Socialist Zohran Mamdani set to win mayor’s office in world’s richest city
Zohran Mamdani’s opponent, disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo, has received the political and financial backing of right-wing billionaires
Photo via @ZohranKMamdani/X
On Monday, November 3, New Yorkers ended the period of early voting by turning out to the polls in record-shattering numbers. According to the New York City Board of Elections, 735,317 residents turned out to vote over the past nine days – over four times the total from the 2021 mayoral race, which saw only 169,879 early voting check-ins.
Another major difference from 2021 is that this year, a self-described democratic socialist is on the top of the ballot in the world’s richest city.
34-year-old Democratic Party nominee Zohran Kwame Mamdani has captured global attention due to his focus on bringing down the cost of living, taxing billionaires, his socialist background, and his creative and successful campaign.
Key parts of Mamdani’s platform center around the sky-high cost of living in New York City, and include freezing rent for 2.4 million rent stabilized tenants, making New York City’s buses fare-free, and implementing city-run grocery stores to keep food prices low.
Billionaires keep the money flowing into pro-Cuomo Super PAC
On June 24, 2025, Mamdani defeated disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic Party primary by a sound margin of 12 points. This was after a host of billionaires from across the United States and across businesses had poured USD 25 million into a supposedly independent pro-Cuomo “Super PAC”, called “Fix the City”.
Despite being defeated in his own party’s primary, Cuomo has kept his campaign going into the general election, choosing to run as an independent despite being one of the most entrenched establishment Democrats in his heyday as governor.
And the billionaires have kept the money flowing: Billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman, a high-profile backer of President Donald Trump, contributed USD 1 million to Defend NYC, the super PAC working to block Mamdani’s bid for mayor. Michael Bloomberg, former New York City Mayor with a net worth of USD 109.4 billion, recently donated USD 1.5 million to “Fix the City.” Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia contributed USD 1 million to the same pro-Cuomo super PAC. Airbnb has come under scrutiny from tenant advocates and housing groups for its impact on housing affordability – which is a central part of Mamdani’s platform.
Trump and Elon issue last minute support for Cuomo
The day before the election, world’s richest man Elon Musk weighed in on the side of Cuomo. “Remember to vote tomorrow in New York!” the billionaire wrote on X, the platform he owns. “Bear in mind that a vote for Curtis is really a vote for Mumdumi or whatever his name is,” he wrote, referring to the Republican Party candidate, Curtis Sliwa, who some conservatives have denounced for potentially splitting the vote between himself and Cuomo. “VOTE CUOMO!” Elon concluded.
Trump himself has issued a lukewarm endorsement of Cuomo in the lead up to election day. “I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or another, but if it’s going to be between a bad Democrat and a communist,” said Trump in a 60 Minutes interview which aired Sunday, “I’m going to pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you.”
Mamdani immediately responded by mocking Cuomo in a social media post, writing, “Congratulations, Andrew Cuomo. I know how hard you worked for this.” Throughout the race, Mamdani has implied that Cuomo’s more conservative policies would curry favor with Trump and his inner circle of billionaires.
“The difference between myself and Andrew Cuomo is that my campaign is not funded by the very billionaires who put Donald Trump in DC,” Mamdani said during the first debate before the Democratic Party primary back in June.
Mamdani plays soccer with New Yorkers on Eastern Parkway, in Brooklyn (Photo via @ZohranKMamdani/X)
The US President issued another round of last minute-endorsements for Cuomo – but primarily against Mamdani – on November 3 and 4.
“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!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. Trump threatened to withhold federal funds to New York City, where he is originally from, if Mamdani is elected above the “very minimum as required.”
“If affordability is you [sic] issue, VOTE REPUBLICAN!” Trump entreated on election day, referencing Mamdani’s central campaign issue of affordability.
Mamdani himself, as well as those surrounding his campaign, have endured a slew of islamophobic and racist attacks from right-wing figures. In just one example, On election day, Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz posted a photo of a fake ballot representing the choice between Cuomo and Mamdani. The first option reads “A DEMOCRAT,” with the sub-label “JUST A DEMOCRAT.” The second option, printed in bold text, reads “AN ACTUAL COMMUNIST JIHADIST,” followed by the description “A LITERAL KARL MARX-QUOTING, AMERICA-HATING JIHADIST.”
