Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York on Tuesday, capping a stunning ascent for the 34-year-old democratic socialist, who promised to transform city government to restore power to the working class and fight back against a hostile Trump administration.
In a victory for the Democratic party’s progressive wing, Mamdani defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani must now navigate the unending demands of America’s biggest city and deliver on ambitious — skeptics say unrealistic — campaign promises.
With his commanding win, the democratic socialist will etch his place in history as the city’s first Muslim mayor, the first of South Asian heritage and the first born in Africa. He will also become New York’s youngest mayor in more than a century when he takes office on Jan. 1.
“The conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate. I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this,” Mamdani declared to a roaring crowd at his victory party.
He cast his win as a boon for blue-collar workers struggling to get by. “New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change,” he said, vowing to ”wake up each morning with a singular purpose: To make this city better for you than it was the day before.”
Mamdani’s supporters react as he gives his acceptance speech after winning the mayoral election Tuesday. (Yuki Iwamura/The Associated Press)
He also addressed U.S. President Donald Trump head on.
“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” he said, adding that, “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”
Trump appeared to acknowledge Mamdani’s challenges, posting ”…AND SO IT BEGINS!” on his Truth Social site.
WATCH | Mamdani elected next NYC mayor:
Zohran Mamdani elected next mayor of New York
Zohran Mamdani has been elected mayor of New York City and will become, when he takes office, the city’s youngest and most liberal mayor in generations. In other elections Tuesday, Democrats won in both states that were electing governors.A commanding win
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 per cent of the votes counted, Mamdani held an approximately 9 percentage point lead over Cuomo.
Mamdani’s unlikely rise gives credence to Democrats who have urged the party to embrace more progressive candidates instead of rallying behind centrists in hopes of winning back swing voters who have abandoned the party.
He has already faced scrutiny from national Republicans, including Trump, who have eagerly cast him as a threat and the face of a more radical Democratic Party that is out of step with mainstream America. Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut federal funding to the city — and even take it over — if Mamdani won.
WATCH | How Mamdani changed the race:
How Zohran Mamdani is reshaping New York’s mayoral race
Zohran Mamdani is shaking up New York’s mayoral race with a socialist platform that includes rent control and public transportation. The front-runner’s message is drawing both support and backlash from the city’s financial elite, including the U.S. president.
Mamdani’s grassroots campaign centered on affordability, and his charisma spoiled Cuomo’s attempted political comeback. The former governor, who resigned four years ago following allegations of sexual harassment that he continues to deny, was dogged by his past throughout the race and was criticized for running a negative campaign.
Mamdani will also have to deal with Trump, who not only threatened retribution against the city but also suggested he might try to arrest and deport Mamdani if he won. Mamdani was born in Uganda, where he spent his early childhood, but was raised in New York City and became a U.S. citizen in 2018.
At his victory party in Brooklyn, Mamdani supporters cheered and embraced, some tearfully, after The Associated Press called the race. Campaign posters flew through the air, as one person hoisted the official flag of New York City and Bad Bunny played from the speakers.
The mood was far more muted at Cuomo’s party at a midtown Manhattan theater. In his 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.”
Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo voted in Manhattan Tuesday. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)An ambitious agenda
Mamdani, who was criticized throughout the campaign for his thin resume, will now have to begin staffing his incoming administration and planning how to accomplish the ambitious but polarizing agenda that drove him to victory.
Among the campaign’s promises are free child care, free city bus service, city-run grocery stores and a new Department of Community Safety that would send mental health care workers to handle certain emergency calls rather than police officers.
It is unclear how Mamdani will pay for such initiatives, given Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s steadfast opposition to his calls to raise taxes on wealthy people.
Zohran Mamdani and his wife Rama Sawaf Duwaji voted together earlier on Tuesday. (Olga Fedorova/The Associated Press)
His decisions around the leadership of the New York Police Department will also be closely watched. Mamdani was a fierce critic of the department in 2020, calling for “this rogue agency” to be defunded and slamming it as “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.”
He has since apologized for those comments and has said he will ask the current NYPD commissioner to stay on the job.
Mamdani’s campaign was driven by his optimistic view of the city and his promises to improve the quality of life for its middle and lower classes.
Cuomo, Sliwa and other critics assailed him over his vehement criticism of Israel ’s military actions in Gaza. Mamdani, a longtime advocate of Palestinian rights, has accused Israel of committing genocide and said he would honor an arrest warrant the International Criminal Court issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mamdani won over the city while Cuomo faltered
Mamdani began his campaign as a relatively obscure state lawmaker, little known even within New York City.
Going into the Democratic primary, Cuomo was the presumed favorite, with near-universal name recognition and deep political connections. Cuomo’s chances were buoyed further when incumbent Mayor Eric Adams bowed out of the primary while dealing with the fallout of his now-dismissed federal corruption case.
But as the race progressed, Mamdani’s natural charm, catchy social media videos and populist economic platform energized voters in the notoriously expensive city. He also began drawing outside attention as his name recognition grew.
Mamdani trounced Cuomo in the primary by about 13 points.
Other elections
In other elections Tuesday, Democrats won in both states that were electing governors .
Former representative Abigail Spanberger will become Virginia’s next governor — and the first woman elected for the job — after running a campaign focused largely on the economy, public safety and health care. She actively distanced herself from some of the Democratic Party’s far-left policies.
In New Jersey, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill shored up Democratic control of a state that has been reliably blue in presidential and Senate contests but had shown signs of shifting rightward in recent years.
Sherrill, a former navy helicopter pilot and four-term member of Congress, defeated Jack Ciattarelli, who was endorsed by Trump.