New York City, USA – Four years after a dramatic fall from political grace, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is staging a bold comeback — this time, with his eyes set on City Hall. But standing in his way is a rising progressive voice from the global South, Zohran Mamdani, whose grassroots momentum is challenging the very foundations of the Democratic Party’s establishment.

Cuomo, 67, once the face of centrist stability in American politics, is now in a tight race with 33-year-old Mamdani — a self-described socialist and New York State Assembly member — ahead of the Democratic primary set for June 24. The race has exposed deep fractures within the Democratic base, pitting institutional power against a new wave of left-leaning, justice-driven politics.

In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than three to one, the winner of this primary is almost guaranteed to lead one of the world’s most influential cities. And with former President Donald Trump looming large on the national stage, New York’s next mayor will have a powerful platform to shape urban resistance to far-right politics.

Speaking recently at a campaign stop in Harlem, Cuomo portrayed himself as the only Democrat with the experience and grit to take on Trump’s anti-migrant rhetoric and economic policies. “We have that existential threat called Donald Trump,” he warned, calling the former president’s stance a “declaration of war on New York City.”

But while Cuomo is trying to recast himself as the city's ultimate defender, his past continues to cast a long shadow.

In 2021, an investigation led by New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Cuomo of sexually harassing 11 women. The allegations forced his resignation and also brought down his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who was found to have advised him during the crisis. Although no formal charges were filed, the episode brought an abrupt halt to the Cuomo dynasty’s decades-long political run.

Now, with a smile still made for television and backing from political elites — including billionaire Michael Bloomberg and other party veterans — Cuomo is attempting to rewrite that narrative. But opponents and some voters aren't so quick to forget.

“Cuomo didn’t erase the scandal. It still lives in voters’ minds,” noted Columbia University political scientist Ester Fuchs. “But if the election becomes a referendum on who can stand up to Trump, Cuomo starts to look like the safer bet.”

Yet it's Mamdani, a Ugandan-born politician of South Asian heritage, who is shaking up expectations. The son of esteemed scholar Mahmood Mamdani and acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay!, The Namesake), Zohran Mamdani is leading a coalition of working-class New Yorkers, immigrants, and young voters who are eager for radical change.

He has drawn endorsements from figures like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive powerhouse, and is running on an unapologetically leftist platform: free public bus service, a $30 minimum wage by 2030, rent caps, and taxing the ultra-rich.

In a striking upset, a recent poll by Public Policy Polling showed Mamdani edging out Cuomo by four percentage points — 35% to 31% — in a crowded field. New York’s ranked-choice voting system means candidates will need broader support beyond their base to win.

“The difference between myself and Andrew Cuomo is that my campaign isn’t powered by billionaires who helped put Donald Trump in power,” Mamdani said on the trail in Brooklyn, where his campaign posters are splashed across storefronts in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods.

Cuomo, for his part, has dismissed Mamdani as unprepared to lead a city with a $112 billion budget and over 300,000 employees. “Trump would go through Mr. Mamdani like a hot knife through butter,” he said during a heated debate.

But Mamdani remains unfazed, framing the city’s affordability crisis as the true emergency. “People are being priced out of their homes, their neighborhoods, their futures,” he said. “This is what we’re fighting to change.”

As the countdown to the primary continues, the race is shaping into more than just a local political contest — it’s a generational and ideological battle that could define how Democrats fight the Trump era, not just in New York, but across the United States.


By WafricNews Desk.