"He has won over younger voters with promises to freeze rents, provide free child care for infants and toddlers, and open city-run grocery stores to cut living costs. His appeal also rests on being young, photogenic, and relentlessly easygoing. He benefits as well from a fractured opposition: instead of a single challenger in the November 4 election, he faces two-former governor Andrew Cuomo and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa-who are likely to split the anti-Mamdani vote."
"Mamdani's rise is striking for another reason: crime, one of the electorate's top concerns, hasn't derailed him, despite his past hostility to the NYPD and far-left statements on law enforcement. Just four years ago, worries about crime carried current mayor Eric Adams, a former cop and Mamdani's ideological opposite, into office. Yet by early September, Mamdani led Cuomo, his closest rival, by more than 22 points and Adams by 37;"
"The turning point came in the June primary, when Mamdani shattered New York's fragile political balance and left the city's centrist forces unable to regroup. Adams's narrow 2021 primary win, notes progressive journalist Ross Barkan, had reflected the lingering strength of the old coalition-machine politics, unions, business interests, and outer-borough voters concerned about crime-that governed the city for decades. That result, Barkan says, "tricked people" into thinking that the coalition could hold for Cuomo this year."
Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic Socialist, leads the New York City mayoral race with substantial support from younger voters. He offers policies to freeze rents, provide free child care for infants and toddlers, and open city-run grocery stores to reduce living costs. His public persona emphasizes youth, photogenic presence, and an easygoing demeanor. A fractured opposition with two challengers risks splitting the anti-Mamdani vote. Crime concerns have not halted his momentum despite past hostility to the NYPD and far-left law-enforcement statements. A decisive June primary disrupted the city’s centrist coalition and left centrists unable to regroup, while Cuomo’s rebrand was undermined by past scandals.
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