Zohran Mamdani Officially Becomes NYC Mayoral Election’s Democratic Nominee

Mamdani won 56 percent of the vote after just three rounds of tabulation. His rival, Andrew Cuomo, won 44 percent. Mamdani now faces Eric Adams.

New York City mayoral candidate and Democratic state Rep. Zohran Mamdani campaigns in New York City on April 16, 2025. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON—New York state Rep. Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, has officially become the Democratic Party’s nominee for mayor of the City of New York in the 2025 general election, following the publication of the final results of ranked-choice voting on July 1.

Mamdani is a 33-year-old immigrant from Uganda of Indian descent, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018 and was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020. After announcing his candidacy in the mayoral Democratic primary contest for the 2025 election, he dramatically rose in the polls—from having just 1 percent support to rivaling the frontrunner, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom he beat on election night when preliminary results showed him ahead with 43.5 percent support in the first round.

New York City uses ranked choice voting for primary elections; voters may rank their preferences among all candidates instead of just voting for one candidate. Votes are tallied according to rankings in successive rounds—the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated, and the votes are reallocated according to the voters’ second preferences—until one candidate reaches at least 50 percent, at which point he or she wins.

Although election day was June 24, the city’s Board of Elections took several days to tally all votes to account for the arrival of mail-in and absentee ballots. On July 1, it published the results, which showed that in the third round of tallying, Mamdani won 56 percent of the vote, accounting for 545,334 voters. Cuomo, by contrast, won 44 percent of the vote, while all other candidates were eliminated.

The results make Mamdani the official nominee of the party for the election. Previously, even though Cuomo conceded on election night, Mamdani was merely the presumptive nominee.

Mamdani will face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams in the general election. Adams himself was elected as a Democrat in the 2021 general election and remains registered with the party, but he chose to skip the Democratic primary and run as an independent candidate.

Mamdani describes himself as a “democratic socialist” and has run on a progressive platform focused primarily on the cost of living. His signature proposal is a “rent freeze” that would ban increases in residential rents for all tenants in rent-stabilized housing. Additionally, he has promised to launch a pilot program of city-run grocery stores offering low prices, as well as make Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses free to ride. To pay for these programs, he has proposed increasing taxes on wealthy residents and corporations.

Mamdani’s proposals have faced great criticism from Adams and moderate Democrats, who deride them as unworkable and fiscally irresponsible. Additionally, he has been criticized for his opposition to Israel’s conduct during its ongoing war against the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip, and has been accused of anti-Semitism for allegedly defending phrases such as “globalize the Intifada.” Mamdani has denied that he is anti-Semitic.

The general election will be held on Nov. 4.