Hear this story

In a remarkable upset, 33-year-old state Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani has outperformed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the June 24 Democratic New York City primary for mayor. Mamdani leads Cuomo 44% to 36% among first-place votes with 96% of ballots counted.

While the outcome won’t be official until the instant runoff conducted with ballots that rank up to five choices is announced in July, Cuomo conceded the nomination less than 90 minutes after polls closed at 9 p.m.

“Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won,” Cuomo said.

Mamdani’s lead is expected to grow in the instant runoff, because in polls he had far more lower-ranked votes than Cuomo from supporters of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who came in third with 11% of first-place votes.

The Democratic nominee will begin the general election as the favorite in the overwhelmingly Democratic city.

Cuomo, 67, and Mamdani, 33, represented ideological poles in the 11-candidate field, with ex-governor − a centrist who appointed many Republicans to his administration − on its right, and Democratic Socialists of America-member Mamdani on its left.

Mamdani would be the city’s first Muslim mayor and its first Asian American mayor.

While Cuomo pledged to hire more police and increase private housing construction, Mamdani excited progressives with promises to freeze rents in regulated apartments and make buses free.

The battle between the two of them, and a host of other local officials, on who can best stand up to President Donald Trump, lower the city’s housing costs, and remove homeless people from the streets and subways drew big spending from billionaires on Cuomo’s behalf. A Super PAC backing Cuomo spent $24 million, much of it raised from Trump donors such as hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and real estate executive Steven Roth, along with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Winning would have been a startling resurrection for Cuomo, a three-term governor who resigned in 2021 amid scandals including covering up nursing home deaths and numerous allegations of sexual harassment, which he denies.

Cuomo recently moved back to New York City for the first time in three decades, and launched a run for mayor, becoming an instant frontrunner. Many elected officials who condemnded him in 2021 endorsed him for mayor this year.

But while he led in polls throughout the race, Cuomo’s lead gradually diminished. A June 23 Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey released June 23 showed Mamdani edging him out in the final round of the instant runoff that will use the city’s ranked-choice voting system to determine a winner. Betting markets, which showed Cuomo with a far greater chance of winning until just the day before the election, tightened considerably.

Notably absent from the ballot was incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the primary to run as an independent in the general election. Adams has seen sagging approval numbers since his 2024 criminal indictment on federal corruption charges. He subsequently aligned himself increasingly with Trump, whose Department of Justice dropped the charges.

Adams won’t be the only independent candidate in November. In addition to attorney Jim Walden, Cuomo currently has a line on the November ballot as the nominee of the newly invented Fight and Deliver Party ballot line. It is not clear if he will continue that campaign.

Cuomo said he “would make some decisions” in his concession speech.

New York Republicans call Mamdani’s win ‘out of touch’

New York Republican leaders quickly lashed out against Mamdani’s win.

“Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary is the most alarming signal yet of how far left and out of touch the Democratic Party has become,” state GOP Chair Ed Cox said in a statement. Cox said Mamdani must be defeated in November, and the only candidate to do it is Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. Sliwa is best known for founding the Guardian Angels anti-crime vigilante organization.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, an upstate New York Republican and Trump ally, said in a statement that “a radical, Defund-the-Police, Communist, raging Antisemite will most likely win the New York City Democrat Mayoral primary.”

Mamdani has walked back his previous usage of the phrase, “defund the police,” and has denied accusations of antisemitism for his opposition to Israel’s policies towards Palestinians.

Stefanik blamed Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, for Mamdani’s apparent win in New York City. Stefanik is eyeing a challenge to Hochul in 2026.

-Eduardo Cuevas

‘Tonight we made history’

Mamdani addressed his supporters, saying he told Cuomo they need to bring the city together.

“Tonight we made history,” he boasted.

“Together we have shown the politics of the future, one of partnership and of sincerity,” Mamdani said about Lander. Mamdani and Lander had cross-endorsed one another, urging their supporters to rank the other second.

“With a vision of a city every New Yorker could afford, we have won,” Mamdani said.

Mamdani said his city would be one “governed as a model for the Democratic Party,” which would prioritize the needs of the working class and fight Trump.

“Now let us lead this city into one that is affordable for each and every New Yorker,” he concluded.

-Ben Adler

‘He gave us something to believe in’

Rep. Nydia Velazquez, a left-leaning Democrat who represents a Brooklyn-based district, spoke at Mamdani’s election night party. She said Mamdani won with a simple message of affordability for all.

“He gave us something to believe in,” Velazquez said.

“The billionaires are watching this moment, and they are going to spend everything they’ve got to stop Zohran,” Velazquez said. This campaign threatens business as usual and they are scared.”

“But here’s the thing: The city has changed,” Velazuez concluded. “Zohran knew it.”

-Ben Adler

Cuomo releases statement

Cuomo’s campaign released a statement late on June 24 conceding the primary but deferring a decision on whether he will run in the general election.

“I called Assemblyman Mamdani to congratulate him on tonight‘s victory,” Cuomo said. “I also thank my team, which did a great job during this campaign. I want to look at all the numbers as they come in and analyze the rank choice voting. I will then consult with my colleagues on what is the best path for me to help the City of New York, as I have already qualified to run for mayor on an independent line in November.”

Zohran Mamdani’s mom is a famous film director

Mamdani is the son of Mira Nair, an Indian-American filmmaker best known for “Mississippi Masala,” a cross-cultural romance movie that starred Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury. The film, released in 1991, explored the expulsion of the Indian minority from Uganda during the reign of Idi Amin.

While location-scouting for the film, Nair met Mahmood Mamdani, the mayoral hopeful’s father, who was among the Indian minority expelled. The elder Mamdani is an author and academic. The family moved to Manhattan when Zohran was 7 years old.

Nair’s other major credits include 2001’s “Monsoon Wedding” and “Salaam Bombay!” which was nominated for both an Oscar and a BAFTA in 1988. She is also behind “Queen of Katwe,” a 2016 hit film on which the future mayoral candidate helped his mother with both casting and directing.

-Anna Kaufman

A good night for Democratic Socialists

Mamdani was not the only member of the Democratic Socialists of America to perform well on June 24. Council Member Shahana Hanif, the first Muslim woman to serve on the Council, fended off a primary challenge from Maya Kornberg. With 94% of the votes counted, Hanif won 64% to 26%.

The race in the 39th District, which spans western Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Kensington, Windsor Terrace and Park Slope, hinged on some of the same issues that defined the mayoral. Like Mamdani, Hanif has been a harsh critic of Israel. Kornberg, who works for the Brennan Center for Justice, a think tank affiliated with New York University, ran as a more progressive candidate than Cuomo, but she was backed by some of the same well-heeled donors.

-Ben Adler

Mamdani pulls off upset

Zohran Mamdani slayed New York political juggernaut Andrew Cuomo, besting him in the first-round of ranked choice voting 43%-36% with over 94% of the vote in. Mamdan is in by far the strongest position to take the Democratic nomination for mayor once ranked choice tallies are tabulated.

Cuomo essentially conceded the race saying, “tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won.”

Once considered a longshot, the young upstart led a coalition of progressives seeking to block the former three-term governor from moving into Gracie Mansion.

The race serves as a bellwether for the larger Democratic Party as the coalition seeking to repel Cuomo framed the choice facing New Yorkers as one between an older, moderate political establishment and a youthful, progressive vision for the party that lost the White House in November.

The former governor could continue onto the general election under the newly invented Fight and Deliver Party – joining Mamdani, the incumbent Eric Adams running as an independent and Republican gadfly Curtis Sliwa – but did not address it in the concession speech.

James Powel, Eduardo Cuevas Ben Adler and Fernando Cervantes Jr.

Cuomo concedes

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo conceded the Democratic nomination to state Assembly member Zohran Mamdani.

“Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo said he “would make some decisions” in a speech at a campaign party but did not address if the clear defeat would stop him from running on the under the newly invented Fight and Deliver Party.

James Powel, Eduardo Cuevas

What are Cuomo’s scandals?

Cuomo’s once-dominant campaign was dragged down constant criticism from his opponents for a number scandals from his tenure as governor.

In 2021, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned after several women accused him of sexual harassment in the workplace. Cuomo denied any misbehavior. He said he never touched anyone inappropriately while acknowledging he made jokes and sometimes asked his staff about their personal lives.

The scandal — detailed in state Assembly and Attorney General Letitia James’ reports — was thought to have ended his political career before his mayoral run.

Many looked to his steady public messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic, when President Donald Trump downplayed the health crisis and dabbled in conspiracy theories. But in the pandemic, Cuomo’s administration withheld the true COVID-19 death toll inside nursing homes, according to a probe by James’ office. About a month before the June 24 primary, the U.S. Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Cuomo over his congressional testimony on his handling of the pandemic, the New York Times reported.

He also faced investigations for a $5 million book deal he received while in office. Prosecutors accused him of using state resources to write the book, which chronicled his handling of the pandemic. He wrote the book at the height of the health crisis. In 2024, an appeals court sided with Cuomo to keep his book earnings amid ethics concerns.

Some in his inner circle have also faced corruption charges. Top aide Joseph Percoco and state university official Alain Kaloyeros self-dealed and rigged bids on projects before the state. Percoco and Kaloyeros served prison time.

-Eduardo Cuevas

Why isn’t Eric Adams on the ballot?

Mayor Eric Adams won the mayoralty after winning in the 2021 Democratic primary, when New York City first used ranked choice voting. He’s still running for re-election in November, but he dropped out of the Democratic primary after a scandal-plagued tenure caused his approval ratings to plummet.

-Eduardo Cuevas

Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner trails in City Council race

Anthony Weiner, the disgraced former New York congressman, trails far behind in the Democratic primary for an open City Council seat in lower Manhattan.

Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, made nationally famous for a “Saturday Night Live” skit starring John Mulaney, was up handily in early tallies. Epstein led with 39% of votes in the 2nd Council District, with nearly 87% of scanners reported. Two candidates, Sarah Batchu and Andrea Gordillo, trailed Epstein at around 21% each.

Behind them was Weiner, at less than 11%.

Weiner, 60, was once considered a promising candidate for New York City mayor. In 2011, he resigned from Congress after he sexted and sent sexually suggested photos to several women. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to a charge for sexting a 15-year-old girl, which resulted in a 21-month sentence in federal prison and for Weiner to register as a sex offender after his release.

The City Council primary was seen as a way for Weiner to restart his political career. Before he was in Congress, he served on the Council in a Brooklyn district.

Eduardo Cuevas

NYC tries again at ranked choice voting. Here’s what voters said.

June 24 is New York City’s second time using ranked choice voting to elect its mayor. The city’s first time using the system, in the 2021 Democratic primary, had more voided ballots in areas with higher numbers of non-English speakers, lower income communities and households with lower educational attainment, than past elections research showed.

Voters at one polling site in the Bronx’s Fordham neighborhood, which is predominantly working-class, immigrant and Latino and Black, gave USA TODAY a mixed review of the system.

Isabella Cruz, 24, a cashier, said she preferred the old voting method of selecting just one candidate. But she made sure to rank state Mamdani first because of his focus on affordability and rent. She also liked that he campaigned nearby on Fordham Road. She ranked three others, including city Comptroller Brad Lander, another left-leaning candidate.

Bassarou Ali Zatchi, a 43-year-old nurse, had voted in ranked choice once before and found it easy. He declined to say who he ranked, though said he chose his top three and randomly selected the last two.

He rushed out of work, picked up his 8-year-old son, and went to the polls.

“You can’t just stay home,” he said. He made a point to take his son to show him the importance of voting. “That’s the future of this country.”

– Eduardo Cuevas

At 85% counted Mamdani ahead

Mamdani remains ahead of Cuomo in the unofficial results as the New York City Board of Elections reports that over 85% of the votes have been counted.

The Assembly member stands at 43.6% of the first-round vote while the former governor has 35.9%. Comptroller and Mamdani ally Lander is in a distant third at 11.5% as of the 9:45 ET update.

If the totals hold Mamdani will not win outright in the first-round but is in a strong position to take the Democratic nomination once ranked choice tallies are released.

James Powel

Alvin Bragg wins Democratic primary for district attorney

Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor who oversaw President Donald Trump’s hush money case, won the Democratic nomination for Manhattan district attorney, according to the Associated Press.

Trump was convicted in 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Daniels has alleged that she and Trump had a sexual encounter in 2006, a claim Trump denies. Bragg brought the case against Trump.

In 2022, Bragg’s office also won convictions against two parts of the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer. Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in prison after pleading guilty to 15 charges in a scheme to avoid taxes. Two Trump corporations were fined a combined $1.6 million for convictions of 17 felonies.

Bragg will face Republican Maud Maron in the general election in the heavily Democratic borough.

-Sudiksha Kochi and Bart Jansen

Possible polling error?

Mamdani is eight percentage points ahead of Cuomo with 81% of the first-place votes counted.

That raises the question of why his lead wasn’t reflected in polls. An Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey released on June 23 found Mamdani beating Cuomo by a few percentage points in the final round of the instant runoff thanks to supporters of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander who ranked him second, but losing to Cuomo among first round voters.

A New York City mayor polling average from Race to the White House updated on June 24 found Cuomo as voters’ first choice with Mamdani in a close second. Cuomo earned 36.4% of voters’ support while Mamdani earned 28.6% of voter support.

Previous polls have also found Cuomo in the lead.

-Sudiksha Kochi and Ben Adler

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams fends off challenge from Mayor Adams ally as incumbents keep seats, projections show

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is projected to win the Democratic primary for reelection, according to the Associated Press.

Williams, a progressive Democrat who has served since 2019, faced a challenge from state Assembly Member Jennifer Rajkumar of Queens, an ally of moderate Mayor Eric Adams.

The public advocate role acts as a city watchdog. The public advocate is next in line for mayor, which had been key when there were calls for Adams’ resignation, or for Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove him from office, following federal corruption charges.

Williams is a former city councilman from Brooklyn.

Spectrum News also called the races for Bronx borough president for incumbent Vanessa Gibson and Brooklyn borough president for incumbent Antonio Reynoso.

Eduardo Cuevas

First results have Mamdani ahead

The early unofficial results released by the New York City Board of Elections shows Mamdani ahead of Cuomo, though below the 50% threshold to win outright in the first round.

The upstart state Assembly member has just under 43% of the vote to the former governor’s 35.5%. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is in third in the early tally at 12%. City Council Speaker Adrianne Adams, state Sen. Myrie Zellnor and former Comptroller Scott Stringer are far behind.

The results as of 9:20 p.m., account for approximately 44% of the total votes, according to the board.

-James Powel

Rushing to get all votes before polls close

Minutes before polls closed, Dakota Hampton, 29, sat eagerly on the Bx12 bus from the Bronx to Manhattan. The doctoral student at Fordham University planned to vote for Mamdani before polls closed.

“I identify as a leftist, so I want to see more social programs in the city,” he said.

Among those were making buses free, since Hampton takes the bus daily, and rent control to support tenants and small businesses.

At the end of the bus line in Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood, which is predominantly Dominican, canvassers for Uptown Community Democrats yelled out to any who would listen that polls were closing at 9 p.m. In the days before the primary, Mamdani campaigned in Inwood, where President Donald Trump made large gains among Latino voters in 2024.

-Eduardo Cuevas

Polls close in New York City primary

Lines for the polls have closed in the New York City primary election.

The city’s board of elections stated in a post on X that voters who were in-line prior to 9 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

The board will release results from the first round of ranked choice voting tonight. In the likely event that no candidate crosses the 50% threshold, Democratic voters will have to wait for the unofficial results released on July 1 to see who won the marquee race between Cuomo and Mamdani for the party’s mayoral nomination.

Official results will likely come out on July 14.

-James Powel

How to watch NYC Democratic mayor primary: TV coverage, livestream info

Spectrum News said viewers can watch their primary election coverage on its website and app starting at 8 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

For people without a Spectrum subscription, coverage of Tuesday’s primary will be available on the Spectrum News app and online on the Spectrum News website.

After polls close, “Capital Tonight” anchor Susan Arbetter will give live updates and analysis on results. The Spectrum News app will also offer election results.

PBS News will provide a live results tracker that will continuously update as new vote totals are reported by the New York City Board of Elections once polls close.

-Fernando Cervantes Jr.

NYC mayor primary: See map of wait times, polling sites, closing times

The clock is ticking for New Yorkers to vote in the city’s primary election. Election Day polls close at 9 p.m. ET for the New York City primary.

To find estimated wait times of polling sites around New York City, click on the dots on the below map provided by the NYC Board of Elections.

-James Powel

Primary vote total nears 1 million

The New York City Board of Elections reported on X that over 930,500 New Yorkers have voted in the primary as of 7:30 p.m. ET.

That total includes the check-ins on election day as well as early voting with the latter closing at an unofficial count of 384,338 votes on June 22. Mail ballots add over 50,000 votes the board reported earlier in the day.

Brooklyn led the five boroughs in check-ins with 336,387 votes cast overall and 193,652 from election day so-far. Manhattan follows with 272,884 ballots cast in person with 122,642 of them from early voting. The Bronx accounts for 97,632 check-ins, an alarm bell for Cuomo who needs a strong showing from working class voters in the borough to have a shot at Gracie Mansion.

Polls close at 9 p.m. ET.

-James Powel

Brad Lander and Mamadani cross-endorsed for second choice

City Comptroller Brad Lander and Mamdani have endorsed each other in the mayoral race. The two even appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” the night before the primary. Mamdani has also cross-endorsed with Michael Blake, the Democratic National Committee vice chair.

Under ranked choice, candidates can cross-endorse each other to encourage their voters rank other candidate lower on the ballot. It’s a smart tactic, former mayoral candidate Andrew Yang previously told USA TODAY. It can expand candidates’ voter coalitions, and Yang’s late endorsement of Kathryn Garcia was seen as giving her a boost in her narrow loss to Mayor Eric Adams in 2021.

Experts say ranked choice voting creates an incentive for this kind of collaboration and discourages negative campaigning to form these coalitions. But as the race between Cuomo and Mamdani has tightened, negative campaigning between the two, with accusations of antisemitism and Islamophobia has tinged the race.

-Eduardo Cuevas

How ranked-choice voting works in New York City

New York City first used ranked choice voting in 2021, after voters approved the system in 2019. The elections system is based on choosing up to five candidates in order of preference. It’s used in city elections for mayor, City Council, borough president, comptroller and public advocate.

If no candidate garners more than 50% first-place votes, the Board of Elections eliminates the candidate with the fewest first-place votes and redistributes their votes based on their lower-ranked choices. The process continues until there are two candidates left.

In the mayor’s race, it’s unlikely one candidate will garner over half of first-round votes.

-Eduardo Cuevas

In the Bronx, voters weigh experience versus new vision for city

After the 2024 election, state Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani interviewed Bronx residents about large swings toward Donald Trump in the presidential election. A few blocks from where he once stood on Fordham Road, on June 24, voters slowly trickled to the polling site at P.S. 85 Great Expectations, in the Bronx.

Children nearby splashed in the water of a spewing fire hydrant just feet away. A few workers with T shirts supporting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo stood in the shade, handing leaflets to people passing.

Elvira Santiago, 52, who works in school safety, planned to rank Cuomo. Although she didn’t vote in the 2024 presidential election, she was worried about affordability in the city, saying her 26-year-old wouldn’t be able to afford a studio apartment.

“I’m just hoping they do right by us,” she said.

Many looked to Cuomo’s experience handling the state government for years, particularly during the pandemic.

“I’d rather have someone experienced rather than someone who isn’t,” said Patrick Pierce, a hospital transportation worker who voted for Cuomo in the morning. His union, SEIU 1199, endorsed Cuomo, and Pierce thought Mamdani was too inexperienced.

Yet others saw Cuomo’s record as a negative, particularly with allegations of corruption and sexual harassment. Some voters saw Mamdani as the political newcomer who could lead the city with progressive policies.

“New York needs a young, forward-thinking type of person to head the city into what’s going to be some pretty tough four years with Donald Trump as president,” said Ricky Gonzalez, a 20-year-old finance major at Fordham University.

Akil Bello, 53, a college access worker for the State University of New York, said many of Mamdani’s proposed policies aren’t radical. He said other cities have adopted free buses, and rent freezes have been enacted, even in New York.

Even more though, he said, city leadership can’t get worse than under Mayor Eric Adams.“I don’t think we can do much worse,” he said. “I think the ceiling is much higher.”- Eduardo Cuevas

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner running for city council

Voters will not only be casting their ballots in the New York City mayoral primary today. They will also be voting on candidates running for City Council, among other seats.

Democrat Anthony Weiner, who served in Congress until 2011, is running for City Council. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison in 2017 for “transferring obscene material to a minor,” according to the Department of Justice.

Then Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said that Weiner had asked a 15-year-old to “display her naked body and engage in sexually explicit behavior for him online.”

After his release from prison, Weiner had to register as a sex offender.

Weiner also twice ran unsucessfully for mayor, in 2005 and 2013.

Weiner is not the only candidate accused of sexual misconduct. Cuomo resigned as New York governor in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harrasment that included kissing, groping, hugging and inappropriate comments, according to a report from the state Attorney General’s Office.

-Sudiksha Kochi

NYC won’t know mayoral primary results until at least July 1

Everyone eager to know when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo or Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani will win the June 24 New York City mayoral Democratic primary is going to be waiting a while.

Unofficial results won’t be announced by the city Board of Elections until July 1, and the results won’t be officially certified until July 14.

Since 2021, in primaries the city uses ranked choice voting, a system that allows residents to vote for up to five candidates in order from their most preferred to least. If no candidate gets more than 50% of first-place votes, which seems very likely based on polls of the crowded mayoral field, then the least-popular candidate is eliminated and their supporters’ votes redistributed to other candidates based on their lower-ranked preferences.

This process takes time, meaning voters are very unlikely know the results on election night. In 2021, when current mayor Eric Adams (who is running for re-election this year as an Independent) secured victory, it took several days to determine just how close Kathryn Garcia, the runner-up, came to beating him after all the ranked-choice tabulations.

-Anna Kaufman and Ben Adler

Who have newspapers endorsed?

New York City newspaper endorsements can be very powerful in local races. In 2021, The New York Times and the New York Daily News sent Sanitation Comissioner Kathryn Garcia from obscure first-term candidate to near-victory.

This year, the Times offered a circuitous non-endorsement, conceding that it was effectively a two-man race between Cuomo and Mamdani but failing to throw full-throated support behind either. Instead, the paper’s editorial board chided Mandani as running on “an agenda uniquely unsuited to the city’s challenges,” and, while acknowledging Cuomo’s “significant shortcomings,” seemed more impressed with his accomplishments.

A separate panel of New York City residents and leaders published by the Times favored City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running a distant third to Mamdani and Cuomo.

The Washington Post took a similar tack, comparing the two as either a “bully” (Cuomo) or a “socialist” (Mamdani.)

The Daily News endorsed Cuomo for first-place, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams for second and Lander third.

The New York Post, which enthusiastically backed Mayor Adams in 2021, declined to endorse a candidate in this year’s primary but it published an anyone-but-Mamdani editorial.

-Anna Kaufman and Ben Adler

Republican candidate predicts Mamdani will win

Republican New York City mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa told The New York Times that he thinks Mamdani will win the Democratic primary. He said Mamdani had stronger field operations and connected with young voters better.

“The millennials and hipsters are the majority now, not the baby boomers,” he told the newspaper.

He also said Cuomo “looked grumpy and angry on the campaign.”

-Sudiksha Kochi

Mayor Eric Adams tells reporters he planned to write himself in for mayor five times

Mayor Eric Adams isn’t running for re-election in the June 24 Democratic primary, but that didn’t stop him from voting. Outside of his Brooklyn polling place, he told reporters he planned to write his name in for mayor. “One, two, three, four and five, Eric Adams,” he said.

Under the city’s ranked choice voting, voters can choose up to five different candidates. Writing in the same candidate five times would invalidate the person’s second through fifth-place votes, though not the entire ballot. “You cannot rank the same candidate more than once,” the city Board of Elections said in voter instructions.

Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for the mayor, said the mayor was joking about voting for himself more than once.

“Everyone in the room knew he was joking, other than the reporters who sent the tweet,” Levy told USA TODAY.

Levy didn’t know how the mayor voted, but he said he knew how to vote properly.

“I wasn’t in the booth, so can’t tell you how he voted, but he knows how to vote properly,” Levy added.

In 2021, Adams won the Democratic primary — when New York City first used ranked choice voting — before easily winning in the general election that year.

Adams has opted to run as an independent in the November 2025 general election. Even though the city skews heavily Democratic, the race for mayor isn’t over regardless of the June 24 Democratic primary outcome.

– Eduardo Cuevas

Mamdani would be New York’s first Israel critic as mayor

The politics of a foreign country don’t normally weigh on municipal issues. But in a global city like New York, home to 1 million Jews, Israel and its siege of Gaza after the 2023 Hamas-led attacks have taken center stage in a campaign otherwise focused on affordability and public safety.

Since Israel’s founding, every New York City mayor has visited Jerusalem. Mayor Vincent Impellitteri first made the trip in 1951. Mamdani has declined to follow suit when asked whether he’d visit Israel. Instead, he’s said he’d prioritize Jewish safety in the five boroughs, but he has criticized Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, calling its actions in Gaza a genocide.

Mamdani has defended the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to cut ties with Israel in order for it to change its policies toward Palestinians. Israel supporters have called the movement antisemitic for protesting the only Jewish state. On the debate stage, Mamdani has said he supports Israel’s right to exist “as a state with equal rights” when pressed on whether he supported Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

He also declined to condemn the controversial phrase “Globalize the Intifada.” The popular rallying cry for liberation by Palestinians and their supporters is heard by pro-Israel supporters as a call to violence against Jews, harkening back to resistance movements in the 1980s and 2000s. Mamdani was swiftly criticized for his comments, including by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Jewish Committee.

Cuomo and Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund manager, have repeatedly accused Mamdani of antisemitism, charges that Mamdani denies. A super PAC supporting Cuomo — which receives funding from former Mayor Mike Bloomberg and billionaire Trump supporter Bill Ackman — have also unleashed tens of millions in ads painting Mamdani as an extremist. Mamdani, who is Muslim, and his supporters have said the attacks rely on islamophobic tropes. Mamdani would be the city’s first Muslim mayor.

Meanwhile, candidates agree antisemitism is a pressing issue, evidenced by rises in attacks against Jewish people. Cuomo, who is not Jewish, made opposing antisemitism a top issue issue in his campaign. Other candidates who are Jewish have criticized Cuomo for his use of antisemitism as a campaign tactic.

The politics of a foreign country don’t normally weigh on municipal issues. But in a global city like New York, home to 1 million Jews with many having strong support for Zionism, Israel and its siege of Gaza after the 2023 Hamas-led attacks have taken center stage in a campaign largely focused on affordability and public safety. New York City is home to the most amount of Jews outside of Israel.

Since Israel’s founding, every New York City mayor has visited Jerusalem. Mayor Vincent Impellitteri first made the trip in 1951. Mamdani has declined to follow suit when asked whether he’d visit Israel. Instead, he’s said he’d prioritize Jewish safety in the five boroughs, but he has criticized Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, calling its actions in Gaza a genocide.

Mamdani has defended the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to cut ties with Israel in order for it to change its policies toward Palestinians. Israel supporters have called the movement antisemitic for protesting the only Jewish state. On the debate stage, Mamdani has said he supports Israel’s right to exist “as a state with equal rights” when pressed on whether he supported Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

He also declined to condemn the controversial phrase “Globalize the Intifada.” The popular rallying cry for liberation by Palestinians and their supporters is heard by pro-Israel supporters as a call to violence against Jews, harkening back to resistance movements in the 1980s and 2000s. Mamdani was swiftly criticized for his comments, including by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Jewish Committee.

Cuomo and Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund manager, have repeatedly accused Mamdani of antisemitism, charges that Mamdani denies. A super PAC supporting Cuomo — which receives funding from former Mayor Mike Bloomberg and billionaire Trump supporter Bill Ackman — have also unleashed tens of millions in ads painting Mamdani as an extremist. Mamdani, who is Muslim, and his supporters have said the attacks rely on islamophobic tropes. Mamdani would be the city’s first Muslim mayor.

Meanwhile, candidates agree antisemitism is a pressing issue, evidenced by rises in attacks against Jewish people. Cuomo, who is not Jewish, made antisemitism a top issue, equating it with opposition to Israel. Other candidates who are Jewish have criticized Cuomo for his use of antisemitism as a campaign tactic. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander who has cross-endorsed with Mamdani, each urging their supporters to rank the other candidate second on their ballots, is Jewish.

-Eduardo Cuevas

New York City mayor primary: Where the polls are, when they open and close

The final hours of voting in the New York City mayoral primary elections start the morning of June 24.

Election Day polls opened at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m.

You can find a list of polling places here.

-James Powel

In the NYC mayoral race, a chance for historic firsts

If Cuomo wins the race for City Hall, he will be the first former governor to become mayor. He is also the heir to a political dynast: his father Mario Cuomo was also a three-term governor. Before being elected governor in 1982, Mario Cuomo unsuccessfully ran for mayor in the 1977 Democratic primary, losing to New York City Comptroller Abe Beame.

Mamdani, on the other hand, presents a different kind of first – a fresh-faced legislator with less than five years in office, gunning to be the first Muslim New York City mayor, the first Asian American mayor, and the first Democratic Socialist in City Hall. He is also from a prominent family: his father is a well-known professor at Columbia University and his mother is the filmmaker Mira Nair.

-Ben Adler and Anna Kaufman

Who is running for NYC mayor?

There are 11 Democrats on the ballot in the June 24 primary, hoping to advance to the general election on Nov. 4:

Ramos stopped campaigning and endorsed Cuomo.

Whoever wins the Democratic mayoral primary on June 24 will face Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa and two independents: NYC Mayor Eric L. Adams and Jim Walden in the general election on Nov. 5.

Cuomo is also on the November ballot as the nominee of the newly invented Fight and Deliver Party ballot line and he will continue that campaign even if he loses the Democratic nomination. Likewise, Mamdani is the candidate of the Working Families Party and he may run on that in the fall even if he loses the Democratic primary.

-Ben Adler and Fernando Cervantes Jr.

What are Zohran Mamdani’s policy proposals?

Mamdani has surged from obscurity to a leading contender for mayor with a campaign platform intended to reduce New York City’s high cost of living. Those proposals include:

An immediate rent freeze for all rent-stabilized tenants

The elimination of fares on city busses

Creating a Department of Community Safety and investments in citywide mental health programs and crisis response

A 2% tax on residents earning above $1 million annually

Raising the corporate tax rate to 11.5%

Overhauling the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants so as to toughen code enforcement on landlords

Fast tracking affordable housing development

Establishing city-owned grocery stores

The only problem? New York City doesn’t have the legal authority to raise taxes, and thus the revenue for programs like free buses, without permission from the state government. And New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she isn’t willing to increase taxes on top earners as Mamdani proposes.

-Ben Adler and James Powel

Justin Brannan, Mark Levine battle for New York City comptroller

Mayor isn’t the only race on the ballot on June 24. The next-most powerful position in New York City government, comptroller, is also up for grabs.

The comptroller is the city’s chief fiscal officer. He or she audits city agencies, manages city employees’ pension funds, and oversees contracts to safeguard against waste, fraud and abuse.

The two leading candidates for comptroller are Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and City Council Member Justin Brannan, from Brooklyn. State Sen. Kevin Parker of Brooklyn is also running.

Levine is a typical liberal from Manhattan’s Upper West Side, which he previously represented on the City Council. Brannan, who represents the politically diverse, middle-class neighborhood of Bay Ridge, is more idiosyncratic, having been a member of the Council’s Progressive Caucus but also describing himself as a moderate. He was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.

Current Comptroller Brad Lander is running for mayor, and currently polling in third place. His predecessor Scott Stringer is also on the mayoral ballot.

-Ben Adler

Can NYC polling sites handle the heat?

As the city awoke to alarmingly high temperatures Tuesday, June 24, the Board of Elections prepared for the worst: a blackout at polling sites.

In a statement to City & State, a spokesperson said the board was prepared with backup batteries and that should those run out, ballots would be counted later, similar to the process for absentee or vote-by-mail ballots.

Candidates urged voters to stay cool as they made their voices heard, pushing for water and additional air conditioning at polling sites.

-Anna Kaufman

Who is Zohran Mamdani?

Mamdani is an Assembly member from Astoria, Queens. He is the first South Asian man to serve in the assembly and the third Muslim person to do so.

He previously worked as a foreclosure-prevention housing counselor and a campaign staffer.

He was born in Uganda but raised in Manhattan after his family moved there when he was 7 years old, according to his office’s biography.

Mamdani describes himself on his campaign website as a democratic socialist.

He is the son of Mahmood Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University, and Mira Nair, a filmmaker best known for directing “Monsoon Wedding.”

-James Powel

Ranked choice voting in a crowded field

While Cuomo continued to lead Mamdani in first-place voters, New York City primaries now use a system of ranked-choice voting, in which voters rank up to five candidates.

And they have a plethora to choose from. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is polling in third place, and he and Mamdani have cross-endorsed one another, encouraging their supporters to rank the other candidate second. Then there’s Lander’s predcessor Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (no relation to the mayor), state Sen. Zelnor Myrie, former Assembly Member Michael Blake and retired hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson.

With the exception of Tilson, the candidates generally lean left, and their supporters may be more likely to rank Mamdani than Cuomo down ballot. That is the dynamic that led to Mamdani overtaking Cuomo in the instant runoff in the most recent poll.

“In this ranked choice environment, I do feel there are scenarios in which Cuomo is beatable,” Basil Smikle, a New York City-based political consultant, told USA TODAY in early June.

An extreme heat wave could harm turnout

New York City is in the midst of a severe heat wave, with temperatures well above 90 degrees and the city’s stifling summer humidity. June 24 is expected to be especially scorching, with highs breaking the rarely-breached 100-degree mark.

This may pose a threat to Cuomo’s chances, because his supporters skew older and are more likely to stay away because of the temperature. The former governor complained on June 19 that the Board of Elections’ plans to mitigate the heat were insufficient and demanded air conditioning in polling places. Cuomo’s backers are also more likely to cast their ballots on Election Day, while Mamdani’s − who tend to be younger, highly educated, engaged, and enthusiastic − are better represented among those who took advantage of early voting, which started on June 14.

-Ben Adler

A campaign under Trump’s shadow

As he does in all facets of politics, President Donald Trump looms large in his former hometown’s elections. Adams’ increasingly friendly relationship with Trump has driven his split with the Democratic Party’s base, while every other candidate pledges to fight against the president.

In a clearly implied contrast with Adams, progressive candidates have tried to prove their anti-Trump bona fides on immigration. Mamdani shouted at White House immigration czar Tom Homan when Homan came to the state Capitol in Albany, and Lander recently made national news by getting arrested escorting an immigrant out of a deportation hearing.

Cuomo has argued that his experience makes him best qualified to handle Trump.

“Donald Trump would go through Mr. Mamdani like a hot knife through butter,” Cuomo said at a June 5 debate that was dominated mostly by opponents’ attacks on his record.

-Ben Adler

AOC, Bernie Sanders, Bill Clinton weigh in

Prominent figures in national politics have weighed in on both sides. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district overlaps with Mamdani’s in Queens, put him at the top of her ballot. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermont socialist who grew up in Brooklyn, is backing Mamdani as well.

But beacons of the Democratic Party’s moderate establishment such as former President Bill Clinton have weighed in on behalf of Cuomo.

With New York’s complicated instant runoff, in which the lowest ranked candidate in each round is eliminated, taking days to conduct, the only thing that will be known on election night is who got the most first place votes.

-Ben Adler

He still has a ways to go. Mr. Mamdani will face Mayor Eric Adams in November, when the mayor will run for re-election as an independent after a turbulent first term. The mayor faced federal bribery and fraud charges before President Trump’s Justice Department abandoned the case against him earlier this year.

Mr. Mamdani said he was confident that he could bring together Democrats and win.

“Last night is just a glimpse of what this coalition could look like,” he said.

He seemed less confident and also less concerned about whether he could persuade business leaders to come to his side.

“What we have shown in this primary is our ability to overcome the same billionaires who may fund Eric Adams’s re-election campaign, and ultimately we’re able to do so because of the power of New Yorkers across the five boroughs,” he said.

Mr. Mamdani said he had run all along on the idea that the city needed a different vision from the one offered by his main Democratic rival, Mr. Cuomo, and Mr. Adams and criticized the mayor’s closeness with President Trump. Mr. Cuomo is deciding whether to run on an independent ballot line in November; Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, will be the Republican candidate.

“New York Is Not a democracy,” read a headline from The Atlantic earlier this month lamenting the city’s ranked-choice voting system ahead of the upcoming mayoral primary election. The statement rankled some observers, but it was largely true — just not because of ranked-choice voting.

A well-financed political machine is gearing up to topple New York Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani even if he beats former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for mayor. While Cuomo is heavily favored to win the election, a Mamdani victory appears closer than ever: The democratic socialist leads Cuomo in one of the latest polls ahead of the June 24 election.

While the outcome would be a major accomplishment for New York City’s progressives and socialists, it would be far from the end of the road. Even if Cuomo loses on Tuesday — despite the $24.9 million the city’s billionaires, real estate tycoons, and former leaders have poured into a super PAC backing him — the disgraced former governor, like current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, plans to run in the general election on a third-party ballot line.

That possibility sounds eerily familiar to those who watched what happened in Buffalo four years ago to socialist India Walton, who beat four-term incumbent Byron Brown in the city’s 2021 Democratic primary for mayor. Rather than concede, Brown ran a last-minute campaign backed by Republicans and real estate developers to get a ballot line and win the general election. He served as mayor until last year.

“If Mamdani was to win the Democratic Party primary for mayor, New York City will probably repeat something similar to what happened in heavily Democratic Buffalo in 2021,” said John Kaehny of Reinvent Albany, a statewide watchdog group. “Deep-pocketed business interests and the Democratic Party incumbency was shocked by Walton’s win and poured money and support into Brown’s winning general election campaign.”

The pool of money for an independent Cuomo campaign is indeed deep. Billionaire Israel fanatic Bill Ackman, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have poured $9.1 million into Fix the City, making up more than a third of the funding for the Cuomo-backing PAC. Many of Cuomo’s deep-pocketed supporters seem to feel particular political ire for Mamdani over his criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, triggering an entire news cycle about Mamdani’s thoughts on the protest cry “globalize the intifada.” Neither the Mamdani nor Cuomo campaigns immediately responded to requests for comment.

Mamdani, who if elected would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, has been the target of Islamophobic harassment and bomb threats during the campaign. His success on Tuesday would almost certainly guarantee a bigger and stronger backlash from his political opponents in the general election.

“Everyone is very laser-focused on tomorrow. But I think that everyone knows that even if we win tomorrow, the fight’s not over until November,” said state Sen. Jabari Brisport, who spoke to The Intercept on the way to a canvassing shift for Mamdani on Monday evening. Brisport, another socialist state legislator, endorsed Mamdani in March. Still, Mamdani supporters have something that Walton’s campaign didn’t, Brisport said.

“I don’t think anybody on India Walton’s campaign expected that Byron Brown would launch a write-in campaign,” Brisport said. “Whereas we’ve known for some time that Andrew Cuomo was running in the general election, regardless of what happens.”

According to Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the New York State Working Families Party, Mamdani’s campaign infrastructure far exceeds Walton’s.

“I think he’s redefining what’s possible in a large city,” she said. “And the apparatus is ready to engage and level up if they go into a general election.”

She said her party views Tuesday’s contest as the first big race since President Donald Trump won in 2024. If Mamdani loses, there’s a possibility that he could run on the Working Families Party line in the general election — though Gripper said the New York WFP has not decided whether they’ll run a candidate on their line in the general election and will make a decision after the final primary results come in.

At that point, the groups backing Mamdani will take stock of the results, said Daniel Coates, political director at Make the Road Action, which endorsed Mamdani after New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.

“I don’t think anything is off the table in terms of strategies and actions that the Cuomo camp will play,” Coates said.

“On the one hand, it’s scary and it’s true that Bill Ackman and DoorDash and organizations and companies that just want to have a mayor that just does their bidding — you could see them dropping a lot of money, and Cuomo’s already put his ballot line together,” he added. “But sometimes the weight of your own money can weigh you down. I don’t think voters like the idea of buying an election.”

Kaehny pointed to Bloomberg, Cuomo’s single largest donor. “Cuomo’s super wealthy contributors have signaled they will spend what it takes to defeat Mamdani in a general election rematch,” he said. “Like other Americans, New Yorkers can thank the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision for opening the floodgates of unlimited political spending and obliterating any concept of fairness in American democracy.”

Billionaires are used to having a mayor and politicians who work for them, said Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of NYC Democratic Socialists of America. “We’re expecting them to fight us all the way. If he wins the primary, we’re not gonna rest or let up. We’re going to keep the fight on until the general. And if he wins the general, then we’re going to keep organizing and keep the struggle going well into his administration because that’s the only way that we can actually implement the agenda and change our politics.”

Unless one candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, New Yorkers won’t know who won the Democratic primary for a week: The New York City Board of Elections will need to run its ranked-choice voting algorithm, and that process is scheduled for July 1.

If Mamdani makes it to the general election, centrists could potentially split four ways in the general between Cuomo, Adams, independent attorney Jim Walden, and Republican Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.

“The political establishment has totally failed the city,” Gordillo said. “Even though we expect a big onslaught of money spent against our movement, I think the fact that they have had no answers to the people of the city, that they’ve really failed to campaign on anything other than fear and the same old business, we’ll be able to defeat them.”

Democrats have spent more time fighting progressives on the left than on fighting Republicans, according to Gripper. But that’s not new. “A victory by Zohran in the Democratic primary would be a seismic shift in politics and the election and how campaigns are run and won. Not just in New York City but across the nation,” she said.

“Even though it’s the mayor, it’s not really a local position. It’s a national position,” Gripper said. “We know that if Zohran wins, it will create a new narrative around what’s possible.”

After decades of defeats for working people and the Left, it almost felt like a dream to witness Zohran Mamdani make history last night. Sometimes the good guys win. As David Hogg wrote last night, “BREAKING: Not everything has to suck.”

Absorbing the key lessons of this campaign is essential for the fights ahead, not just in New York City but across the United States.

1) Zohran’s victory is a nationwide political earthquake. Huge numbers of voters are sick of the Democratic establishment, and there’s no good reason why his playbook can’t be widely repeated elsewhere. The party’s decrepit old guard is vulnerable, its unpopularity delivered us Trumpism, and it deserves to be displaced everywhere.

2) By stubbornly hammering on proposals to make the city affordable, Zohran was able to break beyond the Left’s college-educated base. He won all across the city, including in neighborhoods like Sunset Park and Woodhaven that swung rightwards towards Trump in 2024. Economic populism is our best weapon to win back working people and to overcome Trumpism. Blame the billionaires, not immigrants or transgender people.

3) We should always ignore the pundits and political hacks who try to convince us that transformative change is impossible — or that the best we can do is chase after a mythical political center, rather than winning the battle of ideas and ambitiously raising voters’ expectations.

4) Billionaires tried to buy this election and they lost badly. It turns out that the oligarchy is not invincible.

5) Pundits will try to spin this as purely the result of Andrew Cuomo’s unpopularity or Zohran’s charisma. That’s part of the story, but only part. In addition to the resonance of his policies and crystal-clear message on affordability, there’s no way he could have won without the tireless ground game of 50,000 volunteers and the New York City Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and other allied organizations. Knocking 1.5 million doors is an astounding feat.

6) Young people were the heart of this campaign. Last night, tens of thousands of them got to experience the ecstatic feeling of making history through collective organizing. Feeling that even once is enough to make you an organizer for life. This youthful social movement has the energy and ambition to make New York social democratic again.

Absorbing the key lessons of this campaign is essential for the fights ahead, not just in New York City but across the United States.

7) Social media is extremely important for capturing the attention of wide layers of voters, and Zohran’s media team was amazing. But the secret sauce for good comms is not primarily technical — it’s political: you need an authentic messenger armed with a compelling platform. Hack Democrats can’t post themselves back into relevance.

8) It’s a very big deal — with nationwide and international implications — that Cuomo’s cynical smears about antisemitism fell flat. It turns out that opposing genocide and acknowledging the humanity of Palestinians is not necessarily an electoral dealbreaker. AIPAC should be very worried.

9) Despite what his opponents claim, Zohran is not a dogmatic extremist but a radical pragmatist. He could not have gotten this far had he not focused on bread-and-butter economic issues, spoken in a commonsense language, ran as a Democrat, dropped his support for defunding the police, and endorsed Brad Lander. Zohran refused to drop his support for democratic socialism or his opposition to Zionist apartheid, but performative ultraleftism was anathema to this campaign.

10) It took a liberal-Left alliance to defeat Cuomo. A huge amount of credit is due to Brad Lander for being a man of principle who refused to punch left. At the same time, Zohran smartly rejected a widespread leftist tendency to treat liberals and liberalism only as ideological competitors to be fought. Look at how he adopted the best parts of the “abundance agenda,” how he cross-endorsed Lander, and how he framed his criticisms of Israel in the language of liberal equal rights. Leftists can’t defeat the old establishment — let alone overcome the Right — on their own. And mutuality cuts both ways: we can’t ally with liberals only when we’re in the lead.

11) Zohran’s inroads within organized labor were crucial steps toward legitimizing his campaign. The unions who took a risk and stood by working people by endorsing Zohran include AFSCME DC 37, UAW Region 9a, Doctors Council SEIU, CIR/SEIU, UNITE HERE Local 100, IATSE Local 161, PSC-CUNY, OPEIU Local 153, and Teamsters Local 804.

Every union that endorsed Cuomo should be embarrassed by their narrow-mindedness. The good news is now they have a chance to make things right by endorsing Zohran in the general election.

By stubbornly hammering on proposals to make the city affordable, Zohran was able to break beyond the Left’s college-educated base.

12) The fight has really just begun. Establishment Democrats, Donald Trump, and their billionaire funders are going to do everything possible to prevent Zohran from taking office in November or, if that fails, from implementing his agenda. Expect an unprecedented, billionaire-funded scaremongering onslaught to convince New Yorkers that a Zohran City Hall will bankrupt the city, unleash crime sprees, and persecute Jews.

13) Faced with claims that his project will lead to urban ruin and chaos, Zohran can lean on the progressive, technocratic competence of Lander’s crew and point to thriving social democratic cities across Europe as well as strong historical precedents of success in the United States. Before they named an airport after him, as Waleed Shahid notes, New York City’s wildly successful socialist mayor Fiorello La Guardia was also first denounced as an impractical radical.

14) The experience of La Guardia, like Milwaukee’s “sewer socialists,” shows that winning office is not enough. When you’re up against such powerful opponents, you need lots of organized grassroots power outside the state to actually implement your agenda. The most challenging obstacle on the road ahead is that Zohran’s electoral success has significantly outpaced the scale of working-class and socialist organization in New York City. Building widespread organization in workplaces and neighborhoods is hard, essential, and urgently needed. So join DSA. Unionize your workplace through the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC). Reform your unions. Salt a strategic company. Or build a tenant union in your building.

15) DSA’s membership is about to surge. And the organization is going to come under intense scrutiny from Fox News, Trump, and the Democratic establishment. It’s time to tighten our ship and to make a concerted nationwide turn away from self-marginalizing leftism. Members should study and emulate NYC-DSA’s mass politics orientation. If this campaign didn’t fit all of your ideological priors, maybe those priors are wrong.

16) There are going to be all sorts of major setbacks in the months and years ahead. But after yesterday, it’s so much easier to see — and so much easier to feel — that a different world actually is possible if we fight like hell for it. The future is unwritten. Let’s write it together.

NEW YORK (WPIX) – The final major independent poll before Primary Day in New York City shows Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani passing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the last round of a ranked-choice voting simulation.

The survey of early voters and likely voters in the Democratic mayoral primary, conducted by Nexstar’s WPIX, Emerson College and The Hill, shows Mamdani winning in the final round, at roughly 52%, to Cuomo’s 48%.

Cuomo has the greatest number of first-choice ballots, with the first round of the ranked choice voting simulation showing him at 36%, Mamdani at 34%, and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander at 13%. Cuomo maintains his lead as the simulation plays out until the final round, when Lander is eliminated and the majority of his “second choice” ballots flow to Mamdani.

Mamdani and Lander have cross-endorsed each other, urging their supporters to rank the other candidate second on their ballots. The cross-endorsement is one of the several major developments this polling captures for the first time.

NYC Comptroller Brad Lander arrested at immigration court

Conducted June 18-20, the polling surveys New Yorkers following major late breaking campaign developments, including: several cross-endorsements; the final Democratic primary debate; Lander’s brief detention by ICE just outside of federal immigration court; a controversy surrounding Mamdani’s defense of the words “globalize the intifada”; Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsing Mamdani; Cuomo gaining increasing support in the Jewish community, and several influential opinion pieces in the pages of The New York Times.

Developments over the weekend, such as former President Bill Clinton endorsing Cuomo, would not have been a factor for voters surveyed.

Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks in the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary Debate at NBC Studios on June 4, 2025, in New York City. (Yuki Iwamura-Pool/Getty Images)

If the poll ends up being a predictor of the June 24 Democratic primary result, it would mark a meteoric rise for Mamdani, who was polling at 1% in Emerson’s first survey in February.

The poll also found that most New York City Democratic primary voters have made up their minds, with only 4% still undecided.

The most recent independent polling from a major organization before this poll came from Marist. Marist found that about 11% of primary voters were undecided and found Cuomo winning by double digits both in the first and final rounds.

A source close to the Cuomo campaign said its internal polling is more consistent with the findings of the Marist poll. However, with early voting turnout nearly double what it was four years ago, especially in deeply liberal pockets of Manhattan and Brooklyn, Mamdani’s campaign is projecting confidence.

“This is an outlier: Every other credible poll in this election — including two released last week — has shown Governor Cuomo with a double-digit lead, which is exactly where this election will end tomorrow. Between now and then, we will continue to fight for every vote like he will fight for every New Yorker as mayor,” a spokesperson for Cuomo told WPIX.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.