New York Democrats were choosing on Tuesday between an upstart 33-year-old Muslim socialist and a political veteran vying to come back from a sex harassment scandal as their candidate to lead the left-leaning city.
The party’s primary contest has featured almost a dozen candidates seeking to become mayor of the biggest US city, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one.
Voters cast ballots during a smothering heatwave, and polls showed surprise challenger Zohran Mamdani and former state governor Andrew Cuomo, 67, at the top of the heap.
Polls closed at 9:00 pm (0100 GMT Wednesday), but results may take time to finalise.
The contest is ranked-choice, with voters asked to select five candidates in order of preference, and potentially neither Cuomo nor Mamdani getting the required majority. If no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, election officials begin eliminating lowest-ranking candidates and recounting, a process that can take days.
With the Democrats reeling nationally from Donald Trump’s presidential election last year, the high-profile city race has done little to calm party nerves.
Cuomo stepped down as New York governor four years ago after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment. He has also been accused of mismanaging the state’s response to the Covid pandemic.
Staunchly pro-Israel Cuomo has led for most of the race, with massive name recognition as the son of another New York governor, as well as support from powerful centrist figures including former president Bill Clinton.
Mamdani, meanwhile, is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America – the kind of niche, leftist affiliation that might work in the Big Apple but many analysts say the Democratic Party needs to discard to come back from the broader political wilderness.
The fact that Mamdani speaks out for Palestinians and has accused Israel of genocide also makes him a prime target for Trump. His supporters include two other favourite Trump foils — fiery leftist Senator Bernie Sanders and progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“I see it as a referendum of the Democratic Party, whether we lean more towards the centrist candidate, who’s maybe from a different generation of politicians and people in society, or a younger, left-leaning, more ambitious, idealistic party,” voter Nicholas Zantal, 31, said.
The contest unfolded under blazing heat, with thermometers topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit (nearly 38 Celsius).
Big ideas, low experience
Currently a New York state assemblyman representing the borough of Queens, Mamdani stands out for his energetic campaigning style and eye-catching policy proposals that include freezing rent for many New Yorkers, providing free bus service, and universal childcare.
And in a wildly expensive city, where a three-bedroom apartment can easily cost $6,000 a month, he has surged from behind.
“Tomorrow is ours if we want it,” Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and is of Indian descent, said late Monday in a social media post. “We are on the cusp of toppling a political dynasty, and delivering a New York everyone can afford.”
Voter Eamon Harkin, 48, said prices were his “number one issue”.
“What’s at stake is primarily the affordability of New York,” he said.
But Sheryl Stein, who works in tourism marketing, was skeptical.
“I like youth,” she said. But Mamdani having “no experience and no proven track record to run the largest city in this country and one of the largest in the world, is pretty scary.”
Cuomo is trying to capitalise on those concerns, telling supporters Monday that “this is not a job for a novice”.
“We need someone who knows what they’re doing on day one, because your lives depend on it.”
Whoever gets the Democratic Party nomination will face several contenders in November – including the current, scandal-plagued mayor, Eric Adams, who is a Democrat but will run again as an independent.
Â
