Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo
Photo : AP
Cuomo had a huge lead in polls in the early months of the election. However, Mamdani has not only closed the gap with the establishment figure but also narrowly taken the lead according to the last poll. Now, whoever comes second in the Democratic primary may very well run in the general election as a third-party candidate. Cuomo can do so as the nominee of the Fight and Deliver party, which he created.
Meanwhile, Mamdani can run on the Working Families Party ticket. WFP has ranked Mamdani first on its slate of primary endorsements. Apart from these two, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is also running for reelection as an independent candidate. Formerly a Democrat, Adams saw his support crumble within the party faitfuls over his supportive stance for Trump’s immigration policy and subsequent decision by the Trump DOJ to drop federal charges against him.
Adams had bowed out of the Democratic primary to run as an independent in the general. Then there is Jim Walden, a prominent lawyer and centrist, who is another independent candidate, and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, who make the race for the next New York City mayor more competitive.
