Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa and was elected New York City’s 111th mayor.
Mamdani will be sworn in on Jan. 1, 2026, which makes him the youngest mayor in over a century and the first South Asian and Muslim to lead NYC, NPR reported.
“The future is in our hands,” Mamdani, 34, said in his victory speech. “New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford.”
Mamdani received 50.4% of the two million people who voted in NYC, which is the highest voter turnout since 1969, CBS reported.
An estimated 45% of registered voters cast their vote in the five boroughs.
Mamdani received more votes from Hispanic, African American, Asian and lower-income communities, while Cuomo received more votes from white and higher-income residents, The New York Times reported.
With affordability at the center of his campaign, the new mayor plans to freeze the rent, create free buses, have free childcare, tax bigger corporations and hold bad landlords accountable.
After his loss, Cuomo also spoke out, “We are headed down a dangerous, dangerous road.”
President Donald Trump, who gave a last-minute endorsement to Cuomo, threatened NYC if Mamdani won.
On Truth Social, Trump wrote that he would send “the very minimum” amount of money to NYC if Mamdani were elected.
Mamdani responded to Trump’s threat, “Address that threat for what it is: it is a threat. It is not the law.”
When sworn into office in January, Mamdani will have to deal with the backlash from the administration and the billionaires in NYC who claimed they would be leaving the city if he won.
The Daily Mail reported that nearly one million New Yorkers were planning to leave the city following the election results.
Nov. 4 was not just a big day for NYC, as states across the country voted, and democrats had a huge win.
Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherill won in Virginia and New Jersey for Governor, and California approved congressional district boundaries that democrats were fighting for.
“Tonight we have stepped out from the old and into the new,” Mamdani said in his evening address.
“This will be an age where New Yorkers will expect from their leaders a bold vision of what we will achieve rather than a list of excuses for what we are too timid to attempt.”
