NEW YORK: Zohran Mamdani has officially entered the race for New York City mayor after the New York City Election Board on Tuesday confirmed his surprise victory, and will go up against current mayor Eric Adams in the upcoming election.
Mamdani secured the Democratic nomination after winning the party’s primary with 56% of the vote in the third round of ranked-choice voting.
Ranked-choice voting results released on Tuesday showed Mamdani — who began his campaign as a little-known member of the New York State Assembly — securing 56% of the vote in the third round, where over 50% is needed to win.
As the Democratic nominee, Mamdani will go up against the current mayor, Eric Adams, in the general election. Adams, who won as a Democrat in 2021, is now running as an independent after being indicted on corruption charges. The US Department of Justice later dropped the case.
In a new video posted on X, Mamdani compared his primary win to Adams’ 2021 campaign.
“We always believed our win would come after several rounds of ranked-choice voting. When we saw that we got more first-round votes than Eric Adams did in seven rounds last time, it was astonishing,” he said.
Mamdani’s unexpected victory over seasoned politician Andrew Cuomo — a centrist — has raised concerns among some Democrats. The 33-year-old Uganda-born Muslim describes himself as a democratic socialist, prompting fears that his views could be used by Republicans to target vulnerable Democrats.
The day after Mamdani’s win, President Donald Trump labelled him a “100% Communist Lunatic”. The Republican congressional campaign committee also vowed to tie Mamdani to every at-risk Democrat in next year’s midterm elections.
In the same video, Mamdani said his goal was “to win people back to the Democratic party” and noted that he even secured support in some New York City neighbourhoods that had voted for Trump in the last presidential election.
When asked how he would respond if Mamdani, as mayor, tried to block immigration arrests, Trump said:
“Well then, we’ll have to arrest him. Look, we don’t need a communist in this country. But if we have one, I’m going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation.”
Mamdani had earlier criticised immigration raids, saying they were “terrorising people” and that agents involved had no interest in upholding the law.
Cuomo, who earned 44% of the final vote, conceded after early results were announced last Tuesday. While he could still run as an independent, he has not said whether he will do so.
Mamdani will also face Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, a radio host known for founding the Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol, and Jim Walden, an independent candidate and lawyer.
New York City introduced the ranked-choice voting system in 2021. The system allows voters to rank up to five candidates in order of preference. Ballots are counted in rounds, with the lowest-ranked candidates eliminated and their votes redistributed until someone crosses the 50% threshold.
