Early voting begins in New York mayor’s race with Mamdani ahead in polls

The New York City mayor’s race, one of the year’s most closely watched elections, has officially begun in-person voting.

On Saturday, voters in New York chose Democrat Zohran Mamdani, a Republican running mate, and Democrat Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who is expected to cast as an independent. Eric Adams, the current mayor, is also on the ballot, but he pulled out of the race last month and recently backed Cuomo.

Democratic Socialist candidate Mamdani’s proposals for free buses, child care, and a rent freeze for New Yorkers who reside in about 1 million rent-regulated apartments have energized liberal voters.

Mamdani, who would become the city’s first Muslim mayor, has been criticized by Cuomo for his remarks toward Israel.

A UN inquiry, genocide experts, and numerous human rights organizations all agree that Israel’s military actions in Gaza constitute genocide, according to Mamdani, who has withstanded anti-Muslim rhetoric during the contest.

Mamdani criticized him for being “racist and baseless” in a speech delivered on Friday.

“To expect indignity in New York is to be Muslim, but it does not distinguish us.” Many New Yorkers are confronted by it. Mamdani, who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary in June, won a landslide victory. “It is the tolerance of that indignity that does.

Cuomo has described Mamdani’s actions as foolish and financially reckless. He has made appeals to the electorate to choose him based on his state’s governor’s experience, which he relinquished in 2021 after numerous women accused him of sexual harassment.

Since 2019, early voting has become a common practice in New York. According to the city’s campaign finance board, about 35 percent of the ballots were cast early and in person in the mayoral primary in June.

The governor’s race in the nearby state of New Jersey is closely followed as well. Democratic US Representative Mikie Sherrill and Republican state representative Jack Ciattarelli are in the contest. In 2021, New Jersey enacted early voting.

Democratic Party leaders may use the two states’ off-year elections as bellwethers as they decide which candidates will best support their opposition to Republican President Donald Trump’s agenda.

According to Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University in New Jersey, the races have highlighted affordability and cost of living issues as well as ongoing divisions within the Democratic Party.

In Mamdani vs. Cuomo, New York City pits the progressive wing against the established old guard, while New Jersey is betting on moderate candidate Mikie Sherrill to appeal to its broad middle, she said.

In their final debate earlier this month, the candidates for governor of New Jersey sparred over the state’s high cost of living, Sherrill’s military records, Trump’s policies, and the shutdown.