New York’s Mayoral candidates. / Getty Images

New York Democrats cast ballots June 24 under smothering summer heat to choose the likely next leader of the largest US city, someone voters say must resist President Donald Trump and provide relief to high costs of living.

With about a dozen candidates offering a range of personalities and proposals, the race is an increasingly tight contest between former governor Andrew Cuomo, 67, and state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, 33, who has mounted a surprise challenge to the better-known but tainted frontrunner.

The winner of June 24 primary vote will represent the Democrats in the general election in November, in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one.

Cuomo, whose father was also a New York governor, is eyeing a political comeback after being dogged by sex assault claims.

In August 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Cuomo of sexually harassing 11 women. He resigned and then his brother Chris, a star anchor on CNN who advised his campaign, had to do the same.

But just four years later, the candidate was welcomed by cheering supporters in various venues after throwing his hat in the ring for mayor in March.

Cuomo has been the frontrunner for most of the race, but some recent polls have shown Mamdani closing the gap, even narrowly pulling ahead.

Mamdani represents the diverse borough of Queens in the New York State Assembly, describes himself as progressive and Muslim, and is backed by popular leftist figures Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

He has fired up an army of young volunteers with a social media campaign promising to tackle the high cost of living with free buses, daycare centers and rent freezes in a city where a three-bedroom apartment can easily cost $6,000 per month.

"Tomorrow is ours if we want it," Mamdani said late Monday in a social media post including a video appealing to voters.

"We are on the cusp of toppling a political dynasty, and delivering a New York everyone can afford," he said.

Sheryl Stein, who works in tourism marketing, sounded skeptical.

"I like youth," the voter in her fifties told AFP. But Mamdani having "no experience and no proven track record to run the largest city in this country and one of the largest in the world, is pretty scary."

Other voters spoke of the need for a mayor who understands the city's complicated infrastructure, who is honest, or who can "stand up to Trump."

Candidate handcuffed

With more than eight million residents, New York houses the world's greatest concentration of millionaires, but a quarter of its population lives in poverty, according to a recent report by an anti-poverty organization Robin Hood and its partner Columbia University.

According to a New York Times editorial, while Mamdani offers "a fresh political style" -- videos that show him chatting with voters have gone viral -- he lacks experience and "offers an agenda that remains alluring among elite progressives but has proved damaging to city life."

The campaign is unfolding as Democrats fume at Trump's proposed budget cuts and aggressive campaigns against undocumented immigrants.

Last week, in another startling display of America's political discord, mayoral candidate Brad Lander, the city's current comptroller and a Democrat, was hauled away in handcuffs after accompanying a migrant to a court hearing.

Endorsed by the likes of former president Bill Clinton and ex-New York mayor and billionaire Mike Bloomberg, Cuomo is presenting himself as the candidate with the heft required to helm the country's most populous city in the current political climate.

"This is not a job for a novice," Cuomo told supporters, apparently attacking Mamdani's relative inexperience during an 11th hour rally Monday at a carpenters's union.

"We need someone who knows what they're doing on day one, because your lives depend on it."

Meanwhile current New York Mayor Eric Adams -- accused of cooperating with Trump's administration in return for the dropping of federal corruption charges against him -- has said he will run as an independent.

Though a heat wave could stifle June 24's turnout, some 380,000 voters have already cast ballots. A system that asks voters to list five candidates in order of preference makes opinion polling challenging.