In the final day before New York City elects its new mayor, celebrities were wearing their voting stickers on their sleeves, with many of them loudly declaring whom they were supporting in the race between the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani; the former governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo; and the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.
As the rivals fanned out across all five boroughs to make their closing arguments before Election Day, numerous celebrities used social media to show off their “Voted Early” stickers and their political stripes.
The weight of celebrity endorsements has been routinely questioned, particularly after the 2024 presidential election, but the messages throughout the election season brought eyeballs and some level of cachet to a heated race.
In Mamdani’s corner are …
Mr. Mamdani has received support from numerous celebrities, some of whom live outside the city.
The actress Lupita Nyong’o said in a post on Instagram that she first met Mr. Mamdani 20 years ago, when she was an intern at Mirabai Films, a production company founded by Mr. Mamdani’s filmmaker mother, Mira Nair. Ms. Nyong’o cast her vote for him because Mr. Mamdani has “the personality, skills and temperament to be an excellent mayor of New York City,” she said.
The actor Mark Ruffalo volunteered, alongside the comedian Ilana Glazer, to work a phone bank for Mr. Mamdani in the final days of the campaign and the actor Wallace Shawn was canvassing for Mr. Mamdani in the East Village. The filmmaker Spike Lee showed support as well, saying in an August interview with the CNN anchor Victor Blackwell that he would be voting for Mr. Mamdani because “we have to move forward for equality for New Yorkers.”
In June, the comedian Ramy Youssef invited Mr. Mamdani to join him onstage at the Beacon Theater alongside Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia graduate and pro-Palestinian activist who had just been released from detention. Over the weekend, Mr. Youssef played Mr. Mamdani on “Saturday Night Live,” completing his costume with an array of rings on his fingers.
The comedian Bowen Yang posted a picture of himself on Instagram in which he was wearing a “Zohran for Mayor” T-shirt, and after voting early the actress Cynthia Nixon, who ran for governor of New York in 2018, posted a video of herself in which she urged others to vote for, as she put it, the “brilliant, young” Mr. Mamdani.
Mr. Mamdani had received early support from the model Emily Ratajkowski, who has been outspoken on many liberal issues. She wore a “Hot Girls for Zohran” T-shirt in a video she posted with the candidate in which she urged New Yorkers to vote during the primary race.
In Cuomo’s corner are …
The actress Amy Schumer recently posted a picture of her “Voted by Mail” sticker on Instagram. Though she did not explicitly state her support for Mr. Cuomo, she included a message in which she wrote “rhymes with duomo.”
The singer Marc Anthony, in a video posted on Instagram, endorsed Mr. Cuomo during the primary, noting that the former governor had supported Puerto Rico whenever it needed him.
In September, the filmmaker Woody Allen told Bari Weiss, editor in chief of CBS News and founder of The Free Press, that he would vote for Mr. Cuomo because “he will be better for New York.”
And Elon Musk, the billionaire head of Tesla, who spent more than $250 million to support President Trump in the 2024 election, endorsed Mr. Cuomo on Monday with a post on X in which he intentionally flubbed Mr. Mamdani’s last name.
While Mr. Sliwa has not been backed by prominent celebrities, he has received support from notable New York politicians including the former governor George Pataki and the former mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Alisha Haridasani Gupta is a Times reporter covering women’s health and health inequities.
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