The early results of the Democratic primary are mostly in, and disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo is trailing dreamboat Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani by seven points. And while it doesn’t look like either candidate will clinch a majority of the vote before the Ranked Choice Voting elimination rounds begin, it’s basically a wrap: Mr. Cardamom is poised to clinch the Democratic nomination for mayor in the largest city in America.
Shortly after 10:30 p.m., Cuomo took the stage at his election night party and told supporters he’d called Mamdani to congratulate him on his primary victory. He praised Mamdani’s “really smart, and good, and impactful campaign.”
“Tonight was not our night,” Cuomo said. “Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night…. He deserved it. He won.”
Speaking with The New York Times after that, Cuomo said, “I said he won the primary election.” He said he intends to “look at the numbers,” and make a decision about running on an independent line. Cuomo has already filed paperwork to form his own party — The Fight and Deliver Party — and could run in the general election if he wants.
Cuomo’s loss was also a rebuke — a further humiliation — for establishment Democrats. Cuomo was endorsed by South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the man who famously helped revive Joe Biden’s flagging candidacy in 2020, and former President Bill Clinton. (Cuomo served in his Cabinet.)
It is a stunning upset by Mamdani, a 33-year-old third-term New York state assembly member representing Queens, who based his campaign on economic concerns, promising a rent freeze for some 2 million rent-stabilized apartments, free city buses, universal child care, and city-owned grocery stores.
Official results will become available in a week, when the Board of Elections accepts its last mail-in ballots. Mamdani is the clear favorite, but others remain in the race, including some candidates who cross-endorsed with him, like Brad Lander, the New York City Comptroller, who stands in third place.
Lander celebrated Cuomo’s bad fortune at his own election night party. “Andrew Cuomo is in the past. He is not the present or future of New York City,” he said. “Good fucking riddance.”
