Donald Trump backs Andrew Cuomo to become New York's next mayor as voters head to the polls today

The president urged New Yorkers to vote for the city's former governor, saying they “really have no choice”.

"He is capable of it, Mamdani is not," Mr Trump added in a Truth Social post.

But Mr Cuomo, a frequent Trump critic, has appeared to distance himself from the president amid his electoral battle with left-wing candidate Zohran Mamdani.

"He's not endorsing me. He's opposing Mamdani," he said.

It comes after Mr Trump threatened to cut federal funds to New York “if Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City”.

“It is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home. I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad," Mr Trump warned.

Read more: New York Mayoral candidates clash in televised debate overnight

Read more: Zohran Mamdani has found a new way of campaigning: making voters smile, writes Andy Coulson

It comes as voters prepare to head to polling stations, which open today at 6am local time and close at 9pm.

Mr Mamdani currently leads the opinion polls, with Mr Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa trailing behind.

Mr Cuomo has already been defeated once before by Mr Mamdani, when he lost out in June’s Democratic primary in a move forcing him to run as an independent. The pair have clashed over the course of the campaign over their records, qualifications, ideologies and plans for New York.

Mr Mamdani has argued Mr Cuomo is serving the interests of the mega rich and is in the pockets of corporate donors. He has also called out the scandal that forced Mr Cuomo resign as governor in 2021 -  after an investigation ruled he had sexually harassed 11 women.

The former governor has also faced scrutiny for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic where he was alleged to have undercounted the number of nursing home deaths.

Meanwhile, Mr Cuomo has slammed Mr Mamdani as naive and too idealistic, but he has struggled to gain the same kind of momentum as the left-wing frontrunner.

Writing for LBC Opinion, Andy Coulson, former Downing Street Communications Director, argues Mr Mamdani “is swimming social media laps around rivals Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa despite the lack of experience that those competitors like to point out.”

“Mamdani’s got cool, too. Not the forced, stylist-advised variety. This is a man who can live in a suit and tie, then switch to a formal kurta with a Nehru vest without missing a beat. So cool that New Yorkers dressed up as him for Halloween, in a nice way.

“This isn’t political theatre - it’s credibility built on connection. Mamdani doesn’t act like a man of the people. He acts like a man who likes people. Who enjoys campaigning,” he writes.