Unpacking the expensive eleventh-hour efforts by billionaires targeting Zohran Mamdani.

Meghnad Bose
and Biplob Kumar Das
Nov 01, 2025

Former Governor of New York and mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo’s billionaire donors have launched an expensive eleventh-hour effort to disparage his electoral opponent, Zohran Mamdani, splurging on attack ads against the Democratic nominee. The late surge drove independent campaign expenses in this election over the $50 million mark on Thursday, with more than $12 million spent in the second half of October alone.