Young leftist Mamdani on track to win NY vote, shaking up US politics

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New Yorkers appeared poised to elect a young Muslim leftist as mayor on Tuesday as American voters gave their first verdict on Donald Trump’s tumultuous second presidency in local elections nationwide.

While the rise of Zohran Mamdani has dominated headlines, gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey may also reveal gauges of the American political mood 10 months after Trump returned to the White House.

Democratic wins in those states could signal a lively opposition to a decision to take control of Congress before next year’s midterm elections.

In New York, Mamdani, just 34 years old, is a self-proclaimed socialist who was virtually unknown before his upset victory to secure the Democratic nomination.

She has focused on lowering housing costs for New Yorkers in general, advocating support through her informal personal style and social media-friendly clips of her walking the streets chatting with voters.

Dramatically playing the race card, President Trump on Tuesday excoriated Mamdani, who would be New York’s first Muslim mayor, as a “Jew hater.”

“Any Jewish person who votes for Zahran Mamdani, a proven and self-professed Jew-hater, is an idiot!!!” The Republican president posted on his social media platform.

Mamdani was about 44 percent in the latest poll, several points ahead of former state governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent.

Dennis Gibbs, 46, a doctor of physical therapy, voted at a school in Brooklyn.

“I believe this will improve the city. I want to see it reduce segregation and increase the livelihoods of working-class families and services for children,” he said, wearing green scrubs.

Polls close at 9:00 a.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday).

Mamdani’s Impossible Rise

A total of 1.14 million votes were cast in 2021, which saw the election of incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, whose campaign was marred by scandals and allegations of corruption. He endorsed Cuomo, 67.

In a final push for votes, Mamdani toured nightclubs over Halloween weekend, making a pit stop at an event called “Puppy Juice” without ditching his trademark dark suit.

Far-right Republicans have slammed a video released in Arabic to supporters in the famously diverse city.

The race focused on lifestyle, crime and how each candidate would handle Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal funding from New York.

Grant Rehr, a political science professor at Syracuse University, said Mamdani’s victory would lead to a clash with Trump.

“Trump will treat New York City more aggressively,” he said. “There will be a kind of political exhibition.”

Mamdani’s improbable rise underscores the Democratic Party’s debate about the future of the centrist or left wing.

“I think it has to be a party that actually allows Americans to see themselves in it,” Mamdani said last week.

In New Jersey, Democratic candidate Mickey Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, is up against Republican Jack Citrelli, a Trump-backed businessman.

In the Virginia governor’s race, Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger is running ahead of Virginia Republican Lt. Governor Winsome Earl Sears.

Both sides lined up the big guns, with former President Barack Obama endorsing Spanberger and Sherrill over the weekend and Trump scheduling telecasts for both Virginia and New Jersey ahead of the vote.

Obama also reportedly spoke with Mamdani over the weekend but — reflecting an internal party debate — stopped short of endorsing him.

State Attorney General Matthew Plotkin said email threats from bomb threats involving polling stations in New Jersey forced the brief shutdown of several sites.

Mamdani called the threats “incredibly relevant.”

“This is an example of the attacks we are seeing on our democracy,” he said after Queens voted in Austria.