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It was never in doubt following his stunning victory last week, but Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday was officially declared the winner of New York City’s Democratic Party primary for mayor.
But the big question remains: Will the 33-year-old democratic socialist from Queens — who defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — face Cuomo again in November’s general election?
The New York City Board of Elections posted the official results of three rounds of the ranked choice voting from last week’s mayoral primary, and Mamdani grabbed a majority in the third round, with 56% of the vote.
Cuomo, the three-term governor who resigned from office in 2021 amid multiple scandals and who was aiming for a political comeback, won 44% of the vote. Cuomo was the frontrunner in the mayoral primary race for months until Mamdani closed the gap in the closing weeks of the campaign.
MAMDANI’S POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE ROCKS DEMOCRATS
With his victory over Cuomo and nine other candidates – officially called by the Associated Press – Mamdani is now one major step closer to becoming the first Muslim mayor of the nation’s most populous city.
Mamdani, whose showing last week sent political shock waves across the nation, grabbed more than 545,000 votes, the highest total for a New York City Democratic mayoral primary winner in nearly four decades. And more than 1 million ballots were cast in the primary, the largest total since 1989.
“I am humbled by the support,” Mamdani wrote in a social media post. And he vowed: “This is just the beginning of our expanding coalition to make New York City affordable. And we will do it together.”
REPUBLICANS USE MAMDANI BOMBSHELL VICTORY OVER CUOMO AS AMMUNITION TO BLAST DEMOCRATS AS EXTREMISTS
Mamdani is now considered the favorite in the general election in heavily blue New York City, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by roughly a six-to-one margin.
He will face off in November against incumbent Mayor Eric Adams – a Democrat who’s running for re-election as an independent after his poll numbers plummeted.
Adams’ poll numbers were sinking even before he was indicted last year on five counts, which accused the mayor of bribery and fraud as part of an alleged “long-running” scheme to personally profit from contacts with foreign officials.
The mayor made repeated overtures to President Donald Trump, and the Justice Department earlier this year dismissed the corruption charges, so Adams could potentially work with the Trump administration on its illegal immigration crackdown.
CUOMO STAYING IN NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL RACE, FOR NOW
Also on the ballot is Republican Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the volunteer crime-fighting patrols known as the Guardian Angels. Sliwa is the GOP nominee for a second straight election cycle. Also running this November as an independent is former federal prosecutor Jim Walden.
While he acknowledged Mamdani’s victory on primary night, Cuomo left the door open for running as an independent candidate, which election rules in New York State permit.
And Cuomo let a deadline pass last week for candidates who had already qualified to run as independents to decline that independent ballot line.
But sources told Fox News last week that Cuomo had not committed yet to running an active general election campaign through the summer and into the fall.
If Cuomo drops out of the race at a later date, his name will stay on the general election ballot.
Cuomo campaign senior advisor Rich Azzopardi, in an apparent jab at Mamdani, said in a statement Tuesday that “Extremism, division and empty promises are not the answer to this city’s problems, and while this was a look at what motivates a slice of our primary electorate, it does not represent the majority. The financial instability of our families is the priority here, which is why actionable solutions, results and outcomes matter so much.”
“We’ll be continuing conversations with people from all across the city while determining next steps,” Azzopardi added.
Mamdani surged to a primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living.
Endorsements by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive rock star and New York City’s most prominent leader on the left, and by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the progressive champion and two-time Democratic presidential nominee runner-up, helped Mamdani consolidate support on the left.
WHAT MAMDANI’S STUNNING PRIMARY VICTORY MEANS FOR DEMOCRATS NATIONWIDE
Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores.
And Mamdani, thanks in part to the efforts of a massive grassroots army of volunteers, rode a wave of support from younger and progressive voters to catapult himself into first place.
Azzopardi, in his statement on Tuesday, acknowledged that “this primary saw a massive spike in voters under 30, and those who had never voted before – completely changing the overall electorate, which is why no poll or model predicted the outcome – an outcome which was also felt in council races citywide.”
Mamdani’s stunning victory last week has reignited long-standing debates within the Democratic Party between its more moderate and progressive wings, and between outsiders and the establishment.
And it’s reignited the debate over whether the party’s policy, or messaging, was to blame for last November’s election setbacks, when Democrats lost control of the White House and Senate, and failed to win back the House majority.
In New York, top Democratic Party leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, have praised Mamdani’s campaign. But they have refrained, as of now, from endorsing the mayoral nominee.
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