Zohran Mamdani has won New York City’s mayoral election, defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo in a historic result that makes him the city’s first Muslim, first African-born and youngest mayor in more than a century.
The Associated Press projected Mamdani’s victory early on Wednesday, confirming the 34-year-old Democratic state assemblyman’s rise from relative obscurity to one of the most closely watched figures in US politics.
“Tonight you have delivered a mandate for change,” Mamdani told supporters at a rally in Brooklyn. “The future is in our hands. My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty.”
Born in Kampala, Uganda, to Indian parents, Mamdani is a self-described democratic socialist who represents Queens in the New York State Assembly. He campaigned on affordable housing, free childcare and expanded public transport, pledges that resonated with young and working-class voters.
The election drew one of the highest voter turnouts in recent decades. Cuomo, running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary, conceded defeat on Tuesday night. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa trailed far behind.
Mamdani’s win came despite a late appeal from US President Donald Trump, who urged New Yorkers to back Cuomo instead.
“Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “He is capable of it, Mamdani is not.”
A day earlier, Trump said he would be reluctant to send more than “the very minimum” level of federal funding to New York if Mamdani won, calling him a “communist” – a label Mamdani rejected.
“It’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York,” Trump said in a television interview with CBS. “Because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there.”
Mamdani responded: “I will address that threat for what it is: it is a threat. It is not the law.” He joked separately that he was “kind of like a Scandinavian politician – only browner.”
Governor Kathy Hochul congratulated Mamdani on his “historic” win and said she looked forward to working together “to make the city more affordable and liveable.” Hillary Clinton praised the result as “a win for democracy.”
Former US President Barack Obama also weighed in on X, congratulating Democratic winners across the country: “It’s a reminder that when we come together around strong, forward-looking leaders who care about the issues that matter, we can win.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called Mamdani “a Marxist,” saying his election “cements the Democrat Party’s transformation to a radical, big-government socialist party.”
Speaking to supporters after his victory, Mamdani said New York would be a light “in this moment of political darkness” and that his win showed the way to “defeat” Donald Trump.
Set to take office on January 1, Mamdani told the crowd: “We will build a New York that belongs to all of us, a city that working people can afford, where every community has a voice.”
Follow us on
