Zohran Mamdani appeared to have cleared the first hurdle on his path to becoming New York’s first Muslim mayor, declaring victory in the city’s Democratic primary on Tuesday night, although it could be days before the final result is known.
In a stunning upset, Andrew Cuomo – who had been a heavy favorite until recent weeks – conceded after it become clear the the 33-year-old democratic socialist had built a substantial lead over the more experienced but scandal-scarred former governor.
In a speech to supporters, Mamdani said: “Tonight, we made history,” adding: “I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City.”
If his win is confirmed, Mamdani will be seen as the frontrunner for the 4 November mayoral election in New York, a city where Democrats normally dominate.
After 93% of votes were counted in the primary’s first round, Mamdani, a state representative, had 43.5% of the vote. Cuomo was on 36.4%.
Speaking at a campaign rally, Cuomo said Mamdani had run a “really smart and good and impactful campaign”. “Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won,” Cuomo said.
New York City uses a ranked-choice voting system, and as neither candidate is likely to reach 50%, the board of elections will now tally people’s second-choice candidates.
Mamdani, who cross-endorsed with Brad Lander, a progressive who came third with 11.4% of the vote, last week, is predicted to benefit more than Cuomo from the count. He thanked Lander in his speech, telling supporters: “Together we have shown the power of the politics of the future: one of partnership and sincerity.”
Mamdani’s rapid rise will serve as a rebuke to the Democratic establishment and give hope to other progressives hoping to run in elections around the country. Cuomo was backed by deep-pocketed donors and endorsed by a wave of centrist figures including Bill Clinton, but Mamdani benefitted from a surge of grassroots support among young people in particular.
Speaking on Tuesday night Cuomo said he had called Mamdani to congratulate him. “He put together a great campaign and he touched young people and inspired them and moved them and got them to come out and vote,” Cuomo said. “I applaud him sincerely for his effort.”
Cuomo told the New York Times he may still run in the November mayoral election as an independent. “I want to analyze and talk to some colleagues,” he said.
But given the heavily Democratic makeup of New York, and the unpopularity of the incumbent Eric Adams, Mamdani would be favorite to become New York’s 11th mayor.
The race for New York mayor has been closely watched across the US. In pitting two drastically different Democrats against one another, it offered a vision of what voters want from a party that has struggled to present a coherent alternative to Donald Trump.
Cuomo, a centrist, and Mamdani emerged as the frontrunners in the final weeks of the primary, Mamdani closing the gap on Cuomo through an abundance of enthusiasm from young New Yorkers.
Mamdani had hoped to benefit from the voting system that allows voters to rank five candidates in order of preference.
Cuomo, who was elected to three-terms as governor before resigning in disgrace amid accusations of sexual harassment, entered the race with the far superior name recognition, and at one point had a 30-point lead in polling. But a survey released on Monday showed Mamdani winning the primary after multiple rounds of counting.
Mamdani ran on a progressive platform, promising to freeze rent and make buses free citywide, and his campaign was propelled by a social media following that dwarfs his rivals’. He was endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at an event attended by thousands of people in June, and has also won the backing of Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator.
Cuomo was much less visible, eschewing large rallies for tightly managed appearances at union offices and other small venues. As the race narrowed, his campaign and the organizations backing him – some of which were funded by billionaire Republican donors – focused almost exclusively on attacking Mamdani, spending millions of dollars on mailers and TV adverts. The New York Times reported that Cuomo benefited from more than $25m in outside spending in the primary, a city record.
“This has been a historically contentious race,” Mamdani said. “I hope now that this primary has come to an end, I can introduce myself once more, not as you’ve seen me in a 30-second ad or in a mailer in your mailbox, but as I how I will lead as your mayor.
“I will be the mayor for every New Yorker, whether you voted for me, for Governor Cuomo, or felt too disillusioned by a long, broken political system to vote at all.”
Early voting started in New York on 14 June, and the city said more than 380,000 people had voted by Sunday, more than double the number that voted early in the 2021 primary. A heatwave on Tuesday – temperatures in New York reached 100F (38C) – appeared not to have suppressed turnout with more than 1 million people estimated to have voted, CBS New York reported.
The winner of the primary is not guaranteed to become the 111th mayor of New York, but it is highly likely in a city where registered Democrats heavily outnumber Republicans.
Adams, who won the 2021 election as a Democrat but is running this year as an independent candidate, is deeply unpopular. He was charged last year with taking bribes and accepting foreign campaign contributions but the charges were dropped in April after the Trump administration intervened.
