Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo shockingly conceded the Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday night as dark-horse socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani surged to overtake the longtime frontrunner.
“Tonight is his night. He deserved it, he won,” a seemingly shell-shocked Cuomo, 67, said of the 33-year-old Queens assemblyman.
In a stunning upset, Mamdani defied polls and expectations as he notched a likely insurmountable 7-point lead over Cuomo, who hoped to make a political comeback after resigning in disgrace in 2021.
The first round of the ranked-choice voting contest had Mamdani ahead with 43.53% of votes, followed by Cuomo’s 36.3% and City Comptroller Brad Lander’s 11.41%, Board of Elections unofficial results show.
Mamdani carried roughly 424,000 votes to Cuomo’s 354,000, the results show.
The state lawmaker — elected in 2021 after a couple of stints on other local political campaigns — didn’t crack 50% of votes, so the contest will still be decided July 1 once the other rounds of ranked-choice votes are calculated.
But the first-round totals still put the avowed Democratic socialist within sight of becoming New York City’s next mayor.
Cuomo conceded he lost the primary as he addressed his campaign’s watch party — and signaled he may not run in the November general election on an independent line, as widely assumed.
“Tonight was not our night,” Cuomo said, as he praised Mamdani’s grassroots campaign, which mobilized young, far-left voters with catchy campaign promises and slogans focusing on affordability.
“It’s affordability, stupid,” quipped longtime New York City political operative Kevin McCabe, in a reference to Bill Clinton, about the issue that decided the race.
A win by Mamdani is bound to have sweeping impacts beyond the Big Apple and signal the rising power of the Democrats’ progressive wing, especially over aging party stalwarts such as Cuomo.
His near-insurmountable lead hints he could be replicating what his backer and fellow progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did in 2018, as she ran as a charismatic outsider to topple entrenched Democrat Joe Crowley — only he did it across the whole city, a political veteran told The Post.
Cuomo, a thrice-elected Democrat, could barely be seen actually on the campaign trail as he relied on his name recognition, backing of powerful unions and attacks against Mamdani’s thin legislative record and ample history of criticizing Israel.
“I think Andrew Cuomo has run one of the worst campaigns I’ve ever seen,” a Democratic source said before the primary.
Cuomo entered the race in March as the clear frontrunner, but saw his polling lead steadily chipped away by Mamdani, who waged a social media-friendly campaign heavy on proposed freebies — which he plans to pay for by hiking taxes on billionaires and businesses.
The source was baffled that Cuomo squandered a 40-point polling lead and millions of dollars raised, as well as only launched his field operation last week.
“You don’t do that so last minute, so you know where to double down,” the source said.
Billionaire former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his allies, along with a swath of business leaders, funneled money into Cuomo’s campaign and a powerful super PAC – Fix the City – that bombarded New Yorkers with anti-Mamdani ads in the runup to the primary.
Cuomo’s comeback was also imperiled by progressives urging voters to “Don’t Rank Evil Andrew” – or DREAM – on their ballots.
Even more moderate New Yorkers were wary about Cuomo – whose governorship was marked by bullying, cynical politicking and his utter inability to own up to mistakes, such as his handling of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic – and sought to elevate city Council Speaker Adrienne Adams instead.
But even if Cuomo carried massive baggage, many conservative and moderate Dems were more anxious about the rise of Mamdani, a vocal Israel critic whose socialist proposals would arguably drive away businesses and cost the city billions of dollars.
The sharpness of the divide between moderates and progressives – or intensity of opposition toward Cuomo and Mamdani – could very well sway the final results as ranked-choice voters are calculated.
For Cuomo to now win the primary, he would need to overcome a near-insurmountable lead by his rival in ranked-choice tabulations — as voters who picked City Comptroller Brad Lander likely ranked Mamdani as their second choice, meaning those votes would go to the Queens socialist.
While Cuomo remained cloistered and aloof from voters, Mamdani closed his campaign by walking the length of Manhattan and making chummy joint appearances with Lander, his cross-endorser.
He ran an energetic campaign that regularly churned out slick social media videos and distilled his message to easy-to-digest proposals like a rent freeze and free buses.
Younger voters who heavily skewed toward Mamdani came out in droves during early voting, while Cuomo appeared to bank on older voters turning up on Election Day itself.
But the weather didn’t cooperate as the hottest June day in New York City faced voters.
“Andrew may be a victim of heat stroke,” said Bill Cunningham, a former staffer for Cuomo.
For all the surprise, polls have shown Mamdani’s sunny campaign steadily gaining ground on Cuomo.
Mamdani’s positive polling prospects culminated in an Emerson College Polling/Pix 11/The Hill survey released Monday that showed him besting Cuomo after eight rounds of ranked-choice voting.
Mamdani still likely faces a tough general election in November. He’ll face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, along with Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and independent Jim Walden.
Follow The Post’s live blog for updates on Tuesday’s primary races
Cuomo is also expected to potentially run as an independent.
But the Democratic source said Cuomo’s potential independent general election run is likely dead on arrival.
“You can’t run a loser against a winner,” the source said.
Cuomo campaign adviser Frank Seddio, former chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, acknowledged the former governor’s camp didn’t envision this vote.
“I don’t believe we are winning this primary election,” he said, though he noted ranked-choice tabulations remain.
Seddio said Cuomo will run a the general election on the Fight & Deliver ballot line.
“We’re just transferring the race to the general election,” he told The Post.
Mamdani’s showing reignited hopes in Adams’ camp that the incumbent mayor can mount a comeback of his own after his mayoralty was imperiled by a federal corruption case.
Adams insiders believe the mayor carries a better chance for re-election against the socialist Mamdani than Cuomo.
“He can,” an insider said of Adams’ prospects. “But it will have to be a perfect effort. And Cuomo will have to bow out.”
— Additional reporting by Vaughn Golden and Hannah Fierick
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