The two leading candidates in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary — Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani — hit the campaign trail Tuesday as voters braved the sweltering heat to make their voices heard on Primary Day.
Cuomo, the moderate former governor who is attempting a political comeback after resigning in 2021 amid multiple sexual harassment allegations that he denies, voted at his polling site at Art and Design High School in Midtown East on Tuesday morning. He arrived at the polls around 11 a.m. on June 24, jumping out of a black SUV flanked by two of his three daughters — Mariah Kennedy-Cuomo and Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo.
Cuomo indicated that he only voted for himself in the mayoral race, leaving the other four slots in the ranked-choice primary blank. He said that he did vote for candidates in down-ballot races but would not divulge their names, instead saying, “My vote is private.”
Although Cuomo had been leading in the polls by a wide margin for much of the primary, he and Mamdani — a democratic socialist Queens Assembly member — were neck-and-neck in a bombshell Emerson College poll released on Monday.
The tightening race has spurred the former governor to more aggressively attack Mamdani in the final weeks of the race over his relative inexperience in office and fierce criticism of Israel. Wealthy interests have poured millions of dollars into a super PAC supporting the former governor’s campaign to blanket the airwaves with Mamdani attack ads.
Cuomo pushing for hot turnout
Speaking to reporters before casting his ballot, Cuomo encouraged voters to come out so as to avoid what he described as an undesirable result.
“We’ve learned the hard way, when you don’t vote and only a small number of people come out, you often get a perverse outcome because a small number of people come out and don’t represent the majority of New Yorkers,” Cuomo said, appearing to preview how he will push back against a Mamdani win.
But his sentiment stands in stark contrast to the record early voting turnout during the primary—over 384,300 people checked in at poll sites across the five boroughs during the eight-day period—and the over 221,000 Election Day check-ins as of noon.
Cuomo hopes for a high turnout among his base of older voters, who typically cast their ballots on Election Day. In an apparent effort to urge his supporters to head to the polls despite the oppressive heat, Cuomo sought to play down the intensity of the steamy conditions.
“Is it a little warm today? Yes, it’s a little warm,” Cuomo said. “Is it oppressively hot today, like they said? I don’t believe so. It’s a little warm, but today is the day, and you have to vote.”
Temperatures on Tuesday are forecasted to reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with an even higher heat index. The city is set to break a record in the afternoon for the highest-ever recorded temperature on June 24 since 1888.
Mamdani seeks ‘turning the page’
Meanwhile, Mamdani gathered with supporters at Astoria Pool, which lies in his Assembly district, early Tuesday morning to kick off his Election Day. He framed his insurgent campaign as the “dawn of a new era” in the city.
“We are turning the page on the corrupt politics of the past that made this the most expensive city in the United States of America today,” Mamdani said, presumably referring to Cuomo and current Mayor Eric Adams. “I am filled with gratitude for the more than 50,000 volunteers who have powered this campaign for the last eight months, for the tens of thousands more who have already cast their ballots. And I’m filled with conviction that we will win this race.”
Mamdani’s campaign has surged due to enthusiasm among young voters, who resonated with his platform of tackling the city’s affordability crisis.
Later Tuesday morning, Mamdani joined his cross-endorsed fellow candidate, city Comptroller Brad Lander, to speak with voters on the Upper West Side. Lander, who has been polling at a distant third place, said the cross-endorsement was chiefly designed to stop Cuomo from capturing the mayoralty.
“When we cross-endorsed the number one goal was to add votes together to block Andrew Cuomo so that we don’t wind up with a corrupt, abusive, bitter, sour politics of the past,” Lander told reporters. “People are excited by the idea of a politics that’s more collaborative. They like the idea of a Muslim New Yorker and a Jewish New Yorker campaigning together.”
As all of that played out, Adams voted at his Bed-Stuy Brooklyn polling location on Tuesday morning. The incumbent mayor, who is sitting out the primary running as an independent in the general election, told reporters that he wrote in his own name to all five slots on his ranked-choice ballot.
