Zohran Mamdani is on track to become New York City’s next mayor.
The Bangor Daily News’ election partner Decision Desk HQ projected at 9:03 p.m Tuesday that 34-year-old Mamdani would be the Big Apple’s next leader.
Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary earlier this year, faced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Voters came out in huge numbers Tuesday. According to the city’s Board of Elections, more than 2 million voters cast ballots — the first time that has happened in a New York mayoral race since 1969.
Mamdani will be the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in generations. His victory also elevates the democratic socialist to political stardom and gives his brand of economic populism one of the most visible political perches in America.
The race has made Mamdani a national figure as he has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump and other Republicans, who have tried to cast him as the face of a new, more radical Democratic Party. Trump has also threatened to take over the city if Mamdani wins, as well as arrest and deport the state assembly member, who was born in Uganda but is a U.S. citizen.
Trump reluctantly endorsed Cuomo on the eve of the election, saying Mamdani would bring “disaster” to the city and encouraging Sliwa backers to vote for the former governor instead.
Mamdani has generated national buzz and won endorsements from big-name progressives, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He has proposed raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers and using the money to make city buses free and provide free, universal child care. He has also promised to freeze rent for people living in about 1 million rent-regulated apartments.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
