New York, New York - As polls opened Tuesday morning in New York City's most consequential mayoral election for generations, leading candidate Zohran Mamdani cast his vote in his home borough of Queens while President Donald Trump slandered him as a "Jew hater."

Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist is poised to pull off one of the biggest political shocks in living memory.

With election day approaching, he comfortably led disgraced ex-governor Andrew Cuomo – running as an Independent after his crushing defeat in the Democratic primaries – and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

Mamdani has focused on reducing living costs for ordinary New Yorkers, building support through his message as well as style.

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"On this beautiful morning in Astoria, I cast my ballot for our city and our future," he wrote on X Tuesday morning. "I hope you will too."

Conversely, Trump, who on Monday threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani became its mayor, took his election interference to a whole new level.

"Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!" he wrote on Truth Social.

Elections for governor in Virginia and New Jersey could also be revealing gauges of the US political mood nearly 10 months since the Republican's return to the White House.

In New Jersey, Democratic candidate Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, faces off against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a businessman backed by Trump.

Meanwhile, Virginia's race for governor sees Democrat Abigail Spanberger taking on the state's Republican lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears.

Emailed bomb threats involving polling stations across New Jersey forced the brief closure of several sites, said state Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

Mamdani called the threats "incredibly concerning."

"It's an illustration of the attacks we are seeing on our democracy," he said after voting, alongside his wife, Rama Duwaji.