Mamdani Declares Primary Victory, Cuomo Concedes

June 25, 2025 Democrats, New York City

The New York Times reports:

Zohran Mamdani, a little-known state lawmaker whose progressive platform and campaign trail charisma electrified younger voters, stunned former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City on Tuesday night, building a lead so commanding that Mr. Cuomo conceded.

Mr. Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist from Queens, tapped into a current of anxiety around New York City’s growing affordability crisis. His joyful campaign brought new voters into the fold who rejected the scandal-scarred Mr. Cuomo’s ominous characterizations of the city and embraced an economic platform that included everything from free bus service and child care to publicly owned grocery stores.

The outcome was not official, and even assuming Mr. Mamdani gains the nomination, he faces an unusually competitive general election in November. Still, Mr. Mamdani declared victory at a rally early Wednesday in Queens, pledging to be a “mayor for every New Yorker” and framing his win as part of a movement powered by volunteers.

New York City’s NBC affiliate reports:

Mamdani celebrated his showing in the Democratic primary in a rousing speech to his supporters at his election night party, telling them, “Today, eight months after launching this campaign with the vision of a city that every New Yorker could afford, we have won.”

“I will be the mayor for every New Yorker,” the state legislator said, later adding, “I cannot promise that you will always agree with me. But I will never hide from you.”

Mamdani said the city is also “where the mayor will use their power to reject Donald Trump’s fascism, to stop mass ICE agents from deporting our neighbors and to govern our city as a model for the Democratic Party, a party where we fight for working people with no apology.”

CNN reports:

Mamdani’s strong performance will reverberate beyond America’s largest city, catapulting him and his policy ideas – a rent freeze, making city buses free and raising taxes on the most wealthy – into the national spotlight. It sets up a resounding triumph for progressives over the Democratic establishment as the national party debates how best to push back against President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker.

“In the words of Nelson Mandela, it always seems impossible until it is done,” Mamdani told cheering supporters at his campaign watch party. “Today, eight months after launching this campaign, with the vision of a city that every New Yorker could afford, we have won.”

Mamdani’s detractors have argued his limited legislative experience, progressive policy ideas and criticisms of Israel make him too extreme for the city. Republicans were already sending press releases criticizing him and suggesting he was the face of the national Democratic Party.

It will likely be a couple of days before the result is official. The cult, predictably, is screaming.



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