Early voting began on a rainy Saturday as New Yorkers cast their votes in a crowded Democratic mayoral primary largely shaped by concerns about affordability, housing, public safety and the rise in antisemitism.
Multiple polls show former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a moderate, as the front-runner. Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblymember from Queens who is a democratic socialist, is in second place. Both, however, stand to be polarizing for some voters.
Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent in the general election, will not be among the 11 candidates listed on the ballot. This year marks the second time city voters will determine the Democratic nominee using a ranked-choice system, where voters can choose up to five candidates.
Despite the wet weather, turnout doubled compared to the first day of early voting in the 2021 mayoral primary, according to data from the city’s Board of Elections, with 30,553 early voting check-ins. In 2021, there were 16,867 check-ins.
Daniel Ennab, a 29-year-old filmmaker who voted at Brooklyn Borough Hall, was among those who said they left Cuomo off their ballot because of the sexual misconduct scandal that forced his resignation in 2021.
“Everyone talks about the experience that he has, but I think he has corrupt practices,” Ennab said. “It’s a big alert sign for me.”
Ennab, who wore a baseball cap that read “New York or nowhere,” said he ranked Mamdani as his top choice because of his emphasis on affordability and because he is a relatively new face in politics.
“It resonates with me at this point in my life,” he said. “We kind of just need someone that isn’t practicing the same policies, who isn’t saying the same spiel.”
On the Upper East Side, Caroline Leventhal praised Cuomo for his leadership during the pandemic. “He was good during COVID,” she said. “He’s progressive in the normal way. He’s not a socialist.”
The 37-year-old said she firmly opposed Mamdani because of his lack of support for Israel.
Early voting continues through June 22. The primary is on June 24. Voters are already being inundated by a wave of TV ads and political fliers. Cuomo is being assisted by a super PAC called Fix the City, which has raised an unprecedented $20 million.
All the leading candidates hit the campaign trail on Saturday. Cuomo began his day in Harlem at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters. Sharpton said he was not endorsing a candidate but criticized Mamdani and City Comptroller Brad Lander for entering a cross-endorsement that did not include City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.
Lander and Speaker Adams have polled in third and fourth place respectively.
Mamdani spoke to voters across the city, including the Upper West Side and Co-op City in the Bronx. Both areas are high-turnout districts. He was scheduled to hold a rally Saturday night with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a key progressive endorser in the race.
Matthew Kelly, a 33-year-old Brooklyn resident who works in health care, said he was debating between ranking Lander and Mamdani first. In the end, he went with Lander.
“He was just the right mix of progressive and practical for me,” Kelly said. He added that he thought Lander could reach a broader coalition of New Yorkers in a politically charged moment.
Carol Foote, a city worker, said she was deciding between Speaker Adams and Mamdani as her top choice.
“It was actually really, really close,” she said. The Upper East Side resident said she did not rank Cuomo, citing his decision to raise the retirement age for public workers and his sexual misconduct scandal.
Foote, a former poll worker, said she has seen voters struggle to understand ranked-choice voting. “There does need to be more outreach and education,” she said.
At the same time, she said she liked being able to rank candidates.
“There were some really, really good candidates,” she said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
