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Mamdani and Cuomo face off as New York City chooses new mayor, while Sliwa hopes for an upset

Mamdani and Cuomo face off as New York City chooses new mayor, while Sliwa hopes for an upset

Associated Press
Nov 04, 2025
Mamdani and Cuomo face off as New York City chooses new mayor, while Sliwa hopes for an upset

NEW YORK — New York City's voters are deciding the outcome of a generational and ideological divide that will resonate across the country Tuesday as they choose the next mayor to run the nation's largest city.

Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary earlier this year, faces former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and perennial Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who is trying to land a massive upset.

Muslim population expected to help elect Mamdani

Chad Groening, AFN.net

A conservative activist predicts New Yorkers could elect a far-left Islamist for mayor today thanks to foreign-born voters. 

Zohran Mamdani, who calls himself a "Democratic Socialist,” is being described as a hard-core communist for his views on capitalism and on government-run housing and even grocery foods.

Gary Bauer, chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, says he is not only concerned about electing a communist. He is also watching the demographics of the famous city on Election Day.

“Demographics are everything in politics as well as in culture,” he commented. “In New York, the population is about 10% Muslim and they see this as their chance to make a mark on the most important iconic city in the United States." 

A victory for Mamdani would give the city its first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in generations, while elevating the democratic socialist to political stardom and giving his brand of economic populism one of the most visible political perches in America.

If Cuomo comes out on top, he will have staged a remarkable political comeback four years after resigning as governor over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations.

For Sliwa... creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group and a longtime New York tabloid fixture — a win would put a Republican in charge of the nation’s largest city at a time when many New Yorkers are seeking a leader who can keep President Donald Trump at bay.

The race has made Mamdani a national figure as he has drawn the ire of Trump and other Republicans, who have tried to cast him as the face of a new, more radical Democratic Party.

Trump reluctantly endorsed Cuomo on the eve of the election, saying Mamdani would bring “disaster” to the city and encouraging Sliwa backers to vote for the former governor instead.