On Tuesday, June 24th, Democratic Socialist Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, shocked the city’s political class, finishing first in the Democratic Mayoral Primary’s initial ranked-choice count. On July 1st, the final ranked-choice voting results were released, showing Mamdani handily defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was considered to be the frontrunner, 56% to 44%.
Mamdani credited his win to a “politics of the future” coalition that paired young, left-leaning voters in brownstone Brooklyn and Manhattan with Asian- and Latino-majority neighborhoods in Queens. Mamdani campaigned on fare-free buses, a citywide rent freeze, and higher taxes on top earners—priorities likely to shape his general election campaign and potential City budget proposals. Cuomo held pockets of strength in Southeast Queens, the Bronx, and Orthodox communities. He had stressed law and order issues as well as his experience as a former governor and cabinet secretary.
Despite suffering a crushing defeat, Cuomo announced on July 14th that he would continue his campaign as an independent. In his video announcement, Cuomo said that withdrawing from the race would guarantee Mamdani’s victory and hand New York City to the far left.
As of now, Cuomo is not Mamdani’s only challenger in the General Election. Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, running as an independent, Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, and Jim Walden, an independent, are all pushing to be New York City’s next leader. Cuomo also put forth a proposal that, by mid-September, all candidates who are not the highest polling challenger to Mamdani should drop out, himself included, so that the four candidates do not split the vote and essentially hand Mamdani the win.
A Data for Progress poll released July 14th showed Mamdani leading the pack with 40% of respondents marking the Assemblymember as their choice for Mayor. Andrew Cuomo came in second with 24% followed by Mayor Adams with 15%, Sliwa with 14% and Walden in a distant fifth with 1%. Of those polled, 5% said they are still unsure who they will vote for in the general election.