Zohran Mamdani wins New York City mayor’s race, NBC News projects

Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, will win the New York City mayor’s race, NBC News projected on Tuesday night.

Mamdani, a 34-year-old state Assembly member who was the Democratic Party nominee, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

The city’s Board of Elections said that more than 2 million votes had been cast in the contest, the first time that number had been reached since 1969.

“Tonight we have spoken in a clear voice: Hope is alive,” Mamdani told supporters in his victory speech.

“In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light,” he said.

Mamdani, the first Muslim to be elected mayor, will replace scandal-scarred Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who ignominiously quit the race in September after struggling in polls as an independent candidate.

Going into Election Night, the Queens resident Mamdani was the clear favorite. That was far from the case in June, when he shocked the political world by beating Cuomo in the Democratic ranked-choice primary.

President Donald Trump, for months, has railed against Mamdani, calling him, incorrectly, a “communist.”

Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal funds from the city if Mamdani won, endorsed Cuomo on Monday.

Mamdani, a native of Uganda who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018, has called for a freeze in the rent of rent-stabilized apartments in the city, free public buses and the creation of city-owned grocery stores.

His platform and political worldview have sparked a backlash from city billionaires and other business interests, with anti-Mamdani political action committees raising more than $40 million to oppose his candidacy and back Cuomo.

Cuomo, who previously was U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as well as New York state attorney general, resigned as governor in August 2021 after being accused by multiple women of sexual harassment.

Cuomo, whose father, Mario Cuomo, served three terms as the state’s governor, has denied wrongdoing.

His campaign platform calls for increasing the size of the city’s police department, deploying more officers in the city’s subways, building more affordable housing and reducing school class size.

The former radio host Sliwa, 71, in his second campaign for mayor, has leaned heavily on issues surrounding public safety and called for hiring 7,000 additional police officers.

Adams also had been running as an independent after skipping his Democratic Party’s primary.

Adams’ public approval ratings had plummeted after his indictment in 2024 on federal corruption charges, which were later dismissed by a judge at the behest of the Department of Justice following the return of Trump to the White House.

Adams last month endorsed Cuomo, whom he had recently called a “snake and a liar.”

Since Adams’ withdrawal, Sliwa has faced intensifying pressure to quit the race to boost Cuomo’s chances against Mamdani.

Among those calling for Sliwa to drop out has been his fellow Republican, Trump, who has repeatedly and inaccurately claimed that Mamdani is a “communist.“