New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a campaign rally at Forest Hills Stadium on October 26, 2025 in the Queens Borough of New York.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
Zohran MamdaniThe self-described democratic socialist will win the New York City mayor’s race, NBC News projected Tuesday night.
Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic state assemblyman, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomowho led the independent and republican candidacy Curtis sliwa.
The city’s election commission said more than 2 million votes were cast in the contest, the first time since 1969 that number has been cast.
“Today we spoke with an open voice: Hope is alive,” Mamdani told fans in his victory speech.
“In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light,” he said.
Mamdani, the first Muslim city mayor to be elected, storm-scarred mayor Erik-Adamdar Erikat Erikat, a Democrat, will contest the polls as an independent candidate in September.
Going into election night, the residents of Queens Mamdani were clear favorites. It was a far cry from June, when he shocked the political world by abandoning the democratic-electoral-old.
President Donald TrumpWithin a few months, he opposed Mamdani and incorrectly called him a “communist”.
Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal funds from the city if Mamdani wins, endorsed Cuomo on Monday.
Mamdani, a native of Uganda who became a U.S. citizen in 2018, has become obsessed with renting out urban residents, chartering free public buses and creating urban grocery stores.
His platform and political outlook alienated the city’s billionaires and other business interests from anti-Mamdani political action committees. More than 40 million dollars opposing his nomination and reverse Cuomo.
Cuomo, who previously served as the US secretary of state for housing and urban development as well as the New York state attorney general, resigned in August 2020 after allegations of sexual assault as governor.
Mario Cuomo’s father Mario Cuomo Cuomo, a three-term governor, denied the fine.
His campaign platform calls for increasing the size of the city’s police department, Place more officers in the city’s subways, create affordable housing and reduce school class sizes.
The former radio host, 71, in his second campaign for mayor, has championed public safety and called for the hiring of 7,000 more police officers.
People have been independent after the Democratic Party held its primary.
Adams’ “popular approval ratings ended in 2024 after he was indicted on federal corruption charges, the latest federal corruption charges, and he was later removed from the Justice Department after returning to the White House.
People endorsed Cuomo last month, which he recently called “The Serpent and the Liar.”
Since the release of the humans, Sliwa has grown stronger Cuomo’s exit pressure to boost his chances against Mamdani.
Among those calling for Silva’s ouster are his Republicans, Trump, who has repeatedly and incorrectly claimed that Mamdani “Communist.“