Leftwing Zohran Mamdami, 33, sees surging support in race with former governor for Democratic nomination
New Yorkers are headed to the polls on Tuesday in a primary election that is both likely to decide the city’s next mayor and have major political implications for the future of the Democratic party.
The race pits two drastically different Democrats against one another. Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist endorsed by the progressive wing of the Democratic party, is the main challenger to Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who has been backed by the party’s centrists and billionaire donors.
Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 after more than a dozen women accused him of sexual harassment, was the clear frontrunner earlier in the year. But Mamdani has enjoyed a meteoric surge in polls in recent weeks, and could benefit from the primary’s ranked-choice voting system.
Voters can rank five candidates in order of preference, and a poll released on Monday showed Mamdani winning the primary after multiple rounds of counting. Last week, Mamdani announced he was “cross-endorsing” with Brad Lander, a fellow progressive who was recently arrested by Ice agents while visiting an immigration court.
