Democratic power struggle fuels NYC mayor's race
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Zohran Mamdani rolls up his sleeves while campaigning in Manhattan yesterday. Photo: Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images
New York City voters face a choice today: A 67-year-old scandal-stained insider or a 33-year-old democratic socialist scorned by the city's elite.
Why it matters: It's the first, difficult step on the road to redefining the Democratic Party.
- At its core, the race can be boiled down to old-guard moderates running against younger, energetic candidates with ambitious — often expensive — ideas. It's the same dynamic that will likely play out across the country over the next few years.
- Also at stake: How the city and the party fight back against President Trump and his MAGA alliance, which New York's Democrats desperately want to oppose.
The big picture: A win by Zohran Mamdani — the surging progressive state assemblyman — would deal a major blow to the establishment.
- That establishment, fearful of Mamdani's tax-the-rich ethos, has lined up behind controversial former Gov. Andrew Cuomo with endorsements and piles of cash.
- The race is close and could come down to last-minute turnout on the city's hottest day of the year — an alarming development for Cuomo, who's relying on older voters.
- An Emerson poll released yesterday showed Cuomo and Mamdani in a statistical tie, four weeks after the same poll had Cuomo with a 12-point lead.
Zoom in: Mamdani has ignited a younger generation of voters unlike any candidate the Democratic Party has seen in years with populist policies and charismatic messaging tailored to Gen Z and TikTok.
- He has pitched rent freezes, free buses, and city-run grocery stores, all funded by $10 billion in new taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
- That message has resonated: The Emerson poll suggests Mamdani could win voters under 50 by a two-to-one margin in the final round of New York City's ranked-choice voting system.
- Mamdani — unlike Cuomo — has built an unusually dedicated and large network of volunteers who have knocked on doors across the city. The Bernie Sanders echoes are unmistakable.
- New York Attorney General Letitia James — who frequently clashes with Trump — also made a comparison to former President Obama: "They mispronounce his name. They say that he is inexperienced. Sort of reminds me of a candidate who ran on change."
The other side: Cuomo — a dominant and feared force in New York politics before he resigned as governor four years ago in a sexual harassment scandal — has drawn support from some of the most prominent Democrats and biggest donors in the country.
- Mike Bloomberg, who clashed with Cuomo when he was mayor, endorsed him and has donated more than $8 million to a super PAC that supports his campaign.
- He's also backed by former President Clinton and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the highest-ranking Black member of Congress.
- Instead of volunteers like Mamdani, Cuomo has relied on paid staffers and members of unions that endorsed him to get voters to the polls.
The intrigue: The race is also challenging assumptions about how ethnic communities vote.
- Cuomo is a white American of Italian descent, born and raised in NYC; Mamdani was born in Uganda to a family of Indian descent.
- And yet, the Emerson poll shows the two men all but tied among white voters, with Cuomo holding a narrow lead among Asian voters and a huge lead in the Black and Hispanic communities.
Reality check: The primary result — which might not be known for at least a week — may not matter much. Both Cuomo and Mamdani have indicated they could contest the general election on other parties' lines if they lose.
