Democrat Mamdani wins New York City mayoral race; his win is a ‘political earthquake’: reports

Thirty-four-year-old Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected as the new mayor of New York City on Tuesday, local time, defeating his opponent, former Governor Cuomo, according to CNN, The Hill and multiple US media outlets.

The Hill called Mamdani's win in the NYC mayoral race a "political earthquake," saying it caps a stunning rise from obscurity, gives the left one of its biggest triumphs to date and inflames an already-fierce fight within the Democratic Party.

Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to Indian parents and became an American citizen in 2018, shortly after graduating college, according to Associated Press. Mamdani has employed buzzy campaign videos — many with winking references to Bollywood and his Indian heritage — to help make inroads with voters outside his slice of Queens. In TikTok videos, he's even appealed to voters of color by speaking in Spanish, Bangla and other languages, per AP.

His win represents a major triumph for progressives, empowering a new coalition of younger voters and immigrants who volunteered for his campaign, filled its coffers with thousands of small donations and flocked to the polls to elect the city's first Muslim mayor, according to The New York Times.

Turnout across the US' most populous city topped two million, the highest figure in decades. That's proof, at least in the eyes of Team Mamdani, that their candidate's brand of politics ignited new hope, drawing first-time voters to the polls, per The Hill.

In his victory speech Tuesday, he pledged to work closely with those who don't share his views on controversial issues, the AP reported.

"Together, we will usher in a generation of change, and if we embrace this brave new course, rather than fleeing from it," Mamdani said later. 

NBC News exit polling found that Mamdani won across racial demographics — with white, Black, Latino, Asian and voters of other races all backing his candidacy over Cuomo's and Curtis Sliwa's. 

According to NPR, some of Mamdani's main campaign promises included making the city's buses fare-free, freezing stabilized rents, providing universal child care, increasing the minimum wage by 2030 and lowering the cost of living by raising taxes on big corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent of New Yorkers. According to The New York Times, Mamdani is a member of both the national Democratic Socialists of America and its local New York City chapter. Mamdani had consistently identified as a democratic socialist, a campaign spokesperson said previously.

Mamdani will be inaugurated on January 1, 2026, CNN reported.

US President Trump endorsed former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for mayor of New York City on Monday and threatened to hold back federal funds to the city if Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral election on Tuesday, the Reuters reported.

Critics have pointed to Mamdani's relative inexperience and the political challenges he would face in delivering on his ambitious, highly progressive agenda. And, despite his repeated disavowal of antisemitism, his vocal and long-held criticisms of Israel's government and actions in Gaza have alienated some voters in a city that's home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, NPR reported.