NYC mayoral candidates make final push ahead of Election Day

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New York City's mayoral candidates are making a final push Monday to get voters to the polls, as the race to lead America's biggest city nears its finale.

Ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa are frenetically campaigning across the city’s five boroughs as they make their case to succeed outgoing Mayor Eric Adams.

More than 735,000 early votes have already been cast — the highest number ever in a New York City mayoral election — dwarfing 2021’s early in-person turnout, which was the first mayoral race in the city with early voting. This year’s early voter turnout fell short of the total from the last presidential election, when just over 1 million early in-person votes were cast.

Cuomo has a packed schedule Monday, setting out to hit each of the boroughs for a get-out-the-vote effort. Sliwa is also set to crisscross the city for a similar push, playing up his public safety-centered campaign.

Mamdani, meanwhile, kicked off the day by crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan with supporters at sunrise, carrying a banner alongside Democratic allies.

“I continue to be confident about our chances heading into Election Day tomorrow,” Mamdani said at a news conference outside City Hall. “But I will not allow myself or let this movement to become complacent.”

Mamdani, 34, a state assemblymember who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, jolted the political world when he defeated Cuomo in the primary with an energetic campaign focused on making the city a more affordable place to live.

As the race approaches the finish line, Mamdani has continued to post viral social media videos and run a relentless ground game, urging his progressive fan base to keep up the enthusiasm and send as many supporters to the polls as possible.

In an interview on “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, President Donald Trump said if Mamdani wins, “it’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York.”

Mischaracterizing Mamdani, a democratic socialist, as a communist, Trump said he would choose Cuomo between the two of them.

“I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other, but if it’s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you,” he said.

Asked about those comments Monday, Cuomo said Trump had not endorsed him, while playing up the president’s threats to punish New York if Mamdani is elected.

“He said if Mamdani wins, he’s going to cut off funding for New York,” Cuomo said of Trump. “He calls him a communist. He’ll send the National Guard. We need a mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump, who can get the funding New York deserves, who can make sure the National Guard doesn’t come to New York.”

Cuomo is trying to make his return to political office after resigning as governor four years ago following a barrage of sexual harassment accusations that he denies. Now running as an independent, the 67-year-old has in recent days shifted to wooing Republican voters to bolster his centrist base, pitching himself as the only candidate who can stop Mamdani.

Sliwa, the creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group and a longtime fixture on New York's airwaves, seeks to spoil both Democrats' chances. He's been heavily canvassing the streets and subways in his signature red beret to spread his message of public safety.