NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo faced the unfortunate task of covering his older brother Andrew Cuomo’s electoral defeat in the New York City mayoral race.
Shortly after the polls closed at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani was declared the winner, triumphing over Andrew Cuomo, who was running as an independent. It was an outcome that polls and pundits had long predicted.
“Of course I wanted my brother to win,” Chris Cuomo said on air.
“I believe in my brother, I think he’s a tremendous operator within government,” he added. “But he’s not what Democrats want right now in their party.”
As of Wednesday morning, 90 percent of the votes have been tallied, with Mamdani eclipsing Andrew Cuomo 50.4 percent to 41.6 percent, according to NBC News. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa trailed both of them, garnering 7.1 percent of the total vote share.
Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic governor of New York, who positioned himself as a pragmatic centrist with ample experience, previously lost to Mamdani in the Democratic primary this summer.
“At the end of the day, this outcome was always certain,” Chris Cuomo said, noting that “The Democrat was going to win in New York City.” He also described Mamdani’s victory as “a reaction to MAGA.”
Chris Cuomo further noted that Mamdani — a 34-year-old democratic socialist and state assemblyman — will face a difficult road ahead in delivering on his ambitious agenda.
“There's the promise versus the promises kept, which can be tricky especially because a mayor is not as powerful as a president or a governor,” he said.
Andrew Cuomo conceded the race around 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
“This campaign was the right fight to wage, and I am proud of what we did and what we did together," he said, speaking from his campaign headquarters, according to CBS News. “This campaign was to contest the philosophies that are shaping the Democratic party, the future of this city, and the future of this country.”
Meanwhile, across town at a more jubilant campaign headquarters in Brooklyn, Mamdani delivered his victory speech.
“For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands,” the Uganda-born, Manhattan-raised mayor-elect said, according to The New York Times.
“Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it,” he said. “My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty.”
This article was ammended after publication to reflect that Chris Cuomo reacted to the news of his brother losing and another anchor actually announced the decision to call the race.
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