In New York City, it’s Mamdani versus Cuomo in a generational and ideological battle for mayor.

NEW YORK (AP) — Voters in New York City are deciding the outcome of a generational and ideological divide that will resonate across the country Tuesday as they choose the next mayor to run the nation’s largest city.

Zahran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary earlier this year, faces former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and perennial Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, who is trying to pull off a major upset.

A Mamdani victory would give the city its first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in generations, while elevating the democratic socialist to political stardom and giving his brand of economic populism one of the most prominent political offices in America.

If Cuomo rises to the top, he will have made a remarkable political comeback four years after he resigned as governor over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations.

For Sliwa — founder of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group and a longtime New York tabloid — a win would put a Republican in charge of the nation’s largest city at a time when many New Yorkers are searching for a leader who can keep President Donald Trump at bay.

Mamdani and Cuomo voted Tuesday morning in Queens and Manhattan, respectively, while Sliwa had already cast his ballot during early voting.

The race made Mamdani a national figure because it angered Trump and other Republicans, who tried to portray him as the face of a new, more extreme Democratic Party. Trump also threatened to seize control of the city if Mamdani wins, as well as arrest and deport the state assemblyman, who was born in Uganda but is a US citizen.

Trump reluctantly endorsed Cuomo on the eve of the election, saying Mamdani would bring “disaster” to the city and encouraging Sliwa’s supporters to vote for the former governor instead.

A rematch with major differences

Mamdani, a 34-year-old state lawmaker, has already defeated Cuomo once in the Democratic primary, spurring progressives to an upset victory over the once-powerful former governor with a campaign focused on lowering the cost of living in one of the country’s most expensive cities.

This time, Cuomo is counting on the support of moderates and Republicans to win. He hopes incumbent Mayor Eric Adams’ late exit from the race and eventual endorsement will give him a boost among their overlapping bases of centrists, black voters and ultra-Orthodox Jews. He also has the endorsement of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire who donated $1.5 million to a super PAC backing Cuomo in the final days of the contest.

Mamdani has created a national buzz and received endorsements from big-name progressives, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He promised to raise taxes on New York’s wealthiest residents and use the money to make city buses free and provide free, universal child care. He also promised a rent freeze for people living in about a million rent-regulated apartments.

Read more: Mamdani rallies voters in New York City with support from Bernie Sanders and AOC

At the same time, Mamdani’s past criticism of the city’s police department and the Israeli government’s military actions in Gaza — which he described as genocide — has alarmed some centrists who see it as a potential setback in their efforts to expand the party’s appeal nationally. Some Jewish leaders also took advantage of his refusal to support Israel as a Jewish state, describing him as a danger to the Jews.

While Mamdani has distanced himself from some of his past speeches, some top Democrats in New York remain wary and have either been slow to endorse him or have rejected it outright.

The general election is being held on Tuesday as a traditional election, meaning the candidate who receives the most votes wins. The city’s party primaries were decided using ranked-choice voting, which allowed voters to rank the candidates according to their preference.

Sliwa’s path to victory is narrow in the heavily Democratic city, where he relies on his ability to secure the GOP vote with his tough-on-crime message and no-yawk stance, while picking up moderates who don’t want to promote Mamdani or return Cuomo to power.

Sliwa, 71, ignored pressure from within his party to suspend his campaign and create a one-on-one race between Cuomo and Mamdani. Trump himself dismissed the silliness as “not exactly prime time.” In the final weeks of the race, Cuomo appealed to Sliwa’s supporters, arguing that a vote for the Republican is a vote for Mamdani.

Cuomo runs his record but his past haunts him

Trump and other Republicans have eagerly painted a bleak picture of New York under Mamdani’s potential leadership.

Cuomo, 67, had a similar message. By running on an independent party line, he positioned himself as an experienced executive capable of managing the city’s massive bureaucracy, contrasting Mamdani’s relative inexperience.

Cuomo’s experience as governor is also perhaps his greatest weakness.

He resigned in 2021 after a report from the attorney general concluded that Cuomo had sexually harassed at least 11 women. Some women complained of unwanted touching, flirting, kisses and suggestive comments. An aide filed a police report accusing him of groping her breasts, although the prosecutor declined to file a lawsuit.

Cuomo initially apologized for some of his behavior, saying he did not adhere to what is considered appropriate workplace behavior. However, in recent months, he has been defiant – calling his accusers liars and blaming his downfall on his political rivals.