NEW YORK, USA — Zohran Mamdani has been elected mayor of New York City, securing a landmark victory in a contentious race that has drawn national and global attention.
His win makes him the first Muslim, the first person of South Asian descent and the first African-born leader of America’s largest city, home to more than 8.4 million residents.
With 90 percent of ballots counted on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, Mamdani held a nine-point lead over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, earning 1,033,471 votes to Cuomo’s 852,032.
Republican Curtis Sliwa captured roughly seven percent of the vote.
In his victory speech, the 34-year-old state assemblyman celebrated the moment as a shift in political power.
“Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it. The future is in our hands,” he told a cheering crowd in Brooklyn.
“My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty.”
He later added: “New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford.”
Mamdani’s campaign focused heavily on affordability in a city grappling with rising rents and deepening inequality.
Backed by a diverse coalition — from Yemeni shopworkers and Mexican grandmothers to Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek nurses — he promised policies such as free public buses, universal childcare and rent freezes on stabilised apartments.
Addressing supporters, Mamdani invoked the communities that rallied behind him.
“This city is your city, and this democracy is yours too,” he said.
The race became a proxy battle over the future direction of the Democratic Party.
Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary, cast the contest as a fight between the party establishment and “an extreme radical left.”
He conceded defeat, saying, “Tonight was their night.”
Mamdani, an avowed democratic socialist, did not shy away from his political identity.
“I am Muslim, I am a democratic socialist and, most damning of all, I refuse to apologise for any of this,” he told supporters.
The election unfolded under the national spotlight as Donald Trump began his second term in the White House.
Trump endorsed Cuomo in the final hours of the campaign — a move seen by some voters as a miscalculation — and has repeatedly criticised Mamdani’s progressive agenda and pro-immigrant stance.
New Yorkers who backed Mamdani said his appeal extended far beyond identity.
“We know who Cuomo is, and he hasn’t been a great person,” said Lucy Cordero, 68, in the Bronx.
“I picked Mamdani because he’s new and he’s fresh. Maybe he can make a change.”
Others cited the shifting political climate.
“People are really scared and want to keep things the way they are,” said Joshua Wilson, 33, a voter in Mott Haven.
“But I feel like we have nothing to lose. He’s idealistic and a little young — we might as well balance what is happening in the country.”
Mamdani’s ascent has also inspired many Muslim and South Asian New Yorkers, communities that faced intense discrimination after the September 11 attacks.
His outspoken support for Palestinian rights energised young progressive voters, even as it unsettled moderates within the Democratic establishment.
When Mamdani takes office on Thursday, January 1, 2025, he will confront significant challenges: persuading state lawmakers to fund his ambitious social agenda, navigating strained relations between progressive Democrats and party centrists, and responding to Trump’s threats to cut federal funds or deploy federal forces to the city.
Still, supporters say his win signals a new chapter.
“We’re going to hold him accountable,” said Andre Augustine, 33, in the Bronx.
“But I’m cautiously optimistic.”
Closing his victory speech, Mamdani pledged to lead a united city.
“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” he said, directing his final line at Trump.
“To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
