Zohran Mamdani wins NYC mayor election
NEW YORK CITY (WPIX) – Zohran Mamdani has won the election for New York City mayor, the Associated Press projected Tuesday night.
Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, defeated independent former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa for the seat. It’s a stunning win from a campaign that catapulted from near obscurity to a nationwide phenomenon.
The state assemblymember started the race as an underdog, polling at 18% in March. Just two weeks before the primary election, Mamdani surpassed Cuomo in the polls for the first time. He won the Democratic primary with 43.8% of the vote.
“If this campaign has demonstrated anything to the world, it is that our dreams can become reality,” Mamdani said in his primary victory speech. “We have given our city permission to believe again.”
More than 2 million New Yorkers cast ballots in the contest, the largest turnout in a mayoral race in more than 50 years, according to the city’s Board of Elections. With roughly 90% of the votes counted, Mamdani held an approximately 9 percentage point lead over Cuomo.
Mamdani campaigned on affordability, promising fast and free buses, universal child care, and a rent freeze for stabilized units.
His platform and social-media-heavy approach garnered national attention and support from high-profile Democrats, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said on X that she looked forward to working with Mamdani “to make our city more affordable and livable” and congratulated him on winning “one of the city’s highest-turnout elections on record.”
Critics say Mamdani is inexperienced, will drive out wealthy New Yorkers, and criticized his stance on Israel. He has already faced scrutiny from national Republicans, including President Donald Trump, who have eagerly cast him as a threat and the face of what they say is a more radical Democratic Party. Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut federal funding to the city — and even take it over — if Mamdani won.
In a concession speech, a defiant Cuomo called his campaign “a caution flag that we are headed down a dangerous, dangerous road" and noted that “almost half of New Yorkers did not vote to support a government agenda that makes promises that we know cannot be met."
Still, he corrected his supporters when they began to boo at the mention of Mamdani's name.
“No, that is not right," he said, offering to help the incoming mayor in any way. “Tonight was their night.”
He is the youngest person to be elected mayor of New York City in over a century. He’s also the city's first Muslim mayor and the first immigrant mayor in modern times.
Mamdani’s X account posted a video of a subway train pulling up to City Hall station, with an announcement that said, “The next and last stop is City Hall.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
