Zohran Mamdani won one of the most competitive elections and made history Tuesday night by being elected the next mayor of New York City.
Mamdani defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani, the Ugandan-born son of filmmaker Mira Nair and professor Mahmood Mamdani, becomes New York’s first Muslim mayor and the first person of South Asian descent to lead the city.
“Tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford and a mandate for a government that can do just that,” Mamdani told supporters at a raucous party.
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How many people voted in the New York election?
More than 2 million people voted in the largest mayoral race in more than five decades, according to the New York City Board of Elections.
In the last election in 2021, turnout was 23%, a new low, the New York Times reported.
Which city districts did Mamdani win?
Zohran Mamdani won four of the five boroughs (Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island).
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When will Mamdani be sworn in?
Zohran Mamdani was elected the 111th mayor of New York City. The proclaimed democratic socialist will be sworn in on January 1. He will become the youngest person to hold the office in several decades.
“I’m going to be sworn in as mayor of New York on January 1st. And it’s because of you. So before I say anything else, I have to say this…thank you,” Mamdani said.
How many votes did Mamdani and his opponents get?
— Mamdani won 1,036,051 or 50.4% of the votes out of 91% of the votes counted.
— Ex-governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing the primary to Mamdani, received 854,995, or 41.6% of the vote.
— Republican Curtis Sliwa received 146,137 or 7.1% of the vote.
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What will Mamdani’s key challenges be?
As mayor of New York, the Democrat’s key challenge will be maintaining relations with the White House and delivering on his promises on affordability.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Mamdani, from calling him a “communist lunatic” to threatening to withhold funding.
“I firmly believe that New York will be a total and utter economic and social disaster if Mamdani wins,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “As president, I don’t want to send good money after bad.”
Mamdani’s achievements – and failures – will be closely scrutinised, the BBC report said.
“Mamdani has to implement his ideas in politics, and New York is notoriously difficult to govern. It’s probably the second hardest political job in the United States, after being president,” says Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
So whatever he is able to achieve, it won’t be easy, the Guardian quoted Reeher as saying.
Andrew Rein, director of the New York City Citizens Budget Commission Organization, told Politico that Mamdani is going to be in a very challenging fiscal situation with the city budget, “and a challenging federal situation with changing policies that will stress all kinds of systems in the city.”
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Mamdani’s direct challenge to Trump
Addressing thousands of supporters after his victory, Mamdani said that “New York will remain a city of immigrants—a city built by immigrants, driven by immigrants, and led by an immigrant starting tonight.”
“So listen to me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any one of us, you’re going to have to get through all of us. When we step into City Hall in 58 days, expectations will be high. We will meet them. A great New Yorker once said that while you campaign in poetry, you govern in prose,” the Democrat said.
