THE VOTES ARE IN AND THE WINNER IS…
Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old upstart lawmaker, declared victory Tuesday night in the Democratic mayoral primary, racking up a seemingly insurmountable lead that prompted former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to concede.
A democratic socialist, Mamdani waged an energetic campaign, attracting new and left-leaning young voters. His platform focused on making the city more affordable, including free bus service and child care, and raising $10 billion in revenue by taxing businesses and wealthy New Yorkers.
Mamdani, a member of the New York State Assembly from Queens, closed a double-digit deficit in the polls in the weeks leading up to the primary.
“I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City,” Mamdani told supporters hours after the polls closed.
Cuomo resigned from his gubernatorial post in 2021 after he was accused of sexually harassing at least 11 women. He has repeatedly denied the allegations.
“Tonight is his night,” he told supporters. “He deserved it. He won.”
With 96.05% of the scanners reporting, Mamdani was the first choice of 43.51% of the votes to Cuomo’s 36.42%. City Comptroller Brad Lander had 11.31% followed by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams with 4.12%.
“He touched young people and inspired them and moved them and got them to come out and vote, and he really ran a highly impactful campaign,” Cuomo added. “I called him, I congratulated him. I applaud him sincerely for his effort.”
Some political observers said the results were stunning.
“This is the biggest upset in modern New York City history,” Trip Yang, a Democratic strategist, told The New York Times.
The official outcome of the primary election will be decided next Tuesday by the ranked-choice count, but experts saw almost no chance for Cuomo to catch Mamdani.
Mayor Eric Adams is running for re-election as an independent. It remains to be seen whether Cuomo, 67, will also run as an independent in the November general election.
“I wanted to look at the numbers and the ranked-choice voting to decide about what to do in the future, because I’m also on an independent line,” Cuomo told The Times. “And that’s the decision.”
Curtis Sliwa will be the Republican candidate for mayor in the general election.
About 1 million New Yorkers cast their ballots in the primary with Brooklyn boasting the highest number of votes among the boroughs with more than 358,000. Mamdani won Brooklyn by 17 percentage points.
The New York Times published a breakdown by neighborhood. It showed that just over 4,300 people voted in Brownsville, leaning toward Cuomo by 40 percentage points.
Bedford-Stuyvesant had the highest voter turnout of any neighborhood in Brooklyn with about 32,000 voters. Mamdani won that neighborhood by 43 percentage points.
Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Hermelyn endorsed Cuomo in March. She released a statement early Wednesday aimed at unifying Brooklyn Dems around Mamdani.
“Zohran Mamdani campaigned on making our city more affordable,” the statement read. “The people have spoken and as the clear winner of the Democratic primary, I support Mamdani in the general election…Brooklyn stands firmly behind Zohran Mamdani as we head into November. Let’s unite as Democrats for a brighter future for our city.” (Source: NYS Assemblywoman Latrice Walker’s newsletter)