Democrat candidate Zohran Mamdani is projected to win the New York City mayoral election Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press, making the socialist state assemblyman the first ever Muslim and the youngest candidate in more than a century to lead America’s largest city.
Mamdani, who had led in the polls since winning the Democrat primary in June, won a three way race against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who he trounced in the June 24 Democrat primary, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani will replace incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the race Sept. 28 after also running as an independent.
Mamdani, 34, has passed on opportunities to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” has defended Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, and has called for city-run grocery stores, fare-free buses, and a freeze on rents as ways to address the city’s high cost of living.
He has also released a policy proposal to budget $65 million for “gender-affirming care” for “both transgender youth and adults.”
The young candidate used social media to his advantage, releasing humorous videos in a variety of languages as he promoted his left-wing policies. He also focused on the shortcomings of previous leaders, putting Cuomo on blast for sexual harassment allegations and for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic when he was governor.
Early on, Mamdani picked up support from fellow Democratic socialists Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Mamdani also received endorsements from other prominent Democrats, among them New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Most recently, he was endorsed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. The lack of an endorsement from Jeffries for months suggests many national Democrat leaders have been hesitant to support the mayor-to-be. Van Hollen has accused New York Democrats of “spineless politics” for not backing Mamdani.
Republicans in Washington have seized on the ascendance of Mamdani as a way to tie his radical urban policies to the national Democratic Party.
Last week, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., contended that a radical wing of the Democratic Party had put pressure on Democrat congressional leaders to keep the federal government shut down.
“The new power center of the Democrat Party is one that should frighten every common sense American,” said Johnson. “Exhibit A is Zohran Mamdani. New York City, America’s largest city, the cradle of capitalism … they’ve got a 34-year-old, unproven, untested socialist who looks to be the next mayor.”
Mamdani’s next four years as mayor will put his socialist policies to the test in the world’s financial capital, and it appears likely he will have at best tense relations with President Donald Trump, whose immigration policies he has opposed on the campaign trail.
Mamdani has pledged to fight the administration’s deportations, saying, “What I would be doing is reminding New Yorkers of their rights, making it clear that this is not something that we stand for, being proud of our sanctuary city policies and utilizing the courts.”
However, Mamdani has also said he “will continue to be open to speaking with Donald Trump, to meeting with Donald Trump, all of it on the premise of actually supporting New Yorkers.”
Trump recently told The Daily Signal he regretted Mamdani’s success, but that Mamdani will need support from the White House to succeed as mayor.
“I looked at the polls and looks like we’re going to have a communist as the mayor of New York,” the Queens-born president told The Daily Signal. “It’ll be very interesting, but here’s the good news: He’s got to go through the White House. Everything goes through the White House, at least [with] this White House it does.”
Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell contributed to this report. This is a breaking news article and it may be updated.
