The race for New York City’s mayoralty this November has become a political drama unlike any in recent memory, pitting a Republican stalwart, a charismatic democratic socialist, a scandal-shadowed former governor, and an embattled incumbent against each other in a contest that’s as much about the city’s soul as it is about policy. With the latest AARP poll showing Zohran Mamdani leading at 42% among registered voters, Andrew Cuomo trailing at 23%, independent Eric Adams at 9%, and Curtis Sliwa holding 16%, the stakes have rarely felt higher—or the field more fractured.
At the heart of the campaign is Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old Queens state assemblymember whose meteoric rise has upended conventional wisdom about New York politics. When Mamdani launched his campaign in October 2024, his name recognition barely registered. Yet, by June 2024, he scored a stunning upset over Cuomo in the Democratic primary. According to The Journal of Uncharted Blue Places, Mamdani’s secret was a relentless focus on economic issues—rent freezes, fare-free buses, universal childcare, affordable housing, and higher taxes on big corporations and the wealthy—paired with a willingness to listen, not lecture.
“So many of our victories were in neighborhoods that went for Donald Trump in the presidential election,” Mamdani told MSNBC’s "The Weekend" after his primary win. He cited places like College Point in Queens and Dyker Heights in Brooklyn, where his campaign found that a focus on working people’s needs could bring back voters who’d drifted from the Democratic fold. “If you have a relentless focus on an economic agenda and you welcome people back, and you turn the political instinct from lecturing to listening, you can still have people come home to the Democratic Party, as long as you show them that's a party that will fight for working people, not those that are benefitting off of the struggles of working people.”
The city’s political landscape has shifted dramatically in the past year. The 2024 presidential election saw Donald Trump defeat Vice President Kamala Harris, with New York State experiencing the largest swing toward Trump in the country—an 11-point shift. In New York City itself, the swing was even more pronounced at 15 points. In Mamdani’s home borough, Queens, the shift reached a staggering 21 points. The Journal of Uncharted Blue Places reports that Harris’s margin in New York dropped sharply compared to Biden’s in 2020, with significant erosion among Asian, Hispanic, and young Black voters—groups that later became key to Mamdani’s coalition.
Mamdani’s campaign has been laser-focused on affordability, with his website declaring, “New York is too expensive. Zohran will lower costs and make life easier.” His platform includes a rent freeze, free city buses, universal childcare, city-owned grocery stores, more affordable housing, crackdowns on bad landlords, and higher taxes for the wealthy. This approach resonated across traditional political boundaries, drawing support from voters who had backed Trump just months earlier. The Gothamist found that Mamdani won 30 percent of districts that Trump carried in 2024, with strong backing from Asian and Hispanic neighborhoods and young people.
Shirley Wong, a Chinese-American resident of Bensonhurst, told The Gothamist, “I liked his (Mamdani's) policies, mainly his support for education and affordable housing. He seems to listen to us.” Wong had voted for Trump in the presidential race, citing concerns over the cost of living and migration, but switched to Mamdani in the primary, saying, “I changed my mind to choose someone who can help us. He just needs to prove everything he’s saying.”
Meanwhile, Curtis Sliwa, the Republican standard-bearer and founder of the Guardian Angels, is mounting what he insists is a serious campaign, despite polling at 16%. In an interview with the New York Post, Sliwa dismissed suggestions that he should step aside to avoid splitting the anti-Mamdani vote. “Nope,” he said flatly when asked if he’d have regrets should Mamdani win. Sliwa’s campaign is rooted in classic law-and-order themes—cutting taxes, scrapping congestion pricing, enforcing fare evasion penalties, and cracking down on quality-of-life crimes.
“I laugh when Mamdani says ‘free bus fare’ and everyone is having a heart attack. I said, ‘Hold on, people aren’t paying in the first place. Why don’t we just enforce the fare?’ Adams didn’t do it. Cuomo didn’t do it. We need a no-tolerance policy,” Sliwa argued. He’s also courting Millennials, Gen Z, and conservative Muslim voters—groups he believes are overlooked by both the city’s progressives and its right-wing firebrands. “All the halal and coffee wagons, Uber drivers are all capitalists. I’m working on them to vote for me.”
Sliwa blames Adams’ cronyism scandals for Mamdani’s rise and is openly skeptical of Cuomo’s commitment, claiming the former governor has told donors he’ll move to Florida if he loses. As for rumors of a Trump intervention to clear the field, Sliwa is dismissive: “I believe the president has far more serious issues to deal with, like peace in Ukraine and, if he can—and he alone can—resolving the Gaza situation.”
On the campaign trail, Sliwa’s signature red beret still draws attention, though he’s tried to project a more statesmanlike image. Supporters, many of whom have moved to the suburbs due to the city’s cost and crime, often greet him with nostalgia and encouragement. But as the New York Post observes, the question remains: are there enough voters left who want to save the city in Sliwa’s image?
Andrew Cuomo, for his part, is running as an independent, trying to rally centrist and business-friendly voters terrified by Mamdani’s rise. Politico reports that Cuomo is courting Trump supporters and seeking Republican endorsements to siphon votes from Sliwa and block Mamdani. Super PACs aligned with Cuomo and Adams have raised millions for anti-Mamdani ads, and the Murdoch-owned New York Post and Fox News have launched sustained attacks on the democratic socialist.
Yet Mamdani’s authenticity and ability to connect with ordinary New Yorkers have proven a powerful shield. His campaign videos show him listening to voters’ concerns about rising prices and economic insecurity, promising to deliver real change. At a Staten Island event on his "Five Boroughs Against Trump" tour, Mamdani declared, “Despite the caricatures of this island and the borough, we know that progressive ideas have a home here, and an island that is not immune from the horrific crackdown we are seeing from the Trump administration.” He argued that while Trump “ran on the promise of cheaper groceries,” his administration delivered only cuts to SNAP food benefits. “What separates me from him, one of the key differences, is that I mean what I say.”
Mamdani’s coalition—young, diverse, and economically anxious—has drawn comparisons to that of Fiorello LaGuardia, the legendary mayor who swept into office during the Great Depression. As Harold Meyerson wrote in The American Prospect, Mamdani’s supporters are “outs” by ideology, age, ethnicity, or immigrant status, united by a belief that New York can—and must—be a city for everyone.
As November approaches, the city faces a stark choice: between competing visions of its future, and candidates who each claim to speak for its true spirit. The outcome will shape not just the next four years, but the very character of New York for generations to come.
