Mayoral Race Tightens

New York City in Global Spotlight

By Mary Alice Miller

Voters could be forgiven if the 2025 NYC mayoral race resembled their favorite telenovela. But it is serious business to elect the chief executive officer of one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.

NYC voters are taking their mandate seriously. Early Voting broke turnout records for previous mayoral elections. Day 1 had a 79,409 voter turnout. Day 2 turnout was 84,781. Day 3 saw 59,078. The first three days had a cumulative turnout of 223,268.

There are nine candidates for mayor, but only three are actively running: Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa. Mayor Eric Adams suspended his re-election campaign after a series of incidents that led to him not obtaining matching funds to run a credible campaign.
Prior to ending his re-election campaign, Adams and Cuomo were forcefully attacking each other presumably because they were going after the same electorate: Black voters.

During the campaign, Adams attacked Cuomo by stating that Cuomo had made “a career of pushing Black candidates out of races”, particularly former Governor David Paterson and former State Comptroller H. Carl McCall. Adams went on to call Cuomo a “snake and a liar”, then endorsed him.

Meanwhile, Cuomo has been courting conservative voters, Muslim voters, and moderates in an attempt to chip away at Mamdani’s frontrunner status. Approximately half of early voters are Boomer age, which could benefit Cuomo.

But, Mamdani was born in Uganda and would likely attract the growing African vote. He is of Indian descent, which would attract voters with attachment to that subcontinent. He would likely get strong support from Muslim voters, in addition to young and disaffected voters who contributed to Mamdani’s primary win.

Mamdani has been subjected to racial and religious dog whistles from those who oppose/fear him.
A Cuomo mailer depicted Mamdani with a darkened beard to make him look foreign and scary. Sliwa has said Mamdani encourages “global jihad” and Eric Adams compared Mamdani to “violent extremists.”
In an emotional speech outside his mosque in the Bronx last Friday Mamdani addressed the issue.

“To be a Muslim in New York is to expect indignity. But indignity does not make us distinct. There are many New Yorkers who face it. It is the tolerance of that indignity that does,” said Mamdani. “Since I announced my candidacy for mayor one year ago, I have sought to be the candidate to fight for every single New Yorker, not simply the Muslim candidate.”

Mamdani added, “While my opponents in this race have brought hatred to the forefront, this is just a glimpse of what so many have to endure every day across this city. While it would be easy for us to say this is not who we are as a city, we know the truth: this is who we have allowed ourselves to become.”

In response, Cuomo said, “Don’t disrespect New Yorkers. What he is doing is the oldest, dirtiest political trick in the book: divide people by race, by religion, by sexual orientation. I’ve seen it in dozens of campaigns.”

Mamdani is undaunted.
“The Bangladeshi community is supporting Zorhan Mamdani. Being a journalist I found about 90%, a significant amount of voters in the Bangladeshi community in New York City, will want to give him a victory. About 100% of Bangladeshi vote in New York City. They are really behind Zorhan Mamdani,” said Abu Taher, publisher of Bangla Patrika and editor of Time Television, a digital Bangeli language platform. “There are a very few, maybe 8-9%, who may vote for some other candidate. But most of them are supporting Zorhan Mamdani.”

The two-page ballot contains other races and proposals.
Incumbent Jumaane Williams is running for re-election as Public Advocate on the Democratic and Working Families lines, and is bring challenged by Gonzalo Duran on the Republican and Conservative/United Alliance lines, and Marty Dolan on The Unity line.
City Comptroller is a citywide open seat. Mark Levine is running on the Democratic line, Peter Kefalas is running on the Republican and Conservative Party lines, and Ismael Malave Perez is running on The Unity line.

Incumbent Eric Gonzalez is running for re-election for Brooklyn District Attorney on the Democratic and Working Families line.
Incumbent Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso is running for re-election on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines, and is being challenged by Janine Acquafredda on the Republican and Conservative lines.

Central Brooklyn Member of the City Council Contests
35th Council District: Incumbent Crystal Hudson is running on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines, and is challenged by Benny Rosenberger on the Conservative line and Hector Robertson on the United Alliance line.
36th Council District: Chi Osse is running unopposed on the Democratic Party line.

37th Council District: Sandy Nurse is running for re-election unopposed on both the Democratic and Working Families lines.
40th Council District: Incumbent Rita Joseph is running on the Democratic and Working Families lines.

41st Council District: Incumbent Darlene Mealy is running for re-election on the Democratic Party line and is challenged by Yehuda Shaffer on the United Alliance line.
42nd Council District: Chris Banks is running for re-election on the Democratic line and is being challenged by Davon Phillips on the Freedom line.

45th Council District: Incumbent Farah Louis is running on the Democratic Party line, challenged by Joshua Elijah Diaz on the Republican and Conservative lines and Hatem El-Gamasy on the Safe & Affordable line.

46th Council District: Incumbent Mercedes Narcisse is running on the Democratic Party line and is challenged by Athena Clarke on the Republican line and Dimple Willabus on the Conservative line.
There are also Judicial races and proposals on the front and back of the ballot.