Zohran Mamdani clinches Democratic nomination for NYC mayor
Zohran Mamdani has officially won the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, certifying a stunning primary victory and setting up a competitive race to run America's largest city.
The New York City Board of Elections , showing Mamdani with 56% of the vote.
The 33-year-old Democratic socialist assemblyman from Queens, who is already being attacked by President Trump, will face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who opted to keep his name on the ballot as an independent, in the November general election.
Another independent has now also entered the race. Cuban-American biotech engineer Joseph Hernandez took a shot at Mamdani's socialist platform.
"I was born in Cuba, a country where socialism destroyed opportunity. My family lost everything," Hernandez said.
President Trump on Mamdani
The stage is now set for what could be one of the most unusual mayoral election the city has ever seen, because Mamdani will not only have to face off against a sitting mayor running as an independent and others who are hoping to offer a choice to his left-of-center politics, but also President Trump, who is dead set against him.
President Trump was asked Tuesday about what he would do if Mamdani defied ICE.
"Well, then we'll have to arrest him," Mr. Trump said.
The stunning remark provoked a response from Mamdani on social media.
"His statements don't just represent an attack on our democracy, but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: If you speak up, they will come for you," Mamdani wrote.
Mr. Trump said he hoped a Republican could beat Mamdani, or perhaps the sitting mayor could.
"You have a good independent running, Mayor Adams, who's a very good person," Mr. Trump said.
At an unrelated press conference on crime statistics, Adams ducked questions about the president, preferring to focus on the role of the mayor to let federal immigration agents do their job.
"And anyone that is an elected or not should never interfere with federal authorities carrying out their function," Adams said.
Mamdani says he's humbled
The primary results show Mamdani widened the gap with Cuomo after the ranked choice voting results were calculated.
"I am humbled by the support of more than 545,000 New Yorkers in last week's primary. This is just the beginning of our expanding coalition to make New York City affordable. And we will do it together," Mamdani after Tuesday's results were announced.
Cuomo also released a statement after the results were posted, thanking his supporters and saying, "We'll be continuing conversations with people from all across the city while determining next steps."
In addition to the mayor's race, the ranked choice voting results show Mark Levine winning the Democratic primary for New York City comptroller and Brad Hoylman-Sigal clinching the Democratic primary for Manhattan borough president.
Mamdani secures Democratic nomination
Ranked choice voting was needed to formally declare Mamdani the winner since no candidate reached an absolute majority in the first round. During that process, the candidate with the fewest votes was eliminated. Voters who ranked that candidate highest were reallocated to their top choice among those who remained.
Mamdani surged into the lead on election night, and ultimately declared victory, as first-choice votes were counted, though he did not surpass the 50% threshold needed to secure the Democratic nomination. Still, Cuomo, the primary's presumed frontrunner at the time, called to congratulate him on his victory less than 90 minutes after polls closed.
The assemblyman had 70,465 more votes than the ex-governor with an estimated 93% of the first choice votes counted.
The same process was used in the 2021 Democratic primary that went to Adams.
Mamdani promises rent freeze and free buses
Mamdani's signature campaign promises include a rent freeze on stabilize units; opening five city-owned grocery stores, one in each borough; free buses, and free child care for those 6 weeks to 5 years old.
He said he believes his proposals have broad appeal.
"You know, we won a number of neighborhoods that Donald Trump won," he said. "And yet, we won them by focusing on a message of affordability, because it is a message that binds all New Yorkers. And I've actually found that it's just as compelling to independents and Republicans as it is to Democrats."
Mamdani said he intends to fund the programs with a flat 2% tax on the city's top earners and by raising the corporate tax rate. Critics argue the mayor cannot raise taxes without support from the state, but Mamdani said he thinks he will have that if elected, even though Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will not raise income taxes.
"I'm already hearing from colleagues in the state Legislature, their excitement on delivering back to working people, and I know that there's a hunger for these very proposals," he said.
The general election
With Mamdani the Democrat, Sliwa the Republican and three independent candidates on the ballot, including Mayor Adams and former Gov. Cuomo, the 2025 NYC mayor's race is shaping up to be one of the most compelling citywide elections in quite some time.
A Honan Strategy Group general election poll showed Adams trailing Mamdani and Cuomo early in the race. These were the results:
- Mamdani (D) 39%
- Cuomo (I) 39%
- Adams (I) 13%
- Sliwa (R) 7%
- Jim Walden (I) 0%
Adams held a rally to officially launch his reelection campaign two days after the primary and immediately took aim at Mamdani's agenda.
"This is not a city where you use idealism to state you're giving everything to everyone for free. There's no dignity in someone giving you everything for free. There's dignity in giving you a job," he said. "So this is not a city of handouts. This is a city of hands up."
Cuomo did not pull his name off the ballot before the Board of Elections , but was mulling whether to actively campaign against Mamdani, Adams and Sliwa.
"The Democratic primary is always an interesting situation, right?" he told CBS News New York in an exclusive interview. "There are about 5 million voters in New York City. There are about 8 million people in New York City, and about 1 million people vote in the Democratic primary. So it's not necessarily representative of the city at large."
The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Ranked choice voting will not be used.
"I cannot predict what's going to happen in November, except one thing. New Yorkers are energized. New Yorkers are focused, and they're going to come in larger numbers than we've seen before," said J.C. Polanco, assistant professor at University of Mount Saint Vincent.
