Moderate Black voters and young progressives favored Zohran Mamdani for mayor, while Andrew Cuomo won many wealthy New Yorkers and those who voted for Donald Trump.
Zohran Mamdani’s landmark victory in the New York City mayor’s race was powered by an unconventional coalition of traditional Democratic voting blocs and newer voters. Whether motivated by party loyalty or the candidate’s message, more than one million New Yorkers cast ballots for him — part of the highest turnout in a mayoral election in more than 60 years.
In his nine-point win, Mr. Mamdani largely expanded on the base he built during the primary in neighborhoods across the city. He swept communities of every income level, save for New York’s wealthiest enclaves, where his top opponent, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, performed best. In the city’s bluest districts, Mr. Mamdani ran up the score with high turnout that overwhelmingly favored him.
Mr. Cuomo performed strongly in some of the city’s more conservative corners and did well with the voters who supported President Trump last November.
Mr. Mamdani’s success with different voting groups — from older, moderate Black voters to young white progressives — highlighted the breadth of his coalition. Taken together, the results underline how New York City’s diverse, unruly and often competing interest groups coalesced into a novel voting bloc that could offer national Democrats a road map for future competitive elections.
Though New York’s politics tend to sit to the left of the rest of the country’s, the city’s Democrats, when given the choice between a moderate, well-known establishment candidate and a left-leaning political newcomer, opted for change.
Mr. Mamdani’s performance and his ability to turn out voters could now reshape the politics of the city for a generation. Here are the demographic trends that contributed to his win on Nov. 4:
Young voters turned out in droves.
The people-powered machine that galvanized millennials and Gen Zers for Mr. Mamdani during the primary delivered again last Tuesday. In precincts where the median age is under 45, his average margin of victory was 30 points — among the highest of any demographic group.
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Maya King is a Times reporter covering New York politics.
Jeff Adelson is a reporter on The Times’s data journalism team who specializes in using demographic data to explore social trends, population dynamics and the effects of policy.
Alex Lemonides is a data journalist at The Times, working on a team that analyzes election results and conducts political polls.
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