Far-left Democrat Zohran Mamdani has won New York City’s mayoral race — winning a mandate to move to enact his budget-busting, socialist agenda, according to preliminary projections.
The Associated Press called the race for Mamdani, 34, about 40 minutes after polls closed, and with at least a few hundred thousand votes still to be counted.
Mamdani carried 50.4% of votes to Andrew Cuomo’s 41.3% at around 9:40 p.m. The projection — which came with 75% of votes counted — also found GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa with rock-bottom 7.5%.
Far-left Democrat Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral race on Tuesday. James Keivom
The Uganda-born Mamdani will be the Big Apple’s first Muslim and first socialist mayor, as well as one of the youngest.
The state assemblyman’s rise from dark horse candidate to ascendant mayor-elect came despite concerns over his youth and inexperience and his “tax the rich” platform that business elites warned would harm the city.
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Mamdani, a proud Democratic Socialists of America member, also faced repeated questions over his past anti-police stance and accusations of antisemitism for his fierce, long-running criticism of Israel.
His stunning win capped an explosive campaign that exposed rifts in the Democratic Party and drew widespread attention, including from President Trump — who issued an election-eve endorsement of Cuomo and threatened to withhold federal funds to New York City if Mamdani won.
“Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!”
Zohran Mamdani, circled, with Jewish Voice for Peace NYC, blocking the entrance of the New York Stock Exchange. Instagram/@zohrankmamdani
Mamdani led Cuomo by just 6 points in an AtlasIntel survey released Saturday. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post
A rolling drumbeat of polls released as early voting unfolded and Election Day neared showed Mamdani ahead of his rivals, but by wildly different degrees of comfort.
Mamdani led Cuomo by just 4 points in an AtlasIntel survey released Monday, just days after an Emerson College poll found him with a yawning 25-point lead.
Zohran Mamdani and supporters arriving at City Hall Park with an “OUR TIME IS NOW” banner. William Farrington
Early voting tallies showed Boomers, Gen Xers and older New Yorkers showed up on the polls more than in the primary, when younger generations propelled Mamdani to his shock victory.
But Cuomo — the former three-term Democratic governor who spent $12 million on his campaign, and was buoyed by $55 million from supportive super PACs — failed at his attempted political comeback against the lefty upstart, competing with the GOP’s standard-bearer on the crowded ballot.
The New York Post’s front cover for the Nov. 5, 2025 print edition.
The unusual election was the city’s first contest between a trio of viable contenders since 1969 when Republican John Lindsay won in a three-way race.
The general election field briefly had five candidates, as Cuomo opted to run as an independent alongside incumbent scandal-scarred Mayor Eric Adams and longshot contender Jim Walden.
The three-way race between Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa turned caustic, as the trio battled over the future of New York City. Michael Nigro
But the field narrowed as Walden withdrew and Adams — after a weeks-long melodrama in which the White House tried to entice him to drop out — eventually ditched his re-election bid.
The three-way race between Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa turned caustic, as the trio battled over the future of New York City.
Zohran Mamdani speaking at a Within Our Lifetime Palestine Protest in front of a sign that says “There is only one solution: Intifada revolution.” Instagram/@zohrankmamdani
Cuomo hammered the public with dire, gloom-and-doom warnings about Mamdani’s lack of executive experience and thin resume, as well as try to poke holes in the lefty darling’s $10 billion in pie-in-the-sky proposals.
Mamdani relentlessly focused on his affordability mantra as he avoided coughing up details in two bruising debates with Cuomo and Sliwa — and fielded a barrage of criticism over his anti-Israel, pro-socialism and cop-bashing stances.
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The aloof Cuomo — who more than resurrected his 1980s nickname “The Prince of Darkness” with his relentless attacks — seemingly failed to offer a compelling vision for voters, who rebuked him at the ballot box.
Zohran Mamdani, in a white shirt and black shorts, runs the NYC Gaza 5K in Prospect Park alongside the Harlem Run Club. X/@ZohranKMamdani
In the last days of the heated race, Cuomo scored an endorsement from Adams, and the begrudging support from many Republicans, including Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler, who called him the “lesser of two evils.”
Mamdani spent the race’s final days in the full sprint that defined his campaign from the beginning, hitting the pavement across the city.
Cuomo, who resigned as governor in disgrace in 2021, joined the packed Democratic primary in March, but saw his front-runner status chipped away by Mamdani, who had announced in candidacy in October 2024 as a near-unknown.
Zohran Mamdani kisses his wife, Rama Duwaji, after running a marathon. Instagram/@zohrankmamdani
Mamdani, who was first elected to the state Legislature in 2020, steadily amassed an enthusiastic cadre of supporters electrified by his personable social media videos and easy-to-digest campaign planks of free buses, universal childcare, a rent freeze and city-owned grocery stores.
His historic primary victory in June amounted to a “political earthquake,” signaling the growing strength of progressives and young voters within the Democratic Party — and with aftershocks across the nation.
The prospect of the nation’s largest city being led by an unapologetic socialist — who vowed to “tax the rich” to pay for his $10 billion agenda — also sent business bigwigs in a full-blown meltdown.
Rebecca Kadaga and Zohran Mamdani smiling for a photo. X/@RebeccaKadagaUG
Republicans such as Trump, who belittled Mamdani as “my little Communist,” alternately salivated over using the socialist’s win as cudgel against Democrats and plotted to thwart his election.
In the aftermath of his bruising primary loss, Cuomo flirted with sitting out the general election before launching a scorched-earth independent bid casting himself as the true Democrat and best bulwark against a Trump who’d knock Mamdani on his “tuches.”
Zohran Mamdani and other protestors wearing “Ceasefire Now” shirts at Grand Central Station. Instagram/@zohrankmamdani
Supporters of the Cuomo political family scion unironically cast Mamdani, the son of a Columbia University professor dad and a filmmaker mom who grew up on the Upper West Side, as a “nepo baby.”
Mamdani struggled with gaining support from many establishment Dems in New York and beyond squeamish about anointing a far-left pol as the future of the party.
Zohran Mamdani protesting the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, speaking into a microphone. Instagram/@zohrankmamdani
He eventually landed late-in-the-game endorsements from Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former President Barack Obama refused to the end.
Mamdani’s grand plans for taxing the rich, free buses and universal childcare all face an uncertain future in Albany, where Hochul and lawmakers have the final say.
Mamdani will be sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. James Keivom
Hochul has pointedly refused to consider raising taxes, while Mamdani boosters state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins signaled they’ll work him to enact his sweeping socialist agenda.
Mamdani — who will be sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1, 2026, at 12:01 a.m — will be the first immigrant to serve as the city’s leader since Abe Beame was elected in 1974.
He also will take the crown as the second-youngest mayor in the city’s history, bumping the “Boy Mayor” John Purroy Mitchel, who was just three months older than Mamdani when he was sworn in at 34 in 1914.