N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race Live Updates: Candidates Fan Out Across City on Last Day of Early Voting

 

N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race Live Updates: Candidates Fan Out Across City on Last Day of Early Voting

Zohran Mamdani appeared in Harlem and cheered on marathon runners in Brooklyn, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo visited churches in the Bronx and Curtis Sliwa held a rally in Brooklyn before heading to Queens. Polls are open Sunday until 5 p.m.

 

Benjamin Oreskes

Matthew Haag

Benjamin Oreskes and Matthew Haag

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11/02/nyregion/nyc-mayor-election-news

 

Here’s the latest.

New York City’s candidates for mayor fanned out across the city on Sunday, delivering closing messages at churches and rallies and urging supporters to cast their ballots on the last day of early voting before Election Day.

 

Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and front-runner, and former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who is running as an independent, started their days with appeals to Black voters on separate calls with a morning radio show. Just before noon, Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, campaigned through Brighton Beach, his second stop of the day in Brooklyn.

 

“It’s so important to vote, even if you don’t vote for me,” Mr. Sliwa said.

 

All three candidates had packed schedules and were contending with masses of people running in another contest: the New York City Marathon. They briefly intersected on Sunday afternoon, when Mr. Mamdani, who ran in the event in 2022 and 2024, cheered on runners during a campaign stop in Greenpoint in Brooklyn. Along the marathon route, some spectators held up signs that referenced the candidates and campaigns.

 

Early voting began on Oct. 25, and about 584,000 voters had submitted ballots as of Saturday night, far more than were cast at the same point in the last mayoral race, in 2021. On Saturday alone, about 104,000 people voted early, the most of any day since the polls opened.

 

Though voting behavior has shifted in recent years, the large turnout reflected New Yorkers’ heightened interest in the race, in which Mr. Mamdani emerged as the front-runner after his shock win over Mr. Cuomo in the June Democratic primary. In recent weeks, Mr. Cuomo has sought to cast his opponent as a radical democratic socialist who is out of step with Democratic voters.

 

Mr. Cuomo delivered that same message on Sunday. In interviews on WBLS-FM and later on Fox News, Mr. Cuomo said that Mr. Mamdani lacked the experience and skills to implement his campaign promises. On MSNBC, Mr. Mamdani said that Mr. Cuomo had turned his campaign into one of hate and division because “the only thing he has cared about — power — is slipping away from him.”

 

Later on Sunday, both candidates addressed church congregations. Mr. Mamdani spoke at First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem, then joined about 100 campaign volunteers gathered nearby for a last-minute get-out-the-vote effort in the neighborhood. Mr. Cuomo went to two churches in the Bronx and met with a handful of voters at a cafe on Arthur Avenue.

 

Here’s what else to know:

Obama and Mamdani: Mr. Mamdani has had to win over many fellow Democrats, partly because of his staunch criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza. He spoke Saturday by phone with former President Barack Obama, who did not endorse Mr. Mamdani but praised his campaign and offered to help going forward.

 

Democratic fissures: As Mr. Obama and other elected officials rally around Mr. Mamdani, the Democratic Party is searching for a path forward at the national level and reckoning with internal ideological fissures. On Saturday, Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California and one of the country’s most prominent Indian American politicians, campaigned with Mr. Mamdani, hoping to energize South Asian voters.

 

The experience conundrum: For Mr. Mamdani, who turned 34 on Oct. 18, youth has been an advantage with many voters hungry for fresh leaders to run the city. At the same time, some voters expressed concern about Mr. Mamdani’s ability to navigate the complex role without more political experience.

 

Islamophobia in the race: The campaign’s final weeks have brought a wave of attacks on Mr. Mamdani’s ethnicity and Islamic faith from his rivals and their allies. Muslim voters have been watching his ascent with pride but also trepidation, saying in interviews they are worried for his safety.

 

How to vote: Sunday is the last day to vote early. Polls close at 5 p.m., and there is no voting on Monday. Election Day is Tuesday. Your early-voting place this weekend may be different from your polling station on Election Day. You can check either address here.

 

Wesley Parnell and Nate Schweber contributed reporting.