The Daily Populous Wednesday June 25th, 2025 day edition
Authored by thecity.nyc and submitted by plz-let-me-in

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani is on track to secure the Democratic nomination for mayor, after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo conceded to him Tuesday night following the first round of ranked-choice primary votes.

The early upset in the mayoral race was remarkable.

The 33-year-old Democratic socialist rallied new and young voters to his cause and launched a ground game that outmatched the field. Mamdani took the lead against the 67-year-old former governor, who resigned in disgrace after multiple accusations of sexual harassment yet enjoyed outsize name recognition and more than triple the money spent on his behalf.

With 95% of precincts reporting two hours after polls closed at 9 p.m., 44% ranked Mamdani as their first choice while 36% chose Cuomo first and 11% had city Comptroller Brad Lander.

Mamdani emerged to raucus applause at his election party on a brewery rooftop in Long Island City, about 20 minutes after midnight.

“Today, eight months after launching this campaign with the vision of a city that every New Yorker could afford, we have won,” he said. “I will be the mayor for every New Yorker, whether you voted for me, for Gov. Cuomo or felt too disillusioned by a long, broken political system to vote at all. I will fight for a city that works for you, that is affordable for you, that is safe for you.”

Zohran Mamdani supporters at a Long Island City rooftop bar were delirious after his commanding win in the Democratic mayoral primary, June 24, 2025. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY

In this ranked-choice primary election, Lander cross-endorsed Mamdani as his number-two pick, meaning that many voters who selected Lander are likely to send additional votes to Mamdani in the final tally.

“Together, we are sending Andrew Cuomo back to the suburbs,” Lander cheered at his election night party.

Cuomo has already petitioned to be on the general election ballot in November, running on an independent line, as has incumbent mayor Eric Adams.

Inside the sprawling, bright-white Carpenters Union headquarters on the west side of Manhattan, Cuomo appeared on stage without notice.

“I want to applaud the Assemblyman for a really smart and good and impactful campaign. Tonight was his night. He deserved it. He won,” Cuomo said, flanked by his three daughters and his son-in-law.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo congratulates rival Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani after finishing second in the first round of voting in the Democratic mayoral primary, June 24, 2025. Credit: Katie Honan/THE CITY

He added that he’d already called Mamdani to congratulate him.

Official, full results from all the rounds won’t be available until mid-July.

Mamdani began primary day with a 5:40 a.m. press conference in Astoria Park, before meeting with voters in Jackson Heights.

“We are approaching the dawn of a new era in New York City,” Mamdani said. “We are turning the page on the corrupt politics of the past that made this the most expensive city in the United States of America.”

As the results trickled in in the evening, his key supporters gathered at a brewery in Long Island City while a majority of his canvassers were spread out elsewhere, at watch parties hosted by other organizations.

The mood was celebratory and supporters reveled in the news.

“I am in a little bit of a state of disbelief,” said Gabbi Zutrau, who worked on social media strategy for the campaign.

“It is such a historic moment for us as Muslims, as South Asians, as immigrants, as New Yorkers,” said Saman Waquad, president of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. “The way Zohran has brought people together in this campaign has been so incredibly beautiful.”

Janos Marton, a one-time candidate for Manhattan district attorney who canvassed for Mamdani, said, “It was clear that he was bringing new people in — South Asians, Muslims, young people — and that was true on Staten Island, where I live, and I guess it was across the city too.”

Other candidates significantly lagged in the first-round results. Former Comptroller Scott Stringer conceded shortly after polls closed, while City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams received about 4% of the vote.

Zellnor Myrie, Michael Blake, Whitney Tilson, Jessica Ramos, Paperboy Prince and Selma Bartholomew each received less than 1% of the vote.

In other citywide races, incumbent Public Advocate Jumaane Williams defended his seat against Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. In the race for city comptroller, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine maintained a significant lead over Brooklyn Councilmember Justin Brannan, who conceded the race late Tuesday evening.

Tuesday night’s results only included votes made in person at polling sites, plus any early mail or absentee ballots that the election board received and scanned by Jun. 20. The BOE processes affidavit ballots after polls close.

The official winners of the primary won’t be known until at least July 1, when the Board of Elections will release a preliminary tabulation of ranked choice ballots — which will run through every ranked-choice decision on the more than 900,000 ballots cast in the Democratic and Republican primaries. Official certified results will follow.

One reason for the built-in delay: the board returns absentee ballots with minor errors to voters so that they can fix any issues such as unsigned envelopes. Voters must send those absentee ballots back by July 14 in order for them to be included in the official count.

Mamdani’s victory over the former governor was striking.

Cuomo emerged as an early frontrunner despite his Rose Garden campaign strategy and not having lived in New York City in decades. His campaign paid canvassers to fan across the city, while an independent expenditure group, Fix the City, amassed more than $25 million to unleash a barrage of attacks on Mamdani.

Cuomo consistently cast himself as an experienced leader best poised to fight against the Trump administration and correct what he described as a city in crisis.

Mamdani, who is in his third terms in the state Assembly, spread his message through infectious social media posts and an army of 50,000 volunteers who the campaign said knocked on a million doors across the city.

Among his promises: to make buses free, freeze rent on stabilized apartments and create city-run grocery stores in food deserts.

Mamdani and Lander formally co-endorsed one another as a strategy to leverage the ranked-choice primary — even appearing together on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Monday night.

Lander, though trailing behind Mamdani and Cuomo, saw his profile rise after ICE officers arrested him last week while he was escorting immigrants leaving routine hearings at federal court.

The Working Families Party had endorsed a Democratic slate with Mamdani and Lander at the top.

Their third candidate, Adrienne Adams, addressed supporters in Southeast Queens Tuesday night, saying: “We made people stand up and take note who this campaign was and why we were here and made people realize there really is somebody in this race that really does care about me.”

Brooklyn, Manhattan and The Bronx saw competitive races for the role of Borough President.

Incumbent Vanessa Gibson defeated City Councilmember Rafael Salamanca, who is term limited, while in Brooklyn, incumbent Borough President Antonio Reynoso also held on to his seat, heading off challenger Khari Edwards, an executive at a cannabis company.

In the race for Manhattan Borough President state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal came out on top against Councilmember Keith Powers.

Both Brooklyn and Manhattan also had races for district attorney, with incumbents Alvin Bragg and Eric Gonzalez easily fending off challengers. Since the top prosecutors serve within the state court system, these races were not ranked choice.

All 51 City Council seats were up for grabs, with several facing competitive primaries. In Brooklyn, incumbent Councilmember Shahana Hanif held off Maya Kornberg, a researcher at the Brennan Center, and Councilmember Alexa Aviles defeated Ling Ye, who’d worked for Reps. Dan Goldman and Nydia Velazquez.

In Manhattan, incumbent Councilmember Chris Marte was leading over his challengers Elizabeth Lewinsohn, a former NYPD policy chief who self-funded her campaign, and lawyer Jess Coleman.

In The Bronx, Councilmember Pierina Sanchez trounced Fernando Cabrera, who was hoping to get his former Council seat back.

Additional reporting by Gwynne Hogan, Rosalind Adams and Claudia Irizarry Aponte.

mishma2005 on June 25th, 2025 at 02:56 UTC »

The news broke during Abby Phillips show on CNN and her republican guests went BALLISTIC. It were sensational, it were.

WISCOrear on June 25th, 2025 at 02:49 UTC »

Hear that dem leadership? Pass the fucking torch to the younger generations and the votes will follow.

plz-let-me-in on June 25th, 2025 at 02:36 UTC »

I’m genuinely so happy Cuomo’s attempted comeback has been blocked by a progressive democratic socialist. Good riddance, Democrats need new, exciting leadership, and certainly not someone who's been accused of sexual harassment by at least 11 women.