Emily Ratajkowski's important message to New Yorkers: ‘Today you need to...’

As young house of york urban center voters head up to the polls for the popular mayoral primary, Emily Ratajkowski has made an important announcement. Endorsing Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old model suggested that the election is an opportunity for people to send a “message to billionaires and Super PACs.”

“Today is election day in New York and we have the opportunity to send a message to billionaires and Super PACs that the power belongs to the PEOPLE,” Ratajkowski wrote on Instagram alongside a video featuring her with Zohran Mamdani, who is the son of Mahmood Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University, and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mira Nair.

Ratajkowski said Zohran Mamdani is “what the future of the Democratic party looks like.” Noting that the world was watching, she stated that polling remains open till 9 PM ET on Tuesday, June 24. She urged voters to rank Zohran “no. 1,” adding that this will make New York “safe and affordable for all.”

A post shared by Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata)

In the primary election, Zohran is pitted against Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who has received backing from the centrists in the party as well as billionaire donors.

Cuomo resigned as the New York governor in 2021 after he was accused of sexual harassment by more than a dozen women. A few months ago, he remained the clear frontrunner and was expected to return to the post. However, Zohran witnessed a significant surge in polls in recent weeks and is expected to benefit from the primary’s ranked-choice voting system, The Guardian reported.

A poll, which came out on Monday, showed Zohran Mamdani winning the primary after multiple rounds of counting. Voters will be allowed to rank five candidates in order of preference.

The incumbent governor, Eric Adams, won the 2021 election as a Democrat. This time, he is running as an independent candidate and remains deeply unpopular, going by the trends, the Guardian report added.

In New York, early voting began on June 14, while over 380,000 people took part in the process till Sunday. This was more than double the number that voted during the 2021 primary.

Zohran Mamdani is currently leading in the polls ahead of former governor Andrew Cuomo, according to the latest ranked-choice voting survey.

Zohran Mamdani is campaigning on a democratic socialist platform, advocating for rent freezes, free citywide bus service and broader progressive reforms.

Andrew Cuomo has avoided large rallies, focusing instead on controlled appearances and attacking Mamdani through a barrage of ads and mailers backed by centrist and billionaire donors.

New York’s ranked-choice system allows voters to rank up to five candidates. This could benefit Zohran Mamdani, who is highly favored among younger voters and is receiving second and third-place votes in polling projections.

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