Financial expert explains who will win the New York City election for mayor and why

New Yorkers will be heading to the polls on 4 November to decide who will be the next mayor of the Big Apple. However, in the opinion of New York Times financial columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin there is “no question” about who will win, Zohran Mamdani.

“The money says that he’s going to be the mayor of New York, no question,” Sorkin told Jon Levitt on a recent episode of Pod Save America. He said that while the business leaders “genuinely dislike” the Democratic candidate, they are beginning to “fall in line.”

Zohran Mamdani has a strong lead in three-man race for NYC mayorship

A new poll conducted by AARP and Gotham Polling& Analytics found that Mamdani has a double-digit lead over Independent candidate former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who the 33-year-old beat in the Democratic primary in June. Mamdani leads Cuomo with 43.2% to 28.9% and the third candidate still in the race, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa has garner 19.4% support.

Cuomo and other conservatives have been calling on Sliwa to drop out of the race. Were it just a head-to-head race between the two front runners, the race would be much closer with Mamdani’s lead falling within the margin of error.

However, Sliwa has said he’s “not dropping out,” adding, “One person, one vote. That’s how we determine elections. I never heard a caveat that said one person, one vote, and of course others need to drop out along the way.”

Business leaders preparing for inevitable Mamdani win

Mamdani has been on a charm offensive with New York’s business leaders. Sorkin told Levitt that they have three main issues that have them concerned, and they don’t have to do with him being a Socialist-Democrat.

One is accusations from detractors who have called him an anti-Semite, but Mamdani has said that there needs to be a focus on tacking rising antisemitism in the city. Then there is the question of how he will handle policing in the United States’ largest metropolis. And where Mamdani and business leaders really don’t see eye-to-eye is how to make the city more affordable.

The Democratic candidate has talked about imposing rent stabilization to rein in the astronomical housing costs in the Big Apple. This is something that is popular with voters but Sorkin says classic economists would say “that is not going to be the answer.”

Nevertheless, “he’s very charming,” says Sorkin, and that “they recognize that he is likely to be the mayor, and I think you’re starting to see a bunch of them, I don’t want to say fall in line, but fall in line.”

“And so, you’re seeing some people come out with some more positive comments, hoping, knowing that maybe if he’s the mayor, that, if they’re friendly early, that he’ll be friendly later,” he added.

Financial expert explains who will win the New York City election for mayor and why

Tags: