Overview
- Zohran Mamdani secured roughly 50.5% of the vote and a 9–10 point lead over Andrew Cuomo to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor at age 34, one of the youngest in a century.
- More than two million New Yorkers voted, the city’s highest mayoral turnout in over 50 years, according to the election commission.
- Mamdani campaigned on rent caps, large-scale affordable housing, free buses and childcare, city-run grocery stores, and higher taxes on the wealthy, powered by small donations and mass volunteer mobilization.
- President Trump backed Cuomo and threatened to cut federal funds; the White House has already put about $18 billion in New York transit projects on hold, and the NRCC plans to tie Democrats nationwide to Mamdani in 2026.
- Democrats also won governorships in Virginia (Abigail Spanberger) and New Jersey (Mikie Sherrill), and California voters approved Prop 50 to allow earlier redistricting that could bolster Democrats in the 2026 House map.