Ranked-choice ballot count gives Zohran Mamdani even bigger win in NYC mayoral primary

Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary was even more dominant than it initially appeared.

A ranked choice tabulation Tuesday showed the Queens assemblymember reached 56% of the vote in the third round of counting, giving him a win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates. Mamdani defeated Cuomo by more than 116,000 votes, or a margin of 12 percentage points, easily securing the Democratic nomination for the November general election and expanding the 7-point lead he had in the first round of counting.

After the Board of Elections posted the preliminary results to its website at noon, the Associated Press projected Mamdani to win the Democratic primary.

“Last Tuesday, Democrats spoke in a clear voice, delivering a mandate for an affordable city, a politics of the future, and a leader unafraid to fight back against rising authoritarianism,” Mamdani said. “I am humbled by the support of more than 545,000 New Yorkers who voted for our campaign and am excited to expand this coalition even further as we defeat Eric Adams and win a city government that puts working people first."

The new tally comes as the Democratic Party continues to wrestle with the implications of Mamdani’s historic upset win.

The 33-year-old candidate ran a campaign that relentlessly focused on making New York City more affordable. But the democratic socialist has also been critical of Israel’s war in Gaza and said “I don’t think we should have billionaires because frankly it is so much money in a moment of so much inequality,” prompting alarm among the city’s business community and the Democratic establishment.

Youth turnout was key to Mamdani’s victory. Primary voter data analyzed by Gothamist showed voters aged 25-34 made up the single largest share of the primary electorate.

The ranked-choice results also showed that a campaign urging voters not to rank Cuomo anywhere on their ballots was effective. Altogether, Mamdani picked up another 99,069 votes from candidates who were eliminated. Cuomo picked up just 53,493 votes.

“From the bottom of our hearts we thank the 428,530 New Yorkers who chose to rank Governor Cuomo as their choice for mayor and who believed in his vision to get the city back on track,” Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo said, noting the former governor he received more votes than Mayor Eric Adams received four years ago.

Azzopardi said the spike in young voters changed the electorate in ways that polls could not predict.

“Extremism, division and empty promises are not the answer to this city’s problems, and while this was a look at what motivates a slice of our primary electorate, it does not represent the majority. The financial instability of our families is the priority here, which is why actionable solutions, results and outcomes matter so much,” Azzopardi said.

Now, Mamdani will square off against Adams in the November election. Adams, a Democrat, declined to run in the primary and will appear on an independent ballot line in the fall.

Also on the ballot are Republican Curtis Sliwa and attorney Jim Walden on an independent line. Cuomo will also appear on his own independent ballot line, but he has not decided whether he will actively campaign. Azzopardi said Cuomo is still weighing his next steps.

Last week, the former governor said he was waiting to see the ranked-choice tally before making a final decision. Already, some of his key labor-union allies — including the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and 32BJ SEIU— have endorsed Mamdani’s campaign.

Jon Campbell contributed reporting.