The Latest: Mamdani and Cuomo face off in generational battle for NYC mayor

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The New York City mayor’s race pitting Zohran Mamdani against Andrew Cuomo will determine whether the city elects its first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in generations or offers a comeback for a longtime politician who resigned as governor four years ago in disgrace.

Other top races in Tuesday’s election include a pair of races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia and a ballot measure in California that Democrats are counting on for next year’s elections to determine control of Congress.

Though local issues are a major factor in Tuesday’s contests, the winners take on an outsize role in a year when President Donald Trump has battled with governors and mayors as he’s deployed National Guard troops and immigration agents across cities and states. For Democrats, the offices offer a chance to push back on the president’s agenda, while Republicans see it as an opportunity to support his aims.

Here's the latest:

Outside a vote center at a high school performing arts center in Corona, California, voters said it was taking between five and 20 minutes to cast a ballot.

Isaac Garcia, a 25-year-old financial advisor, said he waited nearly 20 minutes to vote for the measure. Garcia said he typically doesn’t vote but felt moved to do so to push back against the Trump administration’s immigration policies and rising prices.

“I’d rather feel as if I am doing something instead of doing nothing,” said Garcia, a Democrat. “This feels like one of the first times where we are actually doing something to be able to challenge back the current administration.”

As of 3 p.m. ET, nearly 1.5 million people had voted in New York City’s mayoral election, according to the city’s Board of Elections. With six hours still to go until the polls close, the turnout had already surpassed the total votes cast in any city mayoral election in the past 20 years.

California’s Democratic officials were reassuring voters Tuesday after President Trump said thestate’s elections process is rigged.

The sole item on the state’s special election ballot is a redistricting initiative championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom after Trump pushed GOP-controlled states to redraw congressional lines before next year’s midterm elections.

In a post Tuesday on his social media platform, the president called the initiative a “GIANT SCAM.” He said the election was “RIGGED” and warned it was “under very serious legal and criminal review.”

The Trump administration sent election monitors to five counties in California, a state Trump lost three times. He’s often criticized the state’s practice of sending all registered voters a mail ballot, despite no evidence of any widespread fraud or other voting-related problems.

Newsom’s office quickly responded with their own social media post, criticizing the president for “spreading false information.” They later posted a cartoon image of Trump crying and said he was “whining about California.”

California’s top election official, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, called it “another baseless claim” and said California voters should not be deterred from exercising their right to vote.

Polls are closed today in Kentucky, but that’s not a mistake, said Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams in a post on X.

“We’re getting calls about polls being closed,” Adams wrote. “They are closed because we do not have elections today.”

Kentucky’s election schedule is empty in the year after a presidential election, with the exception of special elections. Kentucky will elect a senator in next year’s midterm election to replace retiring Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, and state officials are on the ballot again in 2027.

“You cannot vote today in Kentucky for the mayor of New York City or the Governor of Virginia,” Adams added. “Sorry.”

After casting her ballot in the South Bronx, Leyla Ba, a 52-year-old assistant day care teacher, said she opted for Mamdani because housing and the cost of living were most important to her. She said those issues are more pressing than they were five or so years ago.

“It seemed easier back then — things were a little cheaper, a little more accessible,” Ba said.

On the swanky Upper East Side of Manhattan, Dr. Sam Schwarz, a 57-year-old physician who described himself as a “mostly conservative” independent, said he voted for Cuomo. Although he sees Sliwa as “a very good man,” he didn’t think the Republican had any chance of winning. And he faulted Mamdani for having “zero experience.”

Schwarz said safety is the city’s No. 1 issue and he believed Cuomo would be the better mayor.

Republicans in Roseville said they were concerned the city represented in the House by GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley could flip under Democrats’ plan to redraw congressional districts in California.

Lee Sander, a veteran, said he was voting against Proposition 50 because voters already approved an independent redistricting commission to draw the state’s congressional lines every 10 years. California shouldn’t redraw its lines just because Texas has, he said.

“That’s what this is all about is, ‘Oh let’s get Trump, let’s get Texas for being bad,’” he said outside the Roseville Veterans Memorial Hall, a polling station. “Each state should do their own thing. That’s what we’re supposed to do.”

But Martin Ellison, who isn’t registered with a political party, voted for the measure.

“I hate Trump, and he’s trying to fix the election coming up,” he said.

Gerald Winthrop, a 72-year-old Brick resident who described himself as “Liberal and damn proud of it!” cast his vote for Democrat Mikie Sherrill, but added that whoever wins the gubernatorial race has to tackle the state’s economic situation “immediately.”

Winthrop said he’s tired of seeing people leave the state due to the high cost of living and he’s also concerned about utility and insurance costs that continue to rise. “People can only dig so deep in their pockets, especially the elderly who only have their pensions and social security.”

Mary Burgess, 42, of Toms River, who voted for Republican Jack Ciattarelli, voiced similar concerns. Burgess said she wants Ciattarelli to focus the start of his gubernatorial term on reforming how the state and county governments handle contracts for roadwork and local services, saying it’s “ridiculous and costly.” She also said she hopes more smaller towns will work together to negotiate joint contracts for services that will save them money.

“There are too many small fiefdoms in New Jersey and that needs to end,” she said. “Consolidation will save people money and streamline things in general. Everybody wins.”

Frey faces a steep challenge in Tuesday’s election from a democratic socialist in a race that highlights different visions of how to govern in a liberal city confronting persistent problems with policing, crime and homelessness.

Frey, a Democrat who’s seeking a third term, is under fire from the left from state Sen. Omar Fateh, who hopes to become the city’s first Muslim and Somali American mayor.

Fateh has drawn comparisons with Zohran Mamdani, the socialist winner of New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, because of their backgrounds and ideological similarities. Both come from immigrant families, although Fateh, a member of the city’s large Somali American community, was born in the U.S.

Two years after the deadliest mass shooting in state history, Maine residents are voting on whether to make it easier for family members to petition a court to restrict a potentially dangerous person’s access to guns.

A statewide ballot question Tuesday asks residents if they want to build on the state’s yellow flag law, which allows police officers to initiate a process to keep someone away from firearms. Approval would add Maine to more than 20 states that have a red flag law empowering family members to take the same step.

Gun safety advocates began pushing for a stricter red flag law after 18 people were killed when an Army reservist opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill in Lewiston in October 2023. An independent commission appointed by Maine’s governor later concluded that there were numerous opportunities for intervention by both Army officials and civilian law enforcement.

▶ Read more about Maine’s vote on the proposed gun law

Miyares appears in a social media video with a voter who says he cast his ballot for Miyares and for U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate for governor. The voter, identified only as Dave, says he typically votes for candidates from both parties.

Miyares said he appreciated the man’s vote as he seeks another term but didn’t speak up for Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, his party’s nominee for governor.

The two leading candidates in a special election to fill the 18th Congressional District seat in Houston that’s been vacant most of this year since the death of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner stood nearly side by side outside a community center Tuesday asking voters for their support.

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards greeted voters as they drove into the parking lot of the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center in northwest Houston.

Standing by the parking lot’s entrance on a hot and sunny day, both candidates passed out campaign flyers as voters rolled down their vehicles’ windows and briefly talked to Menefee and Edwards before parking their cars.

Edwards told voters she would represent the congressional district to “bring home economic opportunities, education, housing and health care.”

Menefee’s wife, Kaitlyn, handed out flyers and told voters her husband as county attorney had “fought Trump and won before. He’ll do it again.” Menefee would then come up to drivers, shake their hands and ask for their vote.

A steady stream of voters trickled into the vote center at the public library in Norco, California on Tuesday morning.

Tyler Ziemann, a 39-year-old firefighter, said he voted against the only state measure on the ballot — a proposal to redraw California’s maps to add five Democratic U.S. House seats in response to President Trump’s redistricting moves in Texas.

“I think that it’s a power grab,” said Ziemann, adding he doesn’t typically vote in line with just one political party. “They’re just trying to redraw district lines in their benefit, and it should just be done the way we’ve always done it.”

The Southern California equestrian community of about 25,000 people is lined with riding trails and strip malls and known as “Horsetown USA.” It’s one of a cluster of inland cities in a congressional district represented by Republican Ken Calvert that could be affected by the measure known as Prop. 50.

Amy Leos, a 50-year-old Republican from Norco, said she voted against it. “I feel like voting ‘yes’ would be setting up even more of a blue state,” Leos said.

While Trump lost Virginia and New Jersey last fall, there were significant shifts to the right in both states. In New Jersey, Trump’s 16-percentage-point loss in 2020 shrank to less than 6 percentage points in 2024.

Those shifts were fueled by Trump’s increasing popularity among traditional Democratic loyalists: labor union members, Black men, Hispanic voters and younger people. Democrats are particularly vulnerable in New Jersey, which has among the largest percentage of labor union households in the nation.

If those pro-Trump trends continue this week, Democrats could be in trouble.

But Trump isn’t on the ballot, of course. And the Trump coalition — especially lower-propensity voters — hasn’t typically shown up in the same numbers in nonpresidential years.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate cast her ballot in the closely watched contest in Montclair, New Jersey, accompanied by her husband, Jason Hedberg, and two of their four children Tuesday morning.

“I think I’m going to do quite well today,” she told reporters afterward.

Asked about Election Day bomb threats at several New Jersey polling places, Sherrill said she was told none of them was credible and state voters wouldn’t be deterred.

“Obviously this is an attempt to suppress the vote here, and I don’t think New Jerseyans take very kindly to that kind of tampering in our election system,” she said.

Her opponent, Republican Jack Ciattarelli, cast his ballot during early voting last week in Bridgewater.

The president didn’t set foot in Virginia or New Jersey to campaign with Republican gubernatorial candidates Winsome Earle-Sears or Jack Ciattarelli, but both contests will likely be viewed as a referendum on Trump’s job so far.

The president endorsed Ciattarelli in New Jersey’s governor’s race but held only a pair of tele-town halls on his behalf, including one Monday night. Trump also did a Monday night tele-town hall for Virginia Republican candidates, but he didn’t mention Earle-Sears, speaking mostly in favor of the GOP candidate for attorney general.

Earlier in the campaign, Trump gave Earle-Sears only a half-hearted endorsement, saying he supported the GOP candidate for governor though he didn’t use her name. Earle-Sears was nonetheless a fierce defender of Trump and his policies, just as Ciattarelli was in New Jersey.

Back in June, voters in New York City’s Democratic primary had the option to select up to five candidates by order of preference under a system known as ranked-choice voting. This time around, they can only pick one. That’s because the ranked-choice system, approved by ballot measure in 2019, only applies in primaries — not in the general election match-up.

Still, in a memorable moment from last month’s debate, the candidates were asked how they would fill out their ballots if the ranked-choice system were in effect. Cuomo and Sliwa both said they’d only rank themselves, while Mamdani said he’d rank himself first followed by Sliwa. “Oh, please,” the Republican replied, deploying a bit of Gen Z slang, “don’t be glazing me here, Zohran!”

Stephanie Uhl, 38, is currently working without pay for the Defense Department under the government shutdown and said of the Republican Party’s support for tariffs and the current risk to SNAP benefits, “I hate what they’re doing to the economy.”

“I can afford (it) just fine, but it bothers me that it affects so many other people, and they don’t care,” she said after casting her ballot at the Aurora Hills Library in Arlington.

Uhl, who describes herself as caring more about issues than party, said she voted for former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger for governor, but couldn’t bring herself to vote for Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, after learning of the violent references he made to other Virginia lawmakers in text messages made public last month.

Tuesday offers a test of two very different Democratic philosophies on display from candidates: toeing a moderate line or fully embracing far-left progressivism. But it also presents a scenario in which both, or neither, could be successful — making drawing conclusions going forward more difficult.

The party’s candidates for governor, New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, have focused largely on the economy, public safety and health care, distancing themselves from some of the Democratic Party’s far-left policies.

A growing collection of Democratic leaders believe the moderate approach holds the key to the party’s revival after the GOP won the White House and both congressional chambers last year. Tuesday could be a key indicator of whether they’re right.

Election Day comes in the midst of a federal government shutdown that’s already spanned more than a month. Both parties in Congress blame each other, and there’s no end in sight.

Will it matter?

Virginia is home to more than 134,000 federal workers, many of whom have been furloughed or are being forced to work without pay. New Jersey has nearly 21,000 federal employees, according to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, out of a total of more than 2 million such government employees nationwide.

Either number is more than enough to swing a close election.

At the same time, millions of people may be losing critical food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, offering voters another urgent reason to express their displeasure.

“Many Mamdani voters will be furious that you came from behind by stoking what they will see as Islamophobia, with recent ads and appearances on conservative media,” said host Brian Lehrer in an interview on WNYC radio.

Cuomo at first insisted Lehrer had it “upside down.” “I am all about unifying,” he said, touting his record as governor and accusing Mamdani of being the divisive one.

But Lehrer continued to press Cuomo, who has been criticized for failing to speak out against bigoted attacks on Mamdani from some allies.

Cuomo responded that he’s met with members of “the Muslim community” and said he wants to make them a “big part” of his administration and appoint them to senior positions.

The Republican mayoral candidate and animal rights activist tried to bring a cat with him into the polling place when he voted in the 2021 city election, but was rebuffed.

On Tuesday, he settled for a cat tie and held a book about cats, “Pawverbs For A Cat Lover’s Heart,” while wearing his signature red beret at a school in the Bronx as he accompanied his wife, Nancy.

“And you know animals throughout the city will be partying hearty because they’ll have a friend both in Gracie Mansion and in City Hall,” he said.

Sliwa had cast his ballot earlier during early voting.

Nearly 20% of Chester County voters were left off the original poll books provided to polling locations, according to county officials.

Voters registered as anything other than Republican or Democrat were missing from poll books, including those registered with the Green Party, with the Libertarian Party, with another party or without party affiliation. It amounted to about 75,000 registered voters out of roughly 385,000 in the county.

County election officials became aware of the problem just after polling places opened and were “actively deploying” supplemental poll books to 230 polling locations, according to county spokesperson Rebecca Brain. There will be a formal review.

A majority of voters in Chester County, about an hour’s drive west of Philadelphia, backed Democrat Kamala Harris over Republican Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election. Voters on Tuesday were weighing in on local offices, as well as on members of Pennsylvania’s highest court. Three Democratic justices on the state Supreme Court were running in retention elections, in which voters give a “yes” or “no” on whether they serve another term.

Third-party voters were offered a provisional ballot if their name wasn’t in the poll book Tuesday morning.

The seat in the 18th Congressional District has been vacant since the death of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner in March. Turner was only months into his first term after serving as Houston’s mayor.

Sixteen candidates are on the ballot in the heavily Democratic district. The biggest names include Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards, a former Houston City Council member. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote Tuesday, there will be a runoff.

Democrats accused Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of delaying the special election after Turner’s death to protect the GOP’s slim majority. Abbott has said Harris County officials needed more time to prepare for the election.

Confusion has lingered because many of the district’s residents will vote in a different district next year under a redrawn map demanded by President Trump in an effort to increase the number of GOP seats.

One thing on voters’ minds heading into Election Day in the two states holding elections for governor was the rising cost of energy bills.

The parties were split on the solutions they were pitching to voters.

The Democratic candidates embrace clean energy options like wind and solar. Meanwhile, the two states’ Republican nominees are more closely aligned with the policies of President Donald Trump, who’s called climate change a “con job” and promotes more traditional energy sources like gas and coal.

▶ Read more about how the campaigns tackled energy costs

The former New York governor cast his ballot at a high school shortly after 10 a.m., talking and shaking hands with people at the polling location while surrounded by TV news cameras.

Wearing a suit and white shirt with no tie, he stooped over a privacy booth as he marked his choices before leisurely strolling toward an exit and making a brief stop to talk with supporters in a hallway.

The Department of Justice said last week it would send federal election observers to California and New Jersey, following requests from their state GOP officials.

The election monitors will be in six jurisdictions: Passaic County, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside and Fresno counties in California.

Some leading Democrats in the states were critical of the move, which they said could intimidate voters.

▶ Read more about the election poll watchers

The self-described democratic-socialist said he would not cave to any threats by the president to withhold money from the city.

“I look forward to fighting for every single dollar this city is owed,” he told reporters Tuesday morning. “I look forward to utilizing every single tool at my disposal as the next mayor of this city to fight for the people of it. That means using the courts. That means using the bully pulpit. That means ensuring that we actually follow the letter of the law.

“But I will not be intimidated by this president,” he said.

Cuomo said President Trump telling Republicans to vote for him over Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa “could be very helpful because if they don’t vote for Sliwa, they would vote for me.”

Trump endorsed Cuomo, the former Democratic governor of New York who’s running for mayor as an independent, on Monday.

Cuomo said Trump “is pragmatic” and is telling Republicans the “reality of the situation, which is, if you do not vote, Mamdani is going to win.”

The Republican president opposes Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, who’s ahead in the polls.

Cuomo said voters should look beyond political party and vote for him to save New York City from Mamdani.

“It’s about saving the city, and that’s not being overly dramatic,” Cuomo said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” which is one of Trump’s favorite TV news programs.

In Virginia, the attorney general’s race grabbed the national spotlight following reports that Democrat Jay Jones had texted a Virginia delegate in 2022 messages suggesting the then-Republican House Speaker should get “two bullets to the head.” Before the scandal, he was seen as the race’s likely winner. The Republican incumbent has focused much of his campaign on the resurfaced texts.

In Pennsylvania, voters will cast Yes or No votes on whether to retain three justices of the state’s Supreme Court 5-2 Democratic majority. Partisan control of the court could play a role in the 2028 presidential race because justices might be asked to rule on election disputes in one of the country’s battleground states.

Detroit, Pittsburgh, Jersey City and Buffalo will elect new mayors, while incumbents in Atlanta, Minneapolis and Cincinnati seek another term.