New Yorkers looked set to elect a young Muslim leftist as mayor Tuesday as US voters cast judgment for the first time on Donald Trump’s tumultuous second presidency in nationwide local elections.
While 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 Trump’s return to the White House.
Democratic wins in those states may indicate a revived opposition ahead of next year’s midterm elections to decide control of Congress.
In New York, 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 Tuesday smeared 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.
Mamdani was on about 44 percent in latest polls, several points ahead of former state governor Andrew Cuomo who is running as an independent.
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 wearing green scrubs.
Polls close at 9:00 pm (0200 GMT Wednesday).
– Mamdani’s improbable rise –
A total of 1.14 million votes were cast in 2021, which saw the election of current Mayor Eric Adams who bowed out when his reelection campaign was hit by scandals and corruption allegations. He endorsed Cuomo, 67.
In a final push for votes, Mamdani toured nightclubs over the Halloween weekend, making a pit stop at one event called “Papi Juice” without ditching his trademark dark suit.
Far-right Republicans have scorned a video he issued in Arabic to supporters in the famously diverse city.
The race has centered on cost of living, crime and how each candidate would handle 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 Trump.
“Trump will treat New York City more aggressively,” he said. “There will be some kind of political showdown.”
Mamdani’s improbable rise highlights the Democratic Party’s debate over a centrist or a leftist future.
“I think that this has to be a party that actually allows Americans to see themselves in it,” Mamdani said last week.
In New Jersey, Democratic Party candidate Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, faces off against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a businessman backed by 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 Spanberger and Sherrill over the weekend and Trump scheduling tele-rallies for both Virginia and New Jersey on the eve of voting.
Obama also reportedly spoke to Mamdani over the weekend but — reflecting the internal party debate — held off endorsing him.
Emailed bomb threats involving polling stations across New Jersey forced the brief closure of several sites, said state Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
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.
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