Overview
- Voters head to the polls Tuesday in a three-way contest featuring Democrat Zohran Mamdani, independent Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa, with surveys showing Mamdani more than 10 points ahead of Cuomo and Sliwa far behind.
- Early voting has surged to 584,105 ballots as of Saturday night, far outpacing the 169,486 total early votes recorded in 2021.
- Mamdani’s pitch centers on freezing some rents and offering free childcare and bus service, backed by a door-to-door operation his team says engaged more than 90,000 volunteers.
- Democratic divisions remain visible as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not urged support for Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul criticized his proposed 2% tax on income over $1 million.
- In the final push, Mamdani focused on older voters, Cuomo courted Black and Muslim voters in Harlem alongside current mayor Eric Adams, and Sliwa worked parades and subway stops as national attention intensified with President Donald Trump attacking Mamdani and threatening federal funding cuts.