Politics
Zohran Mamdani wins NYC mayoral race, capping meteoric rise
- Democratic socialist defeats Cuomo on progressive platform.
- 34-year-old becomes first Muslim mayor of largest US city.
- Spanberger becomes first female governor of Virginia.
Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, won the New York City mayoral race on Tuesday, capping a meteoric rise from a little-known state lawmaker to one of the country’s most visible Democratic figures.
Mamdani will become the first Muslim mayor of the largest US city. He defeated Democratic former Governor Andrew Cuomo, 67, who ran as an independent after losing the nomination to Mamdani in the primary election.
The campaign served as an ideological and generational contest that could have national implications for the Democratic Party.
In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger easily won the election for governor, becoming the first woman elected to serve in that role. And in New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill won the governor’s race.
The trio of races offered the beleaguered Democratic Party a test of differing campaign playbooks a year ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, when control of Congress will be at stake. Since President Donald Trump’s win last year, Democrats have found themselves locked out of power in Washington and struggling to find the best path out of the political wilderness.
All three candidates emphasized economic issues, particularly affordability. But both Spanberger and Sherrill hail from the party’s moderate wing, while Mamdani campaigned as an unabashed progressive and a new generational voice.
Spanberger, who beat Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, will take over for outgoing Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Both Sherrill and Spanberger had sought to tie their opponents to Trump in an effort to harness frustration among Democratic and independent voters over his chaotic nine months in office.
“We sent a message to the world that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship,” Spanberger said in her victory speech. “We chose our Commonwealth over chaos.”
Trump gave both candidates some late-stage grist during the ongoing government shutdown.
His administration threatened to fire federal workers — a move with an outsized impact on Virginia, a state adjacent to Washington and home to many government employees. He also froze billions in funding for a new Hudson River train tunnel, a critical project for New Jersey’s large commuter population.
In interviews at Virginia polling stations on Tuesday, some voters said Trump’s most contentious policies were on their minds, including his efforts to deport immigrants who entered the US illegally and to impose costly tariffs on imports of foreign goods, the legality of which is being weighed by the US. Supreme Court this week.
Juan Benitez, a self-described independent, was voting for the first time. The 25-year-old restaurant manager backed all of Virginia’s Democratic candidates because of his opposition to Trump’s immigration policies and the federal government shutdown, for which he blamed Trump.
Voter turnout high
In California, voters were deciding whether to give Democratic lawmakers the power to redraw the state’s congressional map, expanding a national battle over redistricting that could determine which party controls the US House of Representatives after next year’s midterm elections. Trump on social media called the vote a scam, suggesting the vote was rigged without providing evidence.
Turnout appeared high across the board.
In New York City, more than 2 million ballots, including early voting, were cast, according to the board of elections, the most in a mayoral race since 1969. Early vote totals in Virginia and New Jersey also outpaced the previous elections in 2021.
In New York, Mamdani has proposed ambitious left-wing policies, including freezing rents for nearly a million apartments and making the city’s buses free.
While Tuesday’s results will offer some insight into the mood of American voters, the midterm elections are a year away, an eternity in politics.
“There’s nothing that’s going to happen in Virginia or New Jersey that’s going to tell us much about what will happen in a congressional district in Missouri or a Senate race in Maine,” said Douglas Heye, a Republican strategist.
For Republicans, Tuesday’s elections were a test of whether the voters who powered Trump’s victory in 2024 will still show up when he is not on the ballot.
But Ciattarelli and Earle-Sears, each running in Democratic-leaning states, faced a conundrum: criticising Trump risked losing his supporters, but embracing him too closely could have alienated moderate and independent voters who disapprove of his policies.
Trump remains unpopular: 57% of Americans disapprove of his job performance, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. But Democrats are not gaining support as a result, with respondents evenly split on whether they would favour Democrats or Republicans in 2026.
DALLAS, TEXAS: In a historic outcome, Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic and socialist candidate, has won the New York City mayoral election with a decisive lead.
His victory marks a new chapter in the city’s political history and has sent ripples across the United States. Mamdani has become New York’s first Muslim and Indian-American mayor.
Just a day before Mamdani’s win, Texas Governor Greg Abbott made a controversial statement, announcing that he would impose a “100% tariff” on anyone moving from New York City to Texas. Abbott posted the declaration on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), writing:
“After the polls close tomorrow night, I will impose a 100% tariff on anyone moving to Texas from NYC”.
Although Abbott’s remark appeared to be a political jab, it ignited serious legal and ethical debate. Under the US Constitution, states cannot impose tariffs on individuals, as every citizen has the constitutional right to freely travel, reside and work in any state.
President Donald Trump, who endorsed former governor Andrew Cuomo in the race, sharply criticised Mamdani, calling him a “communist”. Trump warned that if Mamdani were elected, “New York City would become a total economic and social disaster.”
Despite fierce attacks, Mamdani’s campaign — focused on affordability, free childcare, free public buses and rent freezes — resonated strongly with voters. Following the election results, celebrations broke out across New York, while Abbott’s “100% tariff” statement was widely mocked on social media as unconstitutional, provocative and even humorous.
Political analysts say Mamdani’s victory represents the rise of a new urban political movement in America — one driven by middle-class families, renters and younger voters gravitating towards socialist ideas and economic justice.
Meanwhile, in Texas, Abbott’s statement has become the subject of memes and online satire. One user joked:
“If Mamdani’s already won, Abbott might as well impose a tariff on New York ideas too.”
This blend of humour and politics reflects a deeper reality: the 2025 elections have become more than a political contest — they are a battle of ideologies and values shaping America’s future.
“So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up,” says Mamdani in victory speech to supporters
New Yorkers celebrated as Zohran Mamdani made history, becoming the city’s first Muslim mayor after a landmark election victory.
Mamdani’s victory came in the face of fierce attacks on his policies and Muslim heritage from business elites, conservative media commentators and Trump himself.
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani said in a victory speech to supporters.
There was a party atmosphere at Mamdani’s election results viewing event for supporters, held at a storied concert venue in Brooklyn.
The 34-year-old election winner was born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin and has lived in the United States since he was seven, becoming a naturalised US citizen in 2018.
At least seven people were killed and eight others injured after a UPS cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off from Louisville International Airport in Kentucky on Tuesday, bursting into flames as it struck nearby businesses and sending thick black smoke billowing over the area.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, en route to Hawaii, went down around 5:15 p.m. local time (2215 GMT).
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear told reporters that the number of casualties could rise, as the current figures only account for those on the ground.
UPS stated that three crew members were on board, but added that “we have not yet confirmed any injuries or casualties” among them. Governor Beshear said their status was unknown and described the situation as “very concerning.”
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the FAA and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Video shared by local broadcaster WLKY showed flames coming from the plane’s left engine during takeoff.
Louisville serves as UPS’s main US air hub. The logistics giant operates nearly 2,000 flights daily to over 200 countries, with a fleet of 516 aircraft, 294 of which are owned by UPS while the rest are leased.
Aerial footage from the scene revealed a trail of debris, as firefighters worked to extinguish flames. Governor Beshear said the plane had struck a petroleum recycling facility “almost directly.”
Government shutdown
The crash comes amid one of the longest government shutdowns in US history, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warning of “mass chaos” earlier Tuesday due to a lack of air traffic control staff.
“You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have the air traffic controllers,” Duffy told reporters.
In a statement on X, Duffy called footage of the crash “heartbreaking,” adding: “Please join me in prayer for the Louisville community and flight crew impacted by this horrific crash.”
In January, an American Eagle airliner hit a military Black Hawk outside Washington’s Ronald Reagan airport, killing 67 people.
That crash, which ended the United States’ 16-year streak of no fatal commercial air crashes, has added to concerns about the US air traffic control system, which some regard as an understaffed operation beset by problems with old equipment.
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