QUEENS, (United States): New Yorkers looked set to elect a young Muslim leftist as mayor Tuesday as US voters cast judgment for the first time on Donald Trump’s tumultuous second presidency in nationwide local elections.
While Zohran Mamdani’s rise has dominated headlines, elections for governor in Virginia and New Jersey could also be revealing gauges of the US political mood nearly 10 months since Trump’s return to the White House.
Democratic wins in those states may indicate a revived opposition ahead of next year’s midterm elections to decide control of Congress. In New York, Mamdani, aged just 34, is a self-described socialist who was virtually unknown before his upset victory to secure the Democratic nomination.
He has focused on reducing living costs for ordinary New Yorkers, building support through his informal personal style and social-media-friendly clips of him walking the streets chatting with voters.
Unabashedly playing the race card, President Trump on Tuesday smeared Mamdani, who would be New York’s first Muslim mayor, as a “Jew hater.”
“Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!” the Republican president posted on his social media platform.
Mamdani was on about 44 percent in latest polls, several points ahead of former state governor Andrew Cuomo who is running as an independent.
Denise Gibbs, 46, a doctor of physiotherapy, voted at a school in Brooklyn.
“I sure hope it improves the city. I want to see it decrease divisiveness and increase livelihoods of working class households and services for children,” she said wearing green scrubs.
A total of 1.14 million votes were cast in 2021, which saw the election of current Mayor Eric Adams who bowed out when his reelection campaign was hit by scandals and corruption allegations.