Cuomo Concedes To Mamdani In Seismic NYC Mayoral Primary Upset
In a shocking upset, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo conceded defeat in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary to state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist from Queens.
Mamdani captured 43.5% of the first-place votes in the ranked-choice contest late Tuesday night with 92% of the precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press. Cuomo trailed with 36.4% of the vote, while Comptroller Brad Lander — who cross-endorsed Mamdani — had garnered 11.3%.
“Tonight is his night,” Cuomo told supporters two hours after the polls closed, the AP reported. “He deserved it. He won.”
Cuomo raised millions of dollars from the real estate industry, many of whom view a Mamdani mayoralty as an existential threat. Among the developers who gave six figures to the super PAC supporting his campaign were RXR Realty CEO Scott Rechler, SL Green CEO Marc Holliday and Vornado Realty Trust CEO Steven Roth.
Mamdani has vowed to freeze rent increases on the city's 1 million stabilized apartments and increase taxes on wealthy New Yorkers to pay for free buses and childcare. He has also proposed to build 200,000 units of permanently affordable social housing and would borrow $70B to cover the cost.
Landlord groups have strongly opposed his proposals — the New York Apartment Association sent out a press release on Tuesday blasting Mamdani's "freeze-the-rent" slogan as illegal.
“Promising to force the Board to freeze rents before reviewing a shred of evidence isn’t leadership, it’s blatant abuse of process and the law,” NYAA CEO Kenny Burgos said in a statement.
But Mamdani's message resonated with young voters living in a city where apartment rents have set new record highs every month since March. Despite being a relative unknown when he announced his candidacy last year, he closed the gap with Cuomo in recent months behind an army of volunteers and slick social media videos.
“We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford,” Mamdani told supporters in the early hours of Wednesday morning. “Where eight hours on the factory floor or behind the wheel of a cab is enough to pay the mortgage, it is enough to keep the lights on, it is enough to send your kid to school. Where rent stabilized apartments are actually stabilized.”
If elected in November, Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, would be the city's first Muslim mayor. He has drawn accusations of antisemitism for his vocal defense of Palestinian human rights and criticism of the Israeli government, but has said he would increase anti-hate crime funding.
Mayor Eric Adams declined to run in the Democratic primary after his administration became engulfed in scandal following bribery charges last year and the Trump administration — which is deeply unpopular in New York — dropping the case in February.
Adams, who has also had deep support from the real estate industry and has championed policies to incentivize development, will run as an independent in the fall.
Cuomo hasn't ruled out doing the same.
