Battleground Queens: Mayoral candidates make last pitch to Queens voters amid early voting surge

Mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa campaigned in Queens on Sunday as early voting started. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

All three mayoral candidates made their final pitches to Queens voters on Sunday as polls opened to historic early voting turnouts over the weekend.

Mayoral hopefuls Zohran Mamdani, the Queens assemblymember and Democratic nominee, former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa all campaigned in the World’s Borough on Sunday, addressing friendly crowds and rallying their troops ahead of next week’s election.

Mamdani, who polls still have as the leading candidate, told thousands at Forest Hills Stadium not to get complacent in the election’s final days, and rallied support for his affordability-centered agenda alongside Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Governor Kathy Hochul and both leaders of the state legislature, Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Carl Heastie.

Sliwa campaigned in GOP territory in College Point alongside Republican Councilmember Vickie Paladino.

Cuomo addressed Jewish voters in Kew Gardens Hills, a base he hopes to galvanize against the young democratic socialist upstart who decisively defeated him in June’s Democratic primary.

All three campaigned as a record number of New Yorkers voted early over the weekend ahead of Election Day on Nov. 4.

Cuomo’s rally, outside the Kew Gardens Library, was organized by Jewish leaders in Queens and revolved around Cuomo’s support of New York’s Jews and the state of Israel.

There, he was backed by Assemblymember David Weprin, Councilmember Jim Gennaro and Assemblymember Sam Berger.

“Andrew Cuomo has the experience, the toughness and the proven record to lead this city through challenging times,” Weprin said. “He has shown that he will stand with the Jewish community, not just when it's easy, but when it's hard.”

Speakers also attacked Mamdani, with one speaker calling him a “jihadist.”

Cuomo, who has been accused of making islamaphobic statements about Mamdani in the waning days of the campaign, called his opponent a “divider”, “zealot” and “extremist.”

“He is dangerous for New York City, and he cannot be mayor,” Cuomo said.

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo campaigned before Jewish supporters in Kew Gardens Hills on Sunday. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

For the Democrat-turned-independent, the rally aimed to solidify support in a key voting demographic a stone’s throw from where he was raised in Queens.

“I am a proud son of Queens, and my father was a proud son of Queens,” Cuomo said.

Besides criticizing his opponent, Cuomo spoke directly to those Queens voters.

“Early voting has started, it is up to you…We're going to vote like we never voted before,” he said. “If New Yorkers vote, we win. If New Yorkers vote, we win to save New York City, our city.”

Data from the first weekend of early voting showed a record number of New Yorkers heading to polls, with high turnout among older voters, which could bode well for Cuomo.

“New Yorkers are fired up, New Yorkers are coming out, and they're coming out in big numbers,” he told reporters after the rally. “They know that this is an election of consequence. You have a lot of people who are afraid in this city. You have a lot of Jewish people who feel that they have been victimized in this city.”

Cuomo’s supporters made a similar call for locals to vote, and also called on Sliwa to drop out of the race to clear a path for Cuomo to face Mamdani, Queens man to Queens man.

But Sliwa has shown no intention of stepping aside.

“I'm the one candidate who's definitely criss-crossing Queens,” Sliwa told the Eagle while campaigning at the Halloween fest at College Point’s Macneil Park. “I spent more time in Queens.”

Sliwa, campaigning while shaking hands with clowns, witches and Mrs. Met, also encouraged his supporters to go out and vote.

"Please get out to vote,” he told a mostly costumed crowd. “There's no excuse not to vote. As Americans, we have a right, we have a privilege, we have a responsibility.”

Guardian Angels Founder Curtis Sliwa campaigned at a Halloween festival in College Point. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

He campaigned alongside College Point’s Republican councilmember, Vickie Paladino.

“Close to 3,000 people voted in District 19,” she said of the first day of early voting.

In Queens, early voting turnout was higher in neighborhoods that are likely to be strongholds for either Mamdani or Sliwa.

The Queens Council District with the highest turnout was District 22, the heart of Mamdani’s Assembly District, which includes the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. D22 is represented by Councilmember Tiffany Cabán, a democratic socialist and fierce Mamdani ally.

Paladino’s District 19 had the second-highest turnout of any Queens district in the first two days of early voting, according to Board of Election data.

While home to more Democrats than Republicans on paper, Paladino’s district often votes conservative, and could potentially turnout in droves for Sliwa. In 2024, District 19 went for President Donald Trump and in 2021 supported Sliwa over Mayor Eric Adams.

The third-highest turnout district in Queens for early voting this weekend was Councilmember Julie Won’s Long Island City-centered district, which is also likely to go Mamdani’s way.

Citywide, over 164,000 New Yorkers voted, nearly five times higher than the first two days of the 2021 mayoral election, with nearly 39,000 of those voting in Queens.

While high early voting turnout tends to bode well for more progressive candidates, an analysis by Gothamist showed that the majority of early voters were over the age of 55, with only 16 percent of votes coming from New Yorkers between the ages of 25 and 34.

That could be good news for Cuomo, who is polling far better with older New Yorkers than Mamdani, who, by contrast, is relying on his younger, more progressive base.

There is still a full week of early voting to go, and then Election Day, when most New Yorkers turn out to the polls.

“Until the votes are cast in the election, everything is speculation,” said political strategist Evan Stavisky.

Although Stavisky said it will be interesting to see where the World’s Borough ultimately goes in the general election, after having supported Mamdani in the primary.

“The election is to some degree about the history of Queens versus the future of Queens,” he said.

On Sunday night, Mamdani campaigned in Forest Hills, a neighborhood he is unlikely to carry, but before a friendly crowd of over 10,000 within the confines of Forest Hills Stadium for his “New York is Not For Sale” rally.

Mamdani was joined by his three most high-profile surrogates, AOC, Sanders and Hochul, who was not as well received as the latter duo.

Hochul was met on stage with heckles and chants of, “Tax the rich,” and was ultimately escorted off-stage by Mamdani, still wearing a jacket over his suit.

AOC and Sanders, who have together made democratic socialism a new force in American politics, spoke highly of Mamdani and his goals for the city.

Queens Assemblymember and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani held a massive rally at Forest Hills Stadium Sunday night alongside Senator Bernie Sanders and Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach 

“These ideas are not radical,” said Sanders of Mamdani’s progressive platform. “They are common sense and they are what the people of New York City want and need.”

AOC took several shots at Trump, another Queens-born political figure.

“Our city, our state and our country are under attack by Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington,” she said. “We will send a loud message to President Donald Trump that his authoritarianism is no good here.”

Mamdani, speaking as the frontrunner, recalled when his campaign was a "statistical anomaly,” polling just one percent when he announced his long-shot candidacy last year.

“We deserve a city government as ambitious as the working New Yorkers who make it the greatest city in the world,” he said. “We cannot wait for someone else to deliver it. We are not afforded the luxury of waiting. Because too often to wait is to trust those who delivered us to this point. On Nov. 4, we will set the course of our city back in the direction it belongs.”

As of Monday, Mamdani still leads by double digits in the most recent polls, but the 34-year-old

Astoria resident called on supporters to continue to canvas and campaign in the race’s final week.

He noted that in the weeks leading up to the primary, Cuomo was seeing a similar lead up until it evaporated on election night.

“We cannot allow complacency to infiltrate this movement,” he said. “I ask for more because that is the only way that we win a future of more.”

Disclaimer: Former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Queens rally was MC’d by the Eagle’s publisher, Michael Nussbaum, who did so in a personal capacity.