It's Official: Zohran Mamdani Wins Democratic Nomination for Mayor

By Y.M. Lowy

Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani is now officially the Democratic nominee for mayor, but how he got there is confusing. Let's break it down. 

On election night, Mamdani was ahead by only 7% over former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Normally, that would not be enough to win. But this time, because no one got more than 50% of the votes, the city used a system called ranked-choice voting.

In ranked-choice voting, voters don’t pick just one candidate. They list their favorites 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd, and so on. If no one gets over 50% in the first round, the person with the fewest votes is removed. Then their votes are given to whoever those voters picked next. This process continues until one person finally has over 50%.

As more candidates like City Comptroller Brad Lander, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, and others were knocked out, Mamdani slowly gained more votes from their supporters’ second and third choices. In the final round, he got 56% of the vote and beat Cuomo, who got 44%.

Even though Cuomo lost the Democratic primary, he’s still going to be on the ballot in November because he didn’t remove his name by the deadline. 

Mamdani is a democratic socialist. He supports large government programs, higher taxes on wealthy people, and reducing police funding. During his time in office, he has only passed 19 bills, which makes people uneasy due to his inexperience and troubling history.

He will now face Republican Curtis Sliwa, Independent candidate Jim Walden, and current Mayor Eric Adams, who is also running as an Independent, in the general election this November.