US goes to polls in crucial elections, all eyes on New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani

New York: Polls opened Tuesday morning across the US as the country headed to a crucial poll, with all eyes set on the important New York City mayoral election, where Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is emerging as a front-runner.

November 4 is election day across the US, with polls opening from 6 am to 9 pm. The early voting period, which commenced on October 25, ended on Sunday. This is the first national election in the second term of Donald Trump's presidency, and the results will also shine a spotlight on the country's mood towards the current White House administration.

Apart from the NYC mayoral election, ballots for the governor of New Jersey and Virginia will also be closely watched.

Mamdani, 34, born in Uganda and raised in New York City, is a New York State Assembly member and democratic socialist running for Mayor.

The Democratic nominee will face off against former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent candidate and the Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa on the ballots. Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whose administration has been plagued by scandals, dropped out of the mayoral race in September.

Mamdani has been leading Cuomo in the polls in the race up to the ballots, with most surveys showing him up by double digits.

Mamdani, the son of renowned Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan author of Indian ancestry, upset Cuomo in the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor and was declared victorious in June.

As the New York City mayoral race entered its final lap, President Trump officially endorsed the former New York State Governor, saying in a post on Truth Social, “Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!”

With New Yorkers going to the polls, Trump warned voters that the city would be a “complete and total economic and social disaster” and would not survive if Mamdani won the mayoral race.

“If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home, because of the fact that, as a Communist, this once great City has ZERO chance of success, or even survival!

“It can only get worse with a Communist at the helm, and I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad. It is my obligation to run the Nation, and it is my strong conviction that New York City will be a Complete and Total Economic and Social Disaster should Mamdani win,” Trump said.

Slamming Mamdani, Trump said his principles have been tested for "over a thousand years", and never once have they been successful.

“I would much rather see a Democrat, who has had a Record of Success, WIN, than a Communist with no experience and a Record of COMPLETE AND TOTAL FAILURE,” Trump said.

Describing Mamdani as a “nothing” in his role as an Assemblyman, Trump said he ranked at the bottom of the class and, as Mayor of potentially, again, the Greatest City in the World, HE HAS NO CHANCE to bring it back to its former Glory!

“We must also remember this — A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani,” Trump said.

On Trump’s endorsement of Cuomo, Mamdani said, “We've known since the Primary that Andrew Cuomo was funded by the same billionaires that gave us Donald Trump's second term... even just until these final days, (Cuomo) denied that he was Donald Trump's preferred candidate.

“But now it's written out for the entire world to see. This is the man that Donald Trump wants to be the next mayor of New York City, and not because he'll be good for New Yorkers but because he'll be good for Donald Trump and New Yorkers are exhausted of this agenda in Washington. They don't want to see a mimic of it come here to City Hall.”

Mamdani has vowed that as Mayor, he will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilised tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent.

Promising fast, fare-free buses, his campaign said that as Mayor, he’ll permanently eliminate the fare on every city bus – and make them faster by rapidly building priority lanes, expanding bus queue jump signals, and dedicated loading zones to keep double parkers out of the way.

Mamdani would also implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years, ensuring high-quality programming for all families.

With food prices out of control, his campaign also promised that as Mayor, he would create a network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit.

Mamdani has a plan to bring down the cost-of-living through city-owned grocery stores, universal childcare, and other bold proposals, and he knows exactly how to pay for it, too, the campaign said.

The New York Times reported that former President Barack Obama called Mamdani on Saturday, saying his “campaign has been impressive to watch”.

Obama also offered to be a “sounding board” if Mamdani wins the election, the NYT said.

A group called ‘Hindus for Mamdani’ held a prayer gathering in support of the mayoral candidate Saturday in the city, offering “blessings for Zohran’s protection and strength ahead of Election Day.