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Andrew Cuomo, former governor of New York state, conceded defeat in the Democratic primary for the next mayor of New York City, as progressive candidate Zohran Mamdani built up an early lead in a contest that is being widely seen as a referendum on the future of the party.
“Tonight was not our night, tonight, it was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night,” Cuomo told supporters at a post-election party, adding he had called Mamdani to congratulate him.
Unofficial results Tuesday night showed Mamdani with a 7-point lead over Cuomo, with more than 90 per cent of the vote counted. Democratic primary winners are typically favoured to win the general election in New York, an overwhelmingly Democratic city.
Due to the city’s ranked-choice system, which allows people to pick up to five candidates in order of preference, a winner will not be officially declared until July 1 at the earliest, after all votes for other candidates have been reallocated.
If Mamdani does emerge victorious it would be a stunning upset and a huge rebuke to the Democratic party establishment, underlining the strong appeal of a new kind of progressive politics, especially for younger voters.
“We have the message, we have the team, and we feel very, very good going into the rest of the night,” Andrew Epstein, communications director for Mamdani’s campaign, said at the candidate’s election night party in Queens.
Cuomo, a fixture of New York state politics for more than four decades, was long seen as the frontrunner. But he quickly found himself fighting an increasingly serious challenge from the upstart Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist with a huge following on social media.
Eric Adams, the incumbent, who was indicted last year on charges of bribery and fraud in a case that was later dismissed, will run in the general election as an independent.
The contest could provide important clues as to the future of a party still reeling from its defeat to Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election.
Cuomo, who resigned as governor four years ago amid accusations of sexual harassment, which he denies, is a moderate centrist committed to restoring the Democratic party’s appeal among working class voters. He has promised to hire more police officers, improve safety on the subway and remove red tape to help developers build more affordable housing.
His campaign was built on the thesis that the Democratic party has been “hijacked”, and that it “doesn’t fight for working people anymore”.
Fundraising groups backing Cuomo’s campaign vastly outspent the other candidates in the final weeks of the race, buoyed by large contributions from former mayor Michael Bloomberg and hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman. Combined, outside fundraising groups spent more than $20mn. Mamdani’s campaign relied on small contributions, with more than 21,000 donors, roughly 75 per cent of whom gave less than $100.
Mamdani, an assemblyman from the borough of Queens, has pledged to make life more affordable for New Yorkers, who have seen their cost of living soar since the Covid-19 pandemic. If elected, he says he will raise taxes on the rich to fund free buses and childcare, as well as city-owned grocery stores.
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