Zohran Mamdani Stuns Andrew Cuomo In NYC Mayoral Primary

New York Assembly Member Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a millennial democratic socialist, has nearly clinched a stunning come-from-behind victory to become the Democratic Party’s nominee to be New York City’s next mayor.

After the first round of ranked-choice voting showed Mamdani ahead of Cuomo by several points Tuesday ― a shock lead for Mamdani in what was expected to be a neck-and-neck race ― former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) told supporters he congratulated Mamdani.

“I want to applaud the assemblyman for a really smart and good and impactful campaign,” Cuomo said at an election night party. “Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won.”

Cuomo said he would “take a look” at ranked-choice voting numbers and “give some thought” about the “best way to help the city” ― likely a reference to a possible third-party run.

The concession came despite Mamdani not yet surpassing 50% of the vote tally, which is required in New York City’s ranked-choice elections.

Mamdani had secured roughly 43.5% of the vote to Cuomo’s 36.4%, with Mamdani’s co-endorser Brad Lander, the city’s current comptroller, at roughly 11.4%, according to a New York Times ticker counting roughly 91% of ballots as of 11 p.m. ET Tuesday. The preliminary results for one or more additional rounds of ranked-choice voting will have to wait until July 1, the deadline for election officials to receive mail-in ballots.

Mamdani’s surge in the vote count is nothing short of a political revolution in the Big Apple. He is now the presumptive front-runner for the heavily blue city’s November general election, though he faces an uncertain path to Gracie Mansion as incumbent mayor Eric Adams is running for reelection on a third-party ballot line, and Cuomo might now run on a different third-party ticket as well.

No candidate won an outright majority in the first round of voting, but New York City uses a ranked-choice voting system in certain elections: Voters rank multiple candidates in order of preference. After the first round of ballot-tallying, the last-place candidate is eliminated, and the votes of supporters who ranked that candidate first are redistributed to their second-ranked choices. That process is repeated until a candidate earns an outright majority.

Mamdani leads in a crowded field of would-be mayoral candidates in the primary election, most notably Cuomo, who left the governor’s mansion in disgrace in 2021 after a state attorney general’s report substantiated allegations that he sexually harassed multiple female staffers while in office.

Mamdani’s campaign also took on a long list of establishment Democrats: Bill Clinton, 78, endorsed Cuomo, as did Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), 84, a political kingmaker whose 2020 endorsement sealed then-candidate Joe Biden’s fate as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Even Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), among those who called for Cuomo’s resignation in 2021, changed her tune this time around, praising Cuomo and saying it was “up to New York voters to decide if he should get a second chance to serve.” The New York Times editorial board, after saying last year that it would stop making endorsements in local races, essentially did just that, bashing Mamdani in one piece, and convening a panel of 15 New Yorkers in another that largely lined up behind Lander.

Mamdani was most notably endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), both democratic socialists who’ve ridden populist waves in recent years.

Mamdani’s campaign offered a relentless focus on pocket-book issues: He promised to freeze the rent for millions of rent-regulated tenants in the city, make city buses free, provide free child care, and establish a city-run grocery store in every borough, among a list of other progressive priorities ― all funded primarily by increased taxes on people making over $1 million annually.

His campaign was notably fueled by a massive grassroots volunteer operation and savvy social media footprint. Having easily reached New York City’s matching fundraising limit in March, Mamdani urged supporters to volunteer for him ― sometimes in exchange for exclusive merchandise ― rather than donating money. And they did, with tens of thousands of New Yorkers knocking on over 1.5 million doors, according to his campaign.

That shoe-leather, 24/7 enthusiasm defined the upstart’s campaign. Shortly before Election Day, as early voting took place across the city, Mamdani walked the length of Manhattan, greeting supporters for hours up and down the island until late into the night, and later minting a new campaign video out of the jaunt.

Cuomo offered a stark contrast: The former governor hadn’t called New York City his primary residence in over 30 years before coming back just before election season, and he gained a reputation during the campaign for speeding and illegally parking a black Dodge Charger across the city.

Mamdani played up those contrasts: He filmed an interview with popular internet personality Kareem Rahma in which Rahma presented him with a prop familiar to millions of New Yorkers in recent weeks ― piles of anti-Mamdani mailers from a pro-Cuomo super PAC.

“Let’s look at the little print of who’s actually paying for this,” Mamdani said, pointing to fine print that showed it was DoorDash, Bloomberg and Ackman.

“That’s the kind of mismatch here, between ordinary people and billionaires,” he cracked, before referring to the donors. “These guys would rather lie to you every single day, rather than admit the fact that the policies they have pursued for so long have left us with the city that we actually have today.”

In debates, Cuomo attempted to attack Mamdani for his youth and inexperience, particularly when it came to defending the city against attacks from President Donald Trump.

“I am Donald Trump’s worst nightmare as a progressive, Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things that I believe in,” Mamdani shot back at one point. “The difference between myself and Andrew Cuomo is that my campaign is not funded by the very billionaires who put Donald Trump in D.C.”

Cuomo and others ― including the news media ― made a special issue of Mamdani’s comments on Palestinian rights. When pressed on whether Israel should exist “as a Jewish state,” for example, the candidate responded that it should exist as a state with equal rights for all, a position that provided fodder for weeks of attack ads aimed at New York City’s 1 million Jewish residents.

One ad from the top Cuomo-supporting super PAC artificially darkened and thickened Mamdani’s beard, a blatantly Islamophobic jab that Mamdani highlighted in his response to the smears, while also emphasizing his own struggles as a Muslim man facing death threats and religious intolerance.

Mamdani clinching the Democratic nomination could mark a generational shift in New York politics. Currently 33 years old ― 34 when the next mayor’s term starts ― Mamdani would be New York’s youngest mayor in over a century. He’d be the first Muslim mayor in the city’s history, and the first immigrant mayor in 50 years.

Though he’s leading the Democratic primary, Mamdani’s surprise showing Tuesday was also notable for two other parties: the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party, both of whose endorsements he received in the mayoral race.

Mamdani’s huge lead was also reflective of a coalition-building strategy that took advantage of New York City’s ranked-choice voting model. Mamdani cross-endorsed with Lander, as well as with Michael Blake, a former state assemblyman and DNC official.

In contrast with the last mayoral election, several progressive candidates, including Mamdani, made a point of not attacking each other but rather training their ire on Cuomo.

One acronym described the effort: DREAM. At first, it stood for “Don’t Rank Eric Adams for Mayor.” When Cuomo entered the race, it changed to “Don’t Rank Eric or Andrew for Mayor.” It changed again when Adams announced he would skip the Democratic Primary: “Don’t Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor.”

While Cuomo benefited from large-dollar donors, name recognition, and support from older voters and Black and Latino voters, he also carried substantial baggage into election day.

Cuomo resigned as governor of New York in 2021 after he was accused of sexual harassment by a dozen or so women, many of whom worked for him in the governor’s mansion. Three investigations, including one from the state attorney general and one from the Department of Justice, substantiated the majority of the harassment claims against him. Cuomo repeatedly denied all of the allegations, writing them off as politically motivated. He’s currently in the middle of three ongoing lawsuits regarding the sexual harassment complaints, which is forcing New York taxpayers to foot a $19 million legal bill.

For Mamdani, the mayoral race was about more than a rejection of Cuomo. It was about charting the way forward.

“I think of a woman I met on the BX33 [bus] in the Bronx a few years ago. As I sat next to her, she told me, ‘I used to love New York, but now it’s just where I live,’” Mamdani recalled at a rally earlier this month.

“We’re going to make this city one where working people can love it once again.”

Alanna Vagianos contributed reporting.