AILSA CHANG, HOST:
OK. Let's zoom in now on the race for New York City mayor. More than 730,000 people cast ballots in early voting, according to election officials. In the closing days of his campaign, the front-runner, Zohran Mamdani, has organized a massive get-out-the-vote effort. Meanwhile, former Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo is running as an independent, hoping to come from behind with support from Black and Jewish voters. NPR's Brian Mann reports.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #1: (Chanting) Mamdani, Mamdani, Mamdani.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: When Zohran Mamdani launched his campaign for mayor last year, he was a relative unknown, a backbencher in New York state legislature. But by this weekend, he had built a movement. Surrounded by a massive crowd in Queens, he urged volunteers to go door to door rallying votes.
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: We want the next three days to be days where we do not sleep.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMMING)
MAMDANI: Days where we leave everything out in the field.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMMING)
MAMDANI: Days that we can look back on and say we did everything we could.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMMING)
MAMDANI: Are you ready for those days?
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #2: Yeah.
(CHEERING)
MANN: Using viral social media videos and drawing on New York City's left-leaning street protest culture, Mamdani has led this race by double digits in the polls. Part of his appeal is a populist economic message. Here's one of his ads.
(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD, "ZOHRAN MAMDANI FOR NYC")
MAMDANI: We all want more money in our pocket, more dignity in our lives, more rest and joy in this wild, beautiful city.
MANN: If he wins, Mamdani would be New York City's first Muslim mayor. While reaching out to Jewish leaders in the city, he's also been critical of Israel's war in Gaza, a view that polls show is popular with a majority of younger voters here. Dari Aliza is 31 years old. She's been knocking on doors for Mamdani.
DARI ALIZA: The fact that Zohran has not just taken the stand on Palestine but also has done so for so much of his life, to me, told me everything I needed to know about trusting him on other issues.
MANN: While Mamdani was rallying big crowds to make his closing arguments, his chief rival, Andrew Cuomo, was working the aisles in a grocery store in Queens, meeting with much smaller and mostly older groups of Black and Hispanic voters.
ANDREW CUOMO: How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I'm fine.
CUOMO: Good to see you.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Good seeing you.
CUOMO: Need you to vote, and I wish you good luck.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Thank you, Sir.
MANN: During the Democratic primary, which he lost, Cuomo drew strong support from older Black voters like Samuel Hill, who says he'll cast his ballot for Cuomo tomorrow.
SAMUEL HILL: He's a good candidate for anything because he's a good man.
MANN: But in this race, Cuomo was trying to revive a political career derailed by scandal. Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 after women came forward accusing him of sexual harassment. He also faced criticism for his handling of elderly nursing home residents during the COVID pandemic. A report by New York's attorney general's office accused the Cuomo administration of underreporting nursing home deaths. Cuomo has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and tried to put that history behind him.
During this final weekend, he described himself as staunchly pro-Israel and a pro-business alternative to Mamdani's Democratic socialism. Once a champion of progressive criminal justice reforms, including cashless bail and closing of prisons, he's running now as a law and order candidate, including a promise to hire more cops for the NYPD.
CUOMO: Homeowners in Queens, families who have children, they need public safety first. Five thousand police officers, I will make it a reality.
MANN: The outcome of this race tomorrow could be heavily influenced by the third candidate on the ballot, Republican Curtis Sliwa. Sliwa is running a distant third, but polls suggest he's likely to win many of the conservative votes that Cuomo would need in order to catch Mamdani.
Brian Mann, NPR News in Queens in New York City.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELMIENE SONG, "MARKING MY TIME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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