Democrat Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor of New York

(New York) Zohran Mamdani, young representative of the left of the Democratic Party and resolute opponent of Donald Trump, was elected mayor of New York at the end of the most followed local elections organized Tuesday in the country, the first electoral test for the American president.

The 34-year-old local elected official beat the former governor of the state, the centrist Andrew Cuomo, and the Republican Curtis Sliwa, according to several American media after the first vote counts. Zohran Mamdani will become the 1^er January the first Muslim mayor of the largest city in the United States.

Donald Trump’s support for his main opponent, given lip service, was therefore not favorable, or was not enough, for the ex-governor. No more than the president’s appeal to Jewish voters to block the Muslim candidate.

“Any Jewish person who votes for Zohran Mamdani (…) is a stupid person! ! ! “, the Republican billionaire wrote during the day on his Truth Social platform, accusing the latter, an activist for the Palestinian cause, of “hating” them.

Throughout the campaign, the Queens representative to the New York State Assembly was attacked for his very strong opposition to Israeli policies. However, he remained firm in his positions, at the same time increasing demonstrations of support for the Jewish community.

Surprise winner of the Democratic primary in June, Zohran Mamdani has never since left the lead in the polls, even after the withdrawal from the race of outgoing mayor Eric Adams, who also called to beat him by rallying Andrew Cuomo.

Born in Uganda into a family of intellectuals of Indian origin, arrived in the United States at age 7 and naturalized in 2018, this member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) movement made the fight against the high cost of living the heart of his campaign.

If Donald Trump called him a “communist”, his proposals – rent control, free buses and daycare – are more social democracy.

“Farewell to the politics of the past”

Very popular with young people, Zohran Mamdani also brought back many people who had moved away from politics, “voters frustrated by the status quo, in search of new personalities”, according to political scientist Costas Panagopoulos.

A sign of the enthusiasm for the vote: at 6 p.m., 1.75 million voters had voted, compared to only 1.15 million at the end of the last municipal election in 2021.

“We are on the verge of writing history (…), of saying goodbye to the politics of the past,” the Democratic candidate told journalists, shortly after voting Tuesday in a gymnasium in the popular district of Astoria, his stronghold, in Queens.

“If Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor, Trump will make short work of it,” predicted Andrew Cuomo, emphasizing, as he did throughout the campaign, the inexperience of his opponent.

Several times, the Republican president promised to put obstacles in the way of the young Democratic candidate if he was elected, by opposing, if necessary, the payment of certain federal subsidies to the city.

Even within his party, Zohran Mamdani is not unanimous. Several figures, notably the leader of the Democratic senators Chuck Schumer, do not publicly support him.

Neighboring New York, the state of New Jersey also chooses its next governor on Tuesday, between Republican businessman Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat, considered moderate, Mikie Sherrill.

The state has been considered a Democratic stronghold for the past decade. But in the last presidential election, Donald Trump considerably narrowed the gap.

Further south on the east coast, Virginia elected its first woman leader, Democrat Abigail Spanberger, defeating Republican Winsome Earle-Sears.

Californians are voting on the authorization of a redistricting of the electoral map of the state which will favor the Democratic Party, in response to a similar Trumpist initiative in Texas.