Mayor of New York

Why on earth, you may ask, my interest in the New York City mayoral election and result? As I word process this article on Tuesday Nov. 4 evening, polls have just opened in the city of New York to elect their new mayor. Al Jazeera pronounced that 'the outsider' (my term) seems to lead. Early voting had been on too. The contenders are Democrat Zohran Mamdani, Independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

- By NAN

Andrew Cuomo (67) is the son of a former Governor and served as US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and NY Attorney General before becoming the State's Governor in 2011. He resigned after a sexual harassment scandal in 2021. He sought to make a political comeback by running for the city mayor. But he lost the Democratic vote to Mamdani and thus his presenting himself as an independent candidate, but highly backed by Trump.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani, born October 18, 1991, is just 34 years old. Born in Kampala, Uganda, to academic Mahmood Mamdani-born in Mumbai but brought up in Uganda - and film maker Mira Nair, born in Rourkela, Orissa, India. His father is Muslim while his mother Hindu. The father was professor in the Kampala International University and now a professor at Columbia University in addition to being Chancellor of the Kampala University.

The family moved to South Africa when their son was five and then to the US two years later, settling down in New York City where Zohran attended the Bronx High School of Science and then received a bachelor's degree majoring in African studies from Bowdoin College, Maine, in 2014.

He worked as a housing counselor and hip-hop musician and then entered politics as a campaign manager. Zohran was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020, defeating a five term incumbent. He was reelected in 2022 and 2024; a member of the Democratic Party and Democratic Socialists of America.