Zohran Mamdani delivered a political earthquake Tuesday in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, riding progressive demands for change in a city facing an affordability crisis to the brink of a stunning victory.
Democratic voters rejected a scandal-plagued icon of the party’s past, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Instead, they backed a 33-year-old democratic socialist who energized young voters and progressives with a campaign that could come to represent the first draft of a new playbook.
“I will fight for a city that works for you, that is affordable for you, that is safe for you,” Mamdani said in his celebratory speech just after midnight.
“We can be free and we can be fed. We can demand what we deserve,” he said.
Mamdani’s viral, go-anywhere, talk-to-anyone style of campaigning could send shockwaves through the Democratic Party nationally as its leaders and incumbents face calls from frustrated voters for authenticity and aggressiveness. Republicans, meanwhile, moved immediately to elevate Mamdani, seeing an opportunity to campaign against ideas they see as unpopular with swing voters nationally.
The formal outcome won’t be known until at least July 1, when New York City releases the initial ranked-choice results. But Mamdani held a clear lead Tuesday night, and Cuomo told supporters he had called Mamdani and conceded the primary.
“Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won,” Cuomo said.
Writing a new playbook
Mamdani’s upstart campaign had a lot to overcome — Cuomo’s universal name recognition, massive financial backing, endorsements from party leaders and unions — and he acted like it.
Some of his Democratic rivals portrayed his positions as pie-in-the-sky and impossible to pay for. Mamdani, though, sold his ideas as making life in the city easier to afford, building his campaign around an issue that ranks among the biggest reasons Democrats lost in the 2024 election.
He sat for interviews with people that disagreed with him. He engaged in cross-endorsements with rivals, encouraging supporters to rank them highly as well on their ranked-choice ballots. He campaigned aggressively, including walking the length of Manhattan on Friday.
“New Yorkers deserve a Mayor they can see, hear, even yell at. The city is in the streets,” Mamdani said on X.
Dan Pfeiffer, a former top aide to President Barack Obama, said on X that Democrats “have a lot to learn” from Mamdani.
“What’s happening in NYC is a blaringly loud message to those in the Dem establishment who still cling to old politics, recite focus-grouped talking points, and are too afraid to say what needs to be said,” he said.
GOP anoints a ‘new face’ of the Democratic Party
Republicans were also thrilled with Mamdani’s performance. The House GOP’s campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, issued a press release declaring Mamdani “the new face” of the Democratic Party.
“Every vulnerable House Democrat will own him, and every Democrat running in a primary will fear him,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said.
Mamdani faced attacks from pro-Cuomo forces in the primary over what his opponents described as antisemitic comments, flagging Mamdani’s sharp criticism of Israel and his defense of the phrase “globalize the intifada.”
He also ran on progressive positions — including freezing rents, offering free public transit, launching city-run grocery stores and more — that Republicans are certain to use to portray Democrats as extreme, much like they have with previous progressive proposals like the “Green New Deal.”
Those attacks are unlikely to help the GOP in the mayoral race in New York City, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans almost by about a six-to-one margin. But New York is home to a number of competitive House seats where the GOP could seek to put Democratic nominees on the defensive over Mamdani’s positions.
Broader Democratic implications
It’s too soon to sort through everything Mamdani’s performance means for the Democratic Party. But it did offer a glimpse at where the party is on some key issues and who within it holds sway with voters.
Mamdani, who would become the city’s first Muslim mayor if he wins in November, was a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and didn’t back down despite being criticized as antisemitic, a charge he repeatedly denied. He defended his views in an interview with CBS’ Stephen Colbert in which he also acknowledged the fears Jewish people have faced since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel.
“There’s no room for violence in this city, in this country, in this world. And what I have found also, for many New Yorkers, is an ability to navigate disagreement,” he told Colbert.
He also demonstrated the influence of progressive New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Mamdani. Other New York Democratic leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and its two senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, remained publicly neutral.
The results similarly laid bare the ineffectiveness of Cuomo’s effort — one backed by establishment Democratic forces that blanketed television airwaves but couldn’t match the organic groundswell of a state assemblyman who started the race with little public profile.
“Billionaires and lobbyists poured millions against you and our public finance system,” Ocasio-Cortez said of Mamdani on X. “And you won.”
Cuomo’s humiliation
Cuomo had wanted a second act.
The 67-year-old scion of one of New York’s most prominent political families was forced out of the governor’s office in 2021 amid a cloud of scandal — faced with allegations of sexual harassment that he denied and a report that his administration had covered up nursing home deaths during the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor and the state’s two senators stayed on the sidelines. But Cuomo’s campaign was backed by many prominent New York Democrats and groups, including unions and elected officials who had criticized him four years ago but — seeing his lead in the polls — issued devil-we-know statements this year endorsing him.
Though ranked-choice ballots need to be counted next week, Cuomo acknowledged the reality he faced on stage Tuesday, telling supporters he had called and congratulated Mamdani.
“Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night, and he put together a great campaign. And he touched young people, and inspired them, and moved them, and got them to come out and vote. And he really ran a highly impactful campaign. I called him, I congratulated him. I applaud him sincerely for his effort, and let’s give him a round of applause and thank him for his campaign,” Cuomo said.
His former political rivals, meanwhile, gloated over Cuomo’s apparent failure.
“Zohran ran a positive campaign talking about affordability. Cuomo ran a very negative, fear-based campaign. That just made a huge difference,” former Mayor Bill de Blasio said on CNN.
Democratic victory is no sure thing
In overwhelmingly Democratic New York City, a victorious Mamdani would ordinarily become the clear front-runner in November’s general election. But he instead faces a competitive race with much different contours.
First-term Mayor Eric Adams, who was elected as a Democrat four years ago, is seeking reelection as an independent.
Adams’ break from the party came as he faced backlash after President Donald Trump’s Justice Department dropped its corruption charges against Adams, and Adams has cooperated with federal authorities to enforce Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
“What NYC deserves is a mayor who’s proud to run on his record – not one who ran from his record, or one who has no record,” Adams posted on X Tuesday night. “We deserve a mayor who will keep driving down crime, support our police, fight antisemitism, and stand up for working-class New Yorkers.”
Republican Curtis Sliwa was unopposed in the primary and will be the GOP nominee.
And neither Cuomo nor Mamdani had ruled out the possibility of running in November on another party’s ballot line if they lost the Democratic contest — Cuomo as the nominee of the newly created Fight and Deliver Party, or Mamdani as the nominee of the Working Families Party.
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