
(New York, NY) — Zohran Mamdani supporters were celebrating in Long Island City Tuesday night, after the Democratic Socialist took down Andrew Cuomo in the primary for Mayor. The 33-year-old told supporters that he will carry through on his promises to make life easier for New Yorkers, by making buses free, create a “network” of city-owned grocery stores that keep prices low, and implement free childcare. Cuomo congratulated Mamdani for running a campaign that appealed to young New Yorkers. He did not say if he will mount a third party campaign in the Fall. Curtis Sliwa easily won the GOP primary Tuesday.
There were signs of a Mamdani’s upset during early voting last week. His campaign was getting out enthusiastic voters in huge numbers 384-thousand New Yorkers cast ballots during the eight days of early voting, that’s more than double the usual number. The Mamdani campaign believes the majority of the early ballots went their way.
On Monday there was another sign of a Mamdani victory in an Emerson College poll, that found the Assemblyman squeaking by Cuomo in the seventh round of rank choice voting. It was the first major independent poll to show Mamdani winning.
As it stands now, the race for mayor in November will include Mamdani, Sliwa and Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an Independent.
Political pundits are trying to figure out if their is a path for victory for Adams or Sliwa if they are both on the ballot in November. They wonder if the two will spilt the vote that will come from centrists and Republican, thus easily handing the race to Mamdani. As of February 20, 2025, Democrats make up 65% of the 5.1 million registered voters in New York City.