Zohran Mamdani during his election as mayor of New York City, in Brooklyn, November 4, 2025. SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS
New York has just witnessed one of the most astonishing electoral victories in American political history. Zohran Mamdani, a socialist Democrat barely 34 years old and virtually unknown a year ago, won the mayoral race in the United States’s largest city, considered the financial capital of the world. With 50.4% of the vote, he finished well ahead of Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic governor of the state who ran as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
“The future is in our hands. My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” he declared to a crowd of supporters gathered at the Brooklyn Paramount. “We are breathing in the air of a city that has been reborn.” Mamdani made condemning the city’s political elites and denouncing the “billionaire who buys elections” a central theme of his campaign, which took on an anti-establishment tone.
His victory came during a triumphant night for the Democrats, who won the governors’ seats in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as the vote on redistricting in California. Virtually everywhere, Republicans lost ground compared to Donald Trump’s results just a year ago. Yet, amid this “blue wave,” Mamdani’s win stood out for its particular significance.
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