New Yorkers elected their first socialist mayor Tuesday, handing far-left Democrat Zohran Mamdani a historic victory — as he claimed a mandate for his potentially budget-busting progressive agenda and all but declared war on President Trump.
The Associated Press and NY1 called the race for the 34-year-old Mamdani about 40 minutes after polls closed at 9 p.m., eliciting cheers from his supporters at his campaign’s Brooklyn watch party.
“New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city that we can afford and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that,” he said, taking the stage after 11 p.m.
He then taunted Trump, prompting cheers from the fired-up crowd.
“So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, carried 50.4% of votes to independent candidate Andrew Cuomo’s 42% at midnight, with nearly 98% of precincts reporting, the city Board of Elections said. GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa came in third with a rock-bottom 7.1%.
The Uganda-born Mamdani will be the Big Apple’s first Muslim, first South Asian and first socialist mayor, as well as one of the youngest.
“My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” Mamdani said in his 20-minute address.
“I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in his private life but that [will be] the final time I utter his name.”
The state assemblyman’s rise from dark-horse candidate laser-focused on affordability to ascendant mayor-elect came despite concerns over his youth and inexperience and his “Tax the rich” platform that business elites warned would harm the city.
Mamdani, a proud Democratic Socialists of America member, also faced repeated questions over his past anti-police stance and accusations of antisemitism for his fierce, long-running criticism of Israel.
His stunning win capped an explosive campaign that exposed rifts in the Democratic Party and drew widespread attention, including from Trump — who issued an election-eve endorsement of Cuomo and threatened to withhold federal funds from New York City if Mamdani won.
“…AND SO IT BEGINS!” Trump posted on Truth Social during Mamdani’s victory speech.
The election’s high stakes inspired a stunning 2 million New Yorkers to cast ballots — the biggest turnout since 1969, preliminary results show.
Mamdani appeared poised to capture at least 50% of the vote, and the ability to claim a mandate from the majority of New Yorkers.
But Cuomo — the former three-term Democratic governor who spent $12 million on his campaign and was buoyed by $55 million from supportive super PACs — argued that the New Yorkers who didn’t vote for Mamdani shouldn’t be left behind.
“This campaign was the right fight to wage,” he said in his concession speech. “It’s also important to note that almost half of New Yorkers did vote to support a government agenda that makes promises that we know cannot be met.”
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The loss dashed Cuomo’s hopes of a political comeback after he resigned the governorship in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal. The ex-gov’s supporters started ditching his campaign’s watch party at Manhattan’s Ziegfeld Ballroom before he even took the stage to speak, with those remaining chanting “Shame on Sliwa” — a dig at the Guardian Angels founder’s alleged spoiler status in the race.
Sliwa conceded the race around 9:20 p.m. with tears in his eyes as results showed him not cracking 10% support — and issued a stern warning about socialism.
“Let me warn the new leader, if you try to implement socialism, if you try to render our police weak and impotent, if you forsake the people’s public safety, we’re not only organizing, but we are mobilizing,” he said.
The victory also inspired grief among some Jewish activists, who were fearful about a harsh critic of Israel becoming mayor.
“New Yorkers have spoken … We recognize that voters are animated by a range of issues, but we cannot ignore that the Mayor-elect holds core beliefs fundamentally at odds with our community’s deepest convictions and most cherished values,” the prominent UJA Federation said in a statement.
The unusual election was the city’s first contest among a trio of viable contenders since 1969, when Republican John Lindsay won in a three-way race.
The general election field briefly had five candidates, as Cuomo opted to run as an independent alongside scandal-scarred incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and longshot contender Jim Walden. But the field narrowed as Walden withdrew and Adams — after a weeks-long melodrama in which the White House tried to entice him to drop out — eventually ditched his re-election bid.
The three-way race among Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa turned caustic as the trio battled over the future of New York City.
Cuomo hammered the public with dire, gloom-and-doom warnings about Mamdani’s lack of executive experience and thin resume, as well as trying to poke holes in the lefty darling’s $10 billion in pie-in-the-sky proposals.
Mamdani relentlessly focused on his affordability mantra as he avoided coughing up details in two bruising debates with Cuomo and Sliwa — and fielded a barrage of criticism over his anti-Israel, pro-socialism and cop-bashing stances.
The aloof Cuomo — who more than resurrected his 1980s nickname “The Prince of Darkness” with his relentless attacks — seemingly failed to offer a compelling vision for voters, who rebuked him at the ballot box.
In the last days of the heated race, Cuomo scored an endorsement from Adams, and begrudging support from many Republicans, including US Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) from the Hudson Valley, who called him the “lesser of two evils.”
Mamdani spent the race’s final days in the full sprint that defined his campaign from the beginning, hitting the pavement across the city.
Cuomo joined the packed Democratic primary in March, but saw his front-runner status chipped away by Mamdani, who had announced his candidacy in October 2024 as a near-unknown.
Mamdani, who was first elected to the state Legislature in 2020, steadily amassed an enthusiastic cadre of supporters electrified by his personable social media videos and easy-to-digest campaign planks of free buses, universal child care, a rent freeze and city-owned grocery stores.
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His historic primary victory in June amounted to a “political earthquake,” signaling the growing strength of progressives and young voters within the Democratic Party — and with aftershocks across the nation.
The Mamdani-aligned Democratic Socialists of America chapter in New York City crystallized the left’s political shift with a victorious Instagram post blaring: “SOCIALISM WINS.”
“The job’s not done, and we’re not going to rest on our laurels,” the post read. “We’re going to mobilize our historic volunteer army to win Zohran’s agenda here in the city and elect working class champions at every level of government.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton likened the rise of Mamdani to that of former President Barack Obama.
“Not since the election of Barack Obama in 2008 have voters been this energized or hopeful about a candidate,” he said Tuesday night.
But the prospect of the nation’s largest city being led by an unapologetic socialist — who vowed to “tax the rich” to pay for his $10 billion agenda – also sent business bigwigs into a full-blown meltdown even before his win.
Republicans such as Trump, who belittled Mamdani as “my little Communist,” alternately salivated over using the socialist’s win as a cudgel against Democrats and plotted to thwart his election.
Mamdani struggled to gain support from many establishment Dems in New York and beyond squeamish about anointing a far-left pol as the future of the party.
He eventually landed late-in-the-game endorsements from Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as well as Obama refused to the end.
Mamdani’s grand plans all face an uncertain future in Albany, where Hochul and lawmakers have the final say.
Hochul has pointedly refused to consider raising taxes, while Mamdani boosters state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) signaled they’ll work with him to enact his sweeping socialist agenda.
Mamdani, who will be sworn in as mayor at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 1, will be the first immigrant to serve as the city’s leader since Abe Beame was elected in 1974.
He also will take the crown as the second-youngest mayor in the city’s history, bumping the “Boy Mayor” John Purroy Mitchel, who was just three months older than Mamdani when he was sworn in at 34 in 1914.
The absolute youngest “hizzoner” was Hugh J. Grant, who took the oath as mayor at age 31 on Jan. 1, 1889.
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