Khaberni - Zahran Mumadani, the socialist democrat candidate of Ugandan-Indian heritage, won the position of mayor of New York after obtaining 50.4% of the votes in the elections held on Tuesday, ahead of independent candidate Andrew Cuomo who got 41.6%, and Republican party candidate Curtis Sliwa with 7.2%.
New York has a population of about 8.5 million, including more than 950,000 Jews.
Exit Poll
The exit poll by CNN with 4744 participants after casting their votes, showed that 66% of Jewish voters voted in favor of Mumadani's opponents.
Cuomo received 63% of the Jewish votes, while Mumadani got 33% of the Jewish votes, and 3% went to Sliwa.
Support by religious and age groups
Mumadani received 33% of the Catholic votes, and 42% of Protestant and other Christian votes, while he obtained 70% of the votes from voters of other religions.
In terms of age groups, 78% of the youth between 18 and 29 years old voted for Mumadani, while 56% of seniors over the age of 65 gave their votes to Cuomo.
Victory speech and controversial statements
In his victory speech, Mumadani said: "I am Muslim, I am a socialist democrat, I refuse to apologize for any of this," emphasizing his political and religious identity.
In previous statements, he added that he would legally pursue the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in case he visits New York, referring to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu in October/ November 2024 for committing war crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Background and voter base support
Mumadani enjoys a diverse voter base, including some Jews who oppose Israeli policies in Gaza.
His victory comes amid growing discontent with the American-backed Israeli occupation crimes, which have resulted in the deaths of about 68,000 Palestinians and injured more than 170,000 over two years, most of them women and children.
