Zohran Mamdani declared victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday night after Andrew Cuomo conceded the race in a stunning upset, as the young, progressive upstart who was virtually unknown when the contest began built a substantial lead over the more experienced but scandal-scarred former governor
Though the race’s ultimate outcome will still be decided by a ranked-choice count, Mamdani took a commanding position just hours after the polls closed that put him in a distant first place.
With victory all but assured, Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist whose energetic campaign centred on the cost of living jolted the contest, told supporters, “I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City,”
“I will be the mayor for every New Yorker, whether you voted for me, for Governor Cuomo, or felt too disillusioned by a long-broken political system to vote at all,” he said. “I will work to be a mayor you will be proud to call your own.”
Cuomo, who had been the front-runner throughout a race that was his comeback bid from a sexual harassment scandal, conceded the election, telling a crowd he had called Mamdani to congratulate him
“Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won,” Cuomo told supporters.
Cuomo could still run as an independent
Cuomo trailed Mamdani by a significant margin in the first choice ballots and faced an exceedingly difficult pathway to catching up when ballots are redistributed in New York City’s ranked choice voting process.
Mamdani would be the city’s first Muslim and Indian American mayor if elected.
Mayor Eric Adams skipped the primary. He’s running as an independent in the general election, after his standing in the party was damaged by corruption allegations.
Curtis Sliwa, radio host and the founder of the Guardian Angels, will be on the ballot for the Republicans in the fall’s election.
Cuomo also has the option of running in the general election.
“We are going to take a look and make some decisions,” Cuomo said.
Experience vs. enthusiasm
Unofficial results from the New York City’s Board of Elections showed that Mamdani was ranked on more ballots than Cuomo. Mamdani was listed as the second choice by tens of thousands of more voters than Cuomo. And the number of votes that will factor into ranked choice voting is sure to shrink. More than 200,000 voters only listed a first choice, the Board of Elections results show, meaning that Mamdani’s performance in the first round may ultimately be enough to clear the 50 per cent threshold.
The race’s ultimate outcome could say something about what kind of leader Democrats are looking for during President Donald Trump’s second term.
Cuomo resigned in 2021 after a report commissioned by the state attorney general concluded that he had sexually harassed at least 11 women. He has always maintained that he didn’t intentionally harass the women, saying he had simply fallen behind what was considered appropriate workplace conduct.
Despite that, Cuomo was boosted int the race by a juggernaut fundraising apparatus. He ran a campaign that depicted the city as a dangerous, out-of-control place that needed a steady hand to put it back on track.
The party’s progressive wing, meanwhile, had coalesced behind Mamdani. A relatively unknown state legislator when the contest began, Mamdani gained momentum by running a sharp campaign laser-focused on the city’s high cost of living and secured endorsements from two of the country’s foremost progressives, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Comptroller Brad Lander, a liberal city government stalwart, made a splash last week when he was arrested after linking arms with a man federal agents were trying to detain at an immigration court in Manhattan. It was unclear if that episode was enough to jump-start a campaign that had been failing to pick up speed behind Mamdani.
Mamdani’s energetic run has been hard not to notice.
His army of young canvassers relentlessly knocked on doors throughout the city seeking support. Posters of his grinning mug were up on shop windows. You couldn’t get on social media without seeing one of his well-produced videos pitching his vision — free buses, free child care, new apartments, a higher minimum wage and more, paid for by new taxes on rich people.
Outside his family’s Caribbean apothecary, Amani Kojo, a 23-year-old first-time voter, passed out iced tea to Mamdani canvassers, encouraging them to stay hydrated.
“It’s 100 degrees outside and it’s a vibe. New York City feels alive again,” Kojo said, raising a pile of Mamdani pamphlets.
“It feels very electric seeing all the people around, the flyers, all the posts on my Instagram all day.”
Cuomo and some other Democrats have cast Mamdani as unqualified. They say he doesn’t have the management chops to wrangle the city’s sprawling bureaucracy or handle crises. Critics have also taken aim at Mamdani’s support for Palestinian human rights.
During the campaign, he has become more aggressive in defending himself, framing the situation as a political hit job orchestrated by his enemies.
Disgraced Weiner fails in latest comeback attempt
Another Democratic politician plagued by scandal, Anthony Weiner, was running in a distant fourth place in a five-person race for a council district in Manhattan. He served in city council between 1992 and 1998.
Weiner served in U.S. Congress between 1999 and 2011 before resigning in the first of three separate sexting scandals.
The second scuttled a mayoral bid in 2013.
He eventually spent over a year in prison beginning in 2017 for the third, after pleading guilty to sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl.
