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Democratic Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has won New York City’s mayoral race, NBC News projects, defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in a stunning victory that cements him as one of the most prominent progressive figures in the country.
Mamdani, 34, a democratic socialist representing Queens, overcame enormous odds — including backlash from President Donald Trump, Republican leaders, and centrist Democrats — to claim the top job in America’s largest city. His victory makes him New York’s first Muslim mayor and one of the most prominent left-wing politicians ever elected to lead a major U.S. city.
“This was never destiny — it was determination,” Mamdani told a jubilant crowd in Astoria on election night. “We built a movement from nothing but belief — belief that New York could once again belong to the people who make it run.”
From outsider to City Hall power broker
Barely a year ago, Mamdani was a relatively unknown state legislator polling at 1%. His campaign gained traction with an ambitious platform centered on housing affordability, public transit, and child care, including proposals to freeze rent on rent-stabilized units, launch a free citywide bus program, and establish city-run grocery stores.
Mamdani’s victory caps a meteoric rise through New York politics, made even more dramatic by his repeated defeats of Andrew Cuomo, first in the Democratic primary and then again in the general election. Cuomo, who entered the race as a third-party candidate after losing the primary, was endorsed late in the race by outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped his own re-election bid in September.
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, finished a distant third.
A race shaped by ideology and identity
The campaign became one of the most ideologically charged in modern New York history. Mamdani’s pro-Palestinian activism and unapologetic democratic socialist platform drew intense national scrutiny and divided Democrats along generational and ideological lines.
In the final weeks, Cuomo called Mamdani a “divisive force in New York,” while Mamdani accused Cuomo of being “Donald Trump’s puppet.” Trump himself endorsed Cuomo on the eve of the election, arguing that Sliwa’s continued candidacy split the conservative vote — a claim bolstered by NBC News exit polling, which found that 61% of Republican voters backed Cuomo, compared with 35% for Sliwa.
The exit polls also showed that Mamdani won across racial demographics, including white, Black, Latino, and Asian voters, while younger voters and newer residents were key to his landslide margin. Voters under 45 backed him by 43 points, while older voters favored Cuomo by 10.
However, Jewish voters broke sharply for Cuomo, with 60% supporting him to Mamdani’s 31%, reflecting the deep divisions over Mamdani’s stance on the Gaza war.
National reverberations and the path ahead
Mamdani’s victory will likely send shockwaves across national politics. For progressives, it represents proof that left-wing economic populism can resonate in major cities even amid fierce opposition. For moderates and Republicans, it offers new ammunition to paint Democrats as dominated by their socialist wing.
He will now face the challenge of turning campaign ideals into policy, while managing relationships with Albany lawmakers and a City Council wary of his agenda.
At his final campaign rally — joined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders — Mamdani urged New Yorkers to reject “the politics of fear.”
“They tried to make this race about my faith,” he said, “but this campaign has always been about your rent, your commute, your kids’ future.”
As fireworks lit up the Queens skyline Tuesday night, supporters chanted, “Our city, our future.” Mamdani, smiling through the noise, raised his fist and said, “Let’s get to work.”
