An intense campaign and tightening polls had the New York City mayoral candidates crisscrossing the five boroughs on Sunday in an attempt to get their supporters to cast ballots.
The race between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, independent Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa has clearly been filled with enthusiasm. Sunny skies drove voters to the polls on the last day of early voting, with some having to wait more than 50 minutes at several voting sites.
As of Saturday, a staggering 584,105 people had already cast their ballots.
Team Mamdani seeking a record number of door knocks
Each of the men who want to occupy Gracie Mansion were hyper-focused on Sunday, trying to get people to stop talking about the race and actually cast their ballots. None more than Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman who remains the man to beat.
Mamdani’s militia, the army of volunteers Mamdani put on the streets, were charged with the lofty goal of breaking the state record for most door bells rung on a single day of getting out the vote. He’s said he was hoping to top 200,000.
CBS News New York 
Part of Mamdani’s strength is the 100,000 people volunteering for his campaign, so Sunday’s goal didn’t seem that difficult. Officials say the previous one-day total was 176,000, set the Saturday before the 2024 presidential election.
“Remember that your hands, whether you use them to vote, whether you used them to knock, whether you’ve used them to make phone calls, they are more powerful than any commercial, more powerful than any poll, more powerful than any prediction of what Tuesday will look like,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani and Cuomo trade barbs; Sliwa stays the course
Given the intensity of the attacks against him, CBS News New York’s Marcia Kramer asked Mamdani if there has ever been anything that he has perceived as a low blow.
“There have been moments where even I have been shocked by the language that has been used in this race, and by the fact that we are seeing more and more of that kind of politics,” Mamdani said.
And with recent polls tightening, he also fired off a shot at former Gov. Cuomo.
“I’m running to be the next mayor of New York City and one of my opponents, Andrew Cuomo, has spent these final days of this race not content with being [President] Trump’s puppet, but now seeking to become Trump’s parrot,” Mamdani said.
Cuomo was accompanied by two of his daughters on the streets of the Bronx after speaking to parishioners at the Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church. For him, the issue is experience and his opponents’ lack of it.
“You need to have somebody who has the experience to do it. That’s what I do,” Cuomo said. “I don’t do a lot of things well in life. You don’t want to hear me sing. You don’t want to see me dance. You don’t want to see me swing a golf club. But I know how to make government work. I know how to make change. I’ve been doing it since I was 18 years old.”
Also seeking to get out the vote was Sliwa, who said he would continue to seek it out even if he doesn’t win.
“I will approve. I will not move. I’ll not flee. I’m right. I would fight for what I know is right. I will lead the royal opposition. That’s what politics is about. You don’t run. You don’t hide,” Sliwa said.
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