The Mamdani effect restores hope to Democratic voters: "It's the first time I haven't voted for the lesser evil."

Special correspondent in New YorkIt's nine hours before the polls close in New York City. In the East Village, about a thirty-five-minute subway ride from Astoria, where Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani voted at eight in the morning, the first three answers about the name crossed out on the ballot are the same: Mamdani. The people answering the question are from diverse backgrounds: an elderly man in his sixties with round glasses, a student barely in her early twenties, and a young woman in her late thirties. "You'll have a hard time finding Andrew Cuomo voters, because voting for fascists isn't something people readily admit. I'm sure a lot of people will say Mamdani to avoid telling the truth," says the young woman, named Lizzy.

Just after Lizzy leaves, a tall, thin man with slicked-back gray hair and pointed boots emerges from the polling station in New York University's Alumni Hall.

-Who do you think will win?

-I think Mamdani will win, even though I don't like him. I think he's connected with young people and has charisma. But his policies will cost the city millions of dollars. I'm both a homeowner and a landlord, and his desire to freeze rents seems like a mistake to me. I think all his policies will end up being extremely expensive for all New Yorkers.

The man, who declined to give his name, explained that he voted for Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic governor of New York who lost the primary to Mamdani and is now running as an independent candidate. It was Cuomo, not the Republican Curtis Sliwa, who became Mamdani's main rival: major real estate tycoons in the city, Elon Musk, and even Donald Trump himself, supported him with the aim of blocking what could be the first socialist and Muslim mayor of the world's financial capital. "It's not that I think Cuomo is a good candidate, but he's better than Mamdani. I think Mamdani's campaign is unrealistic," he reasons. Cuomo had to resign as governor due to sexual harassment allegations.

In the last presidential election, the man admits he voted for Donald Trump—"despite detesting him as a person"—disillusioned by the Democratic candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. "I consider myself a liberal and progressive person. I previously voted for Barack Obama, and in 2015 I voted for Hillary Clinton. But the country needed someone like Trump. He has accomplished many goals: he has brought peace to the Middle East, ended eight international wars, made Europe spend more on NATO defense, and cleaned up the city," he argues.

While it is true that Europe has committed to spending more on defense, the man repeats many of Trump's talking points, because peace in the Middle East has not arrived – the truce is very weak and there have been new outbreaks of violence – and of the eight international conflicts Most are regional tensions which the Republican has patched up with express deals. Even so, he offers an interpretation of Mamdani's success that, curiously, could also be applied to Trump's victory: "I think he has charisma and that there are many people in New York who have a lot of difficulty making ends meet, and someone who makes them big promises is attractive to them." One of Trump's major campaign promises was to lower the cost of living for Americans tired of paying more and more to fill their grocery baskets. However, inflation has risen to 3% and supermarket prices have continued to increase.

Left-wing and populist program

Mamdani's meteoric rise, which in a matter of months has taken him from complete obscurity to almost one of Trump's biggest new enemies, is due to an unapologetically left-wing platform with popular measures: freezing rents, providing free buses, and establishing municipally owned supermarkets. Elisa Park, 35, explained her reasons for voting for Mamdani outside the Frank Sinatra School of Art, where she had voted for the Democrat just minutes before: "I really liked his campaign. I found him through TikTok. Besides, he's from the neighborhood, and you can tell he's known people for years. Rents have gone up, and many friends and acquaintances have had to leave the neighborhood." Elisa, who has a daughter, admits that lately it's been very difficult for them to make ends meet with the current cost of living, especially after she became unemployed. But beyond the campaign promises, the woman admits to feeling a certain sympathy for Mamdani. "When I saw his restaurant recommendations for the city, I thought: that guy knows what he's talking about," she says, laughing. The mayoral candidate is only a year younger than her.

After the disappointment of Harris's defeat and the nine months of Trump's presidency, "it's very hopeful to vote again and to do so for someone like Mamdani," says Elisa. Namin, another resident of the Astoria neighborhood who voted for Mamdani, expresses himself similarly: "It's the first time in a long time that I feel like I'm not voting for the lesser evil, that I'm doing it with enthusiasm. Although I voted for Kamala, I think the Democrats made a mistake in that campaign. Sanders."