Zohran Mamdani, who transformed himself from a little-known state lawmaker into a nationally recognized face of the Democratic Party’s left flank, was elected New York City’s 111th mayor on Tuesday.
Mamdani was leading his nearest challenger, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, 50 percent to 41 percent, when The Associated Press called the race at 9:35 p.m. Eastern time. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa was trailing in third place with 8 percent. Also on the ballot as an independent was the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, who ended his reelection bid in September and later endorsed Cuomo.
“My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” Mamdani told supporters at a campaign watch party in Downtown Brooklyn, referring to his win over Cuomo.
More than two million ballots were cast, the highest in a mayoral election since 1969, according to the New York City Board of Elections.
With his victory, the 34-year-old Mamdani becomes the first Asian American and the first Muslim elected to lead the nation’s largest city. He was born in Uganda to Indian-origin parents – filmmaker Mira Nair and academic Mahmood Mamdani – and moved to the U.S. when he was 7 years old.
Mamdani told the roaring audience in Brooklyn that his win amounted to a mandate to enact his sweeping agenda and a moment for the city to turn the page “on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few.”
A self-described democratic socialist currently in his third term representing Queens in the state Assembly, Mamdani ran on a progressive platform aimed at tackling the city’s affordability crisis. He has promised to implement a temporary rent freeze, make public buses free and launch a city-run grocery store pilot program. To pay for these and other programs, he has proposed raising income taxes on wealthy residents and hiking the corporate tax rate.
His victory all but guarantees a coming showdown with the White House. President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to Mamdani as a “communist” and has threatened to withhold federal funds from New York City and deploy National Guard troops there if he wins.
On the eve of the election, Trump called for Big Apple voters to back Cuomo, saying they had “no choice” and a vote for Republican Sliwa was “a vote for Mamdani.” Sliwa had resisted calls to drop out of the race in an effort to consolidate the anti-Mamdani vote behind Cuomo.
Mamdani won a last-minute endorsement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn, just before the start of early voting. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also backed his candidacy. But the Empire State’s two senators – Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, who chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm – opted not to weigh in.
A week before Election Day, Mamdani gathered some of the biggest names in progressive politics, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, to a rally in Queens, where they framed his candidacy as a bulwark against the current administration.
A Mamdani win, Sanders told the crowd, would be “Trump’s worst nightmare.”
Mamdani’s critical stance on Israel and his embrace of progressive policies have already made him a lightning rod for Republican-led attacks from Capitol Hill.
“House Democrats endorsed Mamdani’s dangerous policies — including defunding the police, seizing private property, and massive tax increases. Now, every House Democrat incumbent and candidate will co-own Mamdani’s disastrous record in the 2026 midterms,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement Tuesday after the race was called.
Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles has called on the Justice Department to investigate whether Mamdani should be stripped of his citizenship. Florida Rep. Randy Fine said the federal government should “review every naturalization of the past 30 years – starting with Mamdani.” Fine has also called for Mamdani’s deportation. Mamdani, who was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2018, has said attacks based on his faith and citizenship were rooted in anti-Muslim sentiment.
In June, Mamdani shocked New York’s political establishment when he clinched the Democratic nomination for mayor, finishing ahead of Cuomo, 56 percent to 44 percent, after ranked choice tabulations.
Cuomo, with the encouragement of some of New York’s financial powerbrokers, including billionaire investor and Trump ally, Bill Ackman, then opted to continue his mayoral bid as a third-party candidate.
Despite a significant financial boost from several super PACs, including one which spent nearly $30 million to defeat Mamdani, Cuomo could not overcome the baggage he carried into the race. He resigned as governor in disgrace in 2021 after the state attorney general concluded he had sexually harassed nearly a dozen women.
Throughout the campaign, Cuomo and his allies characterized Mamdani’s policies as being too far to the left. His candidacy, they warned, could hurt the Democratic Party brand – a view echoed by many party moderates who have voiced anxiety that national Republicans will seek to tie them to Mamdani.
“I’m a Democratic Capitalist, not a Democratic Socialist,” Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi said in a recent post on X endorsing Cuomo. “I can not back a declared socialist with a thin resume to run the most complex city in America.”
Meanwhile, the National Republican Congressional Committee has already announced a paid ad campaign targeting Democratic-held battleground districts in New York and New Jersey to “ensure every voter knows Zohran Mamdani is synonymous with the Democratic Party nationwide.”
In the final days of the race, Mamdani appeared to moderate some of his stances, most notably on the issue of public safety. He said he intended to have the city’s current police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, stay on once he assumes office and issued an apology to the New York Police Department over his past comments characterizing the police force as “racist” and calling for it to be defunded.
Mamdani has also drawn criticism from party leaders over his comments on Israel and Gaza. He has accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and said he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he steps foot in New York City. His refusal to condemn the slogan, “Globalize the Intifada,” made headlines, though he told business leaders after the primary that he would not use the phrase and would discourage others from doing so.
Mamdani is set to be sworn in on Jan. 1.
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