UPDATED: Zohran Mamdani held a solid lead over Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary race for New York mayor, signaling a major upset by a political unknown against the state’s former governor.
Mamdani led Cuomo by nearly eight percentage points, with more than 90% of the vote counted on Tuesday evening, according to the AP.
“Tonight was not our night; tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night,” Cuomo told his supporters, conceding that his rival had “won.” He credited Mamdani with running “a really smart and good and impactful campaign.”
Mamdani, a Democratic socialist and state assemblyman, has run a campaign focused on affordability, proposing things such as a rent freeze and city owned grocery stores. But he put a big emphasis on social media and a heavy slate of media appearances, contrasting himself with the Democratic establishment.
“Tonight, we made history,” Mamdani told supporters. “In the words of Nelson Mandela, it always seems impossible until it is done.” Joining him were his wife and parents, including his mother, director Mira Nair.
Cuomo was seeking a political comeback in the race, having resigned as governor in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations. But he had been the favorite in the race, despite the scandal, in a city in which its current mayor, Eric Adams, has had a turbulent run that included a federal criminal indictment.
The winner of the primary likely will not be official until next week, as the city has ranked choice voting, triggered if no candidate passes the 50% threshold.
In third place was Brad Lander, the New York city comptroller, who was arrested earlier this month as he protested at an immigration court, where federal agents were attempting to detain an immigrant. Lander told supporters that, after the ranked choice results were tabulated, Mamdani would be the Democratic nominee.
The victor will face off in the November general elections. Adams is running as an independent, and Curtis Sliwa was running uncontested in the Republican primary. Cuomo, meanwhile, said that “we’re going to take a look; we’ll make some decisions.” He had announced that he planned to run as an independent in November under the banner of the Fight and Deliver Party/ Cuomo said that it would be “to appeal to disillusioned Democrats, as well as to independents and Republicans.”
Mamdani had endorsements from progressive figures including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), while Cuomo had the backing of former President Bill Clinton and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
