New York votes in fateful election, turnout on track to soar to 55-year high. Real results - starting at 04:00 Israel time, when polls close. Anti-Israel Mamdani vows to fight Trump in every way, if elected as polls predict:"The president's word is not law. He thinks he can take money away from the city - but it's our money." Trump urges Jews to vote for Cuomo: "Mamadani hates you." Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections: "A referendum on Trump 2.0"

Ynet and the agencies|

on

New York

Voting continues tonight (Tuesday) in

The most turbulent election the city has seen in decades

, an election that is seen as a significant milestone in the intergenerational and ideological struggle in America, and in the Democratic Party in particular. Most polls predict a solid victory for the anti-Israel Democratic candidate

Zohran Mamdani

– If elected, he will become the Muslim mayor of New York and, at 34, the youngest in its history. His main opponent is former New York Governor

Andrew Cuomo

, also a Democrat who lost against all expectations to Mamdani in the party's primary in June, and is now trying his luck again as an independent candidate. Another candidate, who is dividing the votes in the camp of Mamdani's opponents, is the Republican

Curtis Saliva

Despite heavy pressure from the president

Donald Trump

– who at the last minute called last night to vote for Cuomo – he refused to resign, even though his chances of winning are zero.

Polls in New York opened at 1:00 p.m. Israeli time and will close at 4:00 a.m., when the results of the vote count will begin to flow in. In testimony to the great importance attached by the residents of New York – the most populous city in the United States with 8.5 million people – in the nine days leading up to Election Day, a record was broken in early voting, with about 730,000 participating, close to the total number of votes in the previous elections there in 2021, when a total of 1.1 million people voted. Estimates are that the final voter turnout, which has been very low in New York for many years and in previous elections was less than 25%, will jump significantly and that ultimately more than 2 million residents may participate in the vote – a figure not recorded there since 1969.

New York Elections – More Headlines:•

"Saving New York": Everything you need to know about the election that is shaking up America

•

The dramatic poll, moments before the elections:"Panic from Mamdani? Israel is cut off from the world"

•

The encouragement from Obama, and Mamdani's video in Arabic – with the Palestinian flag in the background

•

"Aided the IDF": Mamdani's threat to the Israeli university

13 Viewing the gallery

Trump and Medani. The Democratic candidate who the pollsters predict will win promises to fight the president:"His word is not law" (Photo: REUTERS/Kylie Cooper, AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Mamdani at the polling station in the Astoria neighborhood with his wife Rama Devaji (Photo: Leonardo Munoz / AFP)

(Photo: Alexi J. Rosenfeld / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Cuomo votes at a polling station in Manhattan."Mamdani will bring about the fall of New York" (Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

(Photo: Reuters/REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)

As mentioned, the polls in recent weeks have given a solid advantage to Mamdani, who managed to sweep masses of young people behind him under populist promises to fight the cost of living, but last night it was announced

Dramatic poll indicating narrowing gap between him and Mamdani

– to only 4.5%. According to the AtlasIntel Institute survey, which is considered relatively reliable, Mamdani's support rate is 43.9%, Cuomo has 39.4%, and Saliva is far behind with 16.7%.

Trump's threat, and Mamadani's response

In a last-minute attempt to unite the camp of opponents of Mamedani, President Trump – who has been a lifelong New Yorker – officially declared last night that he supports Cuomo, and warned that a vote for Saliva is a vote for Mamedani."Whether you like Cuomo or not, you must vote for him," Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social,"I would much rather see a Democrat, who has a record of success, win – than an inexperienced communist with a record of total and utter failure." Trump again threatened to withhold federal funding from New York if Mamedani wins, except for the"minimum necessary," and claimed that under his leadership the city "will have zero chance of success or even survival" – and that it would become an "economic and social disaster."

This evening, Trump published another post in which he called on the Jewish community in New York - which, with about 1.6 million people, is the largest Jewish community in the diaspora - to also unite behind Cuomo. According to polls, between 20% and 40% of Jews and Israelis in the city support Mamdani, despite his anti-Zionist positions."Any Jew who votes for Zoharan Mamdani - a declared and proven Jew-hater - is a stupid person!!!" Mamdani, who denies the claims that he is anti-Semitic, was quick to take advantage of Trump's statement of support for Cuomo, and said tonight that he had known for"months" that the Republican president would act this way."The adoption of Cuomo by the MAGA movement reflects Donald Trump's understanding that Cuomo would be the best mayor for him - not the best for New York City, not the best for New Yorkers, but the best for Donald Trump and his administration."

Mamedani voted in his Astoria neighborhood this afternoon, and in a statement to reporters afterward, he assured that he was not afraid of Trump's threats to cut off federal funding to New York City. He argued that too often everything the president says is treated as law that must be obeyed, even though it is not:"What we see in his words is the assumption that it is his decision whether or not to give money to the city - money that belongs to this city. I will use every tool that I have as mayor to fight for its residents - and that means using the courts, that means using the public voice that is given to me and that means making sure that we follow the letter and the letter of the law, and I know that is something that threatens Donald Trump." He said,"I will not be deterred by this president, I will not be deterred by anyone - because my job is to serve the residents of this city."

Cuomo himself – who said tonight that "Trump is right" when he warned that a vote for Saliva is a vote for Medani – also describes himself as someone who can better deal with Trump and his aggressive policies, policies that include, among other things, a mass deportation of illegal immigrants, and the threat of sending soldiers to the streets of Democratic-controlled cities."If you want President Trump to try to take over the city – with National Guard troops on the streets and choking off federal funds – vote for Zohran Medani, because Trump said exactly that he would come (to the city), and the poster boy Medani will not be able to stop him. That's a fact. The next mayor must be someone who can give us more, not someone who will ensure our downfall. I am the only one in this race who can do that."

Mamdani, it should be recalled, is a 34-year-old candidate without much experience, who began the Democratic primaries as a complete underdog but ended them last June with a landslide victory over former New York Governor Cuomo. Since New York is a distinctly Democratic city, it is usually the Democratic Party candidate who wins the mayoral election there, and therefore winning the primary put him on the safe path to the mayorship. However, following the loss within the party, Cuomo announced that he would run for mayor independently, that is, not as a Democratic representative, and the withdrawal of incumbent Mayor Eric Adams from the race in September, a withdrawal after which he announced his support for Cuomo, narrowed the gap between the former governor and Mamdani. The fact that the Republican candidate in the race, Curtis Saliva, refuses to withdraw, and continues to hold onto the votes of Republican voters, currently prevents Cuomo from closing the gap completely.

Early voting has already broken records. At a polling station in Queens (Photo: Leonardo Munoz / AFP)

A girl under a ballot box in Manhattan (Photo: TIMOTHY A.CLARY / AFP)

They didn't forget the dog either (Photo: TIMOTHY A.CLARY / AFP)

Waiting in line at a polling station in Brooklyn (Photo: Michael M. Santiago / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Mamdani, who won the campaign for

Support from senior progressive camp figures

Including

Bernie Sanders

and

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

, promotes a socialist agenda that includes, among other things, the promise of free public transportation and daycare and raising taxes on the wealthy, and on the foreign policy front, he is a harsh critic of Israel, refusing to recognize its right to exist as a Jewish state and accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza. He even initially refrained from shunning the call by Palestinian sympathizers to"globalize the intifada," although recently, in the face of criticism of this,

Stay away from her.

Among other things, he stated that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in New York, where the UN headquarters are located and the General Assembly meetings are being held, he will ensure that the international arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague is implemented, and

Stop him.

(It is doubtful whether he would have the legal authority to do so).

His critics describe him as inexperienced and making populist promises that will cost billions of dollars with no realistic way to pay for them. His supporters, on the other hand, are confident that he is the only one who can tackle the city's cost of living crisis:"As someone who has lived in New York for more than 10 years - issues like cost of living, safety and the need to provide a sense that New York is home for so many people who have lived here for decades - for all New Yorkers, for working families, for business people, immigrants and marginalized groups - all of these are very important," voter George Jones, 36, who voted for Mamdani, told Reuters."So it's important that we have a mayor who represents all types of New Yorkers, and who will make New York a place where everyone can thrive, work and live happily, healthily and safely."

The battle between the Democrats, and the elections in Virginia and New Jersey:"The whole country is watching"

The New York election is seen as a significant milestone in the intergenerational and ideological battle in the Democratic Party, which is still trying to find its way after its stinging loss to Trump in last year's presidential election. Mamdani's meteoric rise from the party's extreme-progressive faction stunned its veteran senior figures, many of whom refrained from expressing their support for him, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a senator from New York, whose home Mamdani was arrested at a demonstration a few days after the October 7, 2023 massacre, in protest of what critics of Israel had already begun to describe as genocide in Gaza. Other senior figures did stand behind him, but some had reservations about his positions against Israel.

In the US, elections are being held today in several other states:

Virginia

And

New Jersey

New governors will be elected, and

California

A referendum was held on the proposal promoted by the Democratic governor.

Gwyn Newsom

allow him/her

Redraw the country's electoral districts

, in order to give Democrats an advantage in the midterm elections for Congress in November 2026 – in response to similar moves being promoted by Republicans in states they control. In California, the governor's proposal is expected to pass easily, thereby providing political reinforcement to Newsom, who is considered one of the most prominent potential candidates in the next presidential race, in 2028. The gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia are closer, and are therefore seen as a kind of referendum on Trump's first nine months in his second term, nine months in which he violated a host of norms and acted aggressively to promote his policies. Sky News described the elections in Virginia and New Jersey as"a referendum on Trump 2.0."

The closest race according to the polls is in New Jersey, where incumbent Democratic Governor Phil Murphy is finishing two terms and is not eligible to run for a third consecutive term. The race is between Democratic candidate Mikey Sherrill, a member of the House of Representatives and a former U.S. Navy helicopter gunship pilot, and Republican candidate Jack Chitterley, a businessman and former member of the New Jersey local congress. Chitterley ran for governor again in 2021, and surprised with higher support rates than polls predicted, but still lost to outgoing Governor Murphy by a 3% margin. Polls now indicate a small advantage in favor of Sherrill. Trump, who of course expressed support for Chitterley, described this election as"the biggest," saying that "the whole country is looking to New Jersey."

In the Virginia election, the polls predict a more comfortable victory for Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman, who is running against Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl-Sears. Whoever wins will become the first woman to serve as governor of Virginia. Earl-Sears is the deputy to Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, who is completing only one term and is not allowed by law there to continue for a second consecutive term. Although he is considered a popular governor, Virginia is a state that mostly votes for Democratic candidates, and the polls as mentioned are now predicting a victory for Spanberger, who emphasized in her campaign the cost of living and the prolonged government shutdown in the US, a shutdown that is particularly harmful to the many federal workers who live in Virginia – workers who are not paid during the shutdown and many of whom Trump is already working to fire.

Democrat Mikey Sherrill, a former pilot, is running for governor of New Jersey against Republican Jack Chitterley (Photo: EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP, KENA BETANCUR / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Virginia Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger (right) and her Republican opponent Winsome Earl-Sears (Photo: WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP, Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

The elections in the various states will now provide pollsters and commentators with important voting data that may indicate the Republicans' ability to maintain their control of both houses of Congress in the November 2026 midterm elections. In particular, pollsters are very interested in whether the fact that Trump is not running himself will allow Republicans to maintain the impressive coalition of audiences that helped him win last year, a coalition that included high support rates among young people and Latinos. Polls show that Americans are not satisfied with Trump, and according to a poll published yesterday on CNN, his popularity rating is now only 37% - his worst figure this year in the polls of this news network, and very close to his all-time low recorded in his first term, 36%. But the image of Democrats among the general public is also at a low point, and it is unclear whether they will be able to translate Trump's unpopularity into votes for their candidates in the election next year: According to a separate poll by Reuters and Ipsos, about half of respondents said they would vote for Democratic candidates, and about half said they would vote for Republicans.