I will provide my beloved city with more than the legally required minimum amounts of federal funding,” the Republican White House occupant wrote on his TruthSocial platform. With the 34-year-old Mamdani in New York City Hall, Trump claims that “this once great city has NO chance of success or even survival.”
Trump is attempting to overturn polling data showing Mamdani with a comfortable lead (the margin appears to reach 50%, according to the New York Times, though this isn’t required to win the mayoral seat), by supporting former Democratic governor 67-year-old Andrew Cuomo, whose profile appears closer to the traditional Democratic establishment. In fact, Mamdani “mocked” Cuomo, whom he “defeated” in the battle for the Democratic nomination, saying he “worked hard for it” and that “we shouldn’t have a Trump ‘mirror’ in city hall, that’s not the answer to his presidency,” even though Cuomo tried to present himself as the one who would stand up to Trump, emphasizing he has no connection to him.
Besides Cuomo, the New York mayoral race also features Republican Curtis Sliwa, who polls around 24% of the vote.
Trump’s personal stake
It should be noted that while Trump may no longer live in New York, he was born there, grew up there, and built much of his fortune there.
Polls in New York open at 6:00 a.m. (1:00 p.m. Greek time) and will close at 9:00 p.m. local time. In early voting, which concluded on Sunday, over 735,000 voters participated according to election officials – the highest number ever recorded. A total of 1.14 million New Yorkers voted in 2021, when current mayor Eric Adams was elected, who withdrew from this race after his re-election campaign failed to build momentum amid scandals and corruption allegations. Adams supports Cuomo’s candidacy.
Profile of Zohran Mamdani – New York’s potential first Muslim mayor
Zohran Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda and grew up there and briefly in South Africa until age seven, when his family moved to New York, according to a Sky News report profiling him.
He was raised by his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, and his father Mahmood Mamdani, an anthropology professor at Columbia University.
He attended public school and the Bronx High School of Science before earning a degree in African Studies from Bowdoin College, where he co-founded the school’s first Students for Justice in Palestine group.
He became a U.S. citizen in 2018 and worked as a foreclosure prevention counselor. Mamdani has said this work, helping low-income minority homeowners throughout Queens avoid eviction and stay in their homes, inspired him to run for public office. Trump claimed without evidence that Mamdani is in the U.S. “illegally,” and some Republicans have called for his deportation.
Mamdani married Rama Duwaji, a Syrian-American artist he met through the dating app Hinge, earlier this year.
The divided Democrats
If elected, Mamdani would become New York’s first Muslim mayor in a city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel (12% of residents are American Jews) – and one of Trump’s most prominent opponents. The exceptionally social media-savvy former rapper Mamdani had adopted radical positions in the past, coming from the Democratic Socialists of America without support from the Democratic Party “establishment,” but he overturned all predictions and is now trying to present a more balanced profile, which simultaneously threatens to alienate his political “base” while facing “fire” from Trump for being… a communist.
