Mamdani wins NYC mayor's race in generational shift for Democrats. Live updates.

NEW YORK − Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who shot to stardom and shook up Democratic politics, has won the race for mayor of New York City.

The Associated Press, NBC News and CNN called the race for Mamdani around 9:30 p.m., as his next-closest opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, trailed.

Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens, was at 1% in the polls when he launched an upstart campaign focused on the cost of living. He offered unabashedly left-leaning proposals including a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, free buses and universal child care, paid for by levying taxes on the city’s wealthiest. Several of the city's billionaires donated millions of dollars to launch attack ads against him.

Cuomo, the 67-year-old head of a dynastic Democratic political name in New York, was considered unbeatable until Mamdani, 34, won an upset in the Democratic primary in June.

The subsequent general election campaign, which Cuomo contested as an independent, was marked by fighting over Mamdani’s proposals and his past criticisms of Israel and the New York City Police Department.

In addition to some fellow Democrats objecting to him, Mamdani drew the ire of President Donald Trump, a Queens native, and other Republicans who have attacked Mamdani − a Ugandan immigrant and a Muslim − with incendiary allegations that he supports terrorism. Some of those attacks were echoed by Cuomo, who Trump endorsed.

When Mamdani replaces embattled current Mayor Eric Adams on Jan. 1, he will have to navigate threats by the Trump administration to pull federal funds from New York and convince state lawmakers to approve his plans for taxing and spending.

Here's the latest:

AOC calls Mamdani 'a historic candidate'

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told reporters at Mamdani's victory party that "we showed we're not going to be bullied."

Asked if Mamdani is the future of the Democratic Party, she said "I think he's the next mayor of New York City."

"He is a bright light showing the future path for championing working families in New York," Ocasio-Cortez said. "I know for Zohran, it's not about Democrat, Republican, or independent, it's about how we help people."

Ocasio-Cortez added that President Trump "knows that if you mess with New York, you mess with the whole country, and that this is a city that doesn't fight back."

-Ben Adler

Manhattan DA who led Trump’s hush money conviction wins reelection

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has won reelection, according to local outlet NY1 and Associated Press.

Bragg, a Democrat, was the first Black district attorney elected to the office in 2021 and earned the national spotlight in recent years for leading the hush money trial against President Donald Trump.

A 12-person Manhattan jury unanimously convicted Trump in May 2024, when he was no longer in office, on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a 2016 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The president’s legal team is attempting to appeal the decision.

-Kathryn Palmer

Mamdani leads with majority of early votes cast

NY1, the local news channel owned by Spectrum cable, is reporting that the New York City Board of Elections has released early voting totals. They are:

• Mamdani 422,716 votes (51.5%)
• Cuomo 325,497 (39.7%)
• Sliwa 65,810 (8%)

This is 36.13% of the expected vote total of over 2 million cast. If the trend continues among absentee ballots and votes cast on Election Day, Mamdani will be the winner.

-Ben Adler

Sliwa concedes, with a warning for Mamdani

Speaking to his supporters at his election night party on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Curtis Sliwa appeared to concede his defeat and Mamdani's likely victory.

"We have a mayor-elect, obviously I wish him good luck," Sliwa said. "

"We have spent two years organizing this movement. it's not just Republicans or Democrats or independents.," Sliwa added, before listing his eclectic constituency, which he described as including animal lovers and the homeless.

"We will not surrender, we will not retreat," he said. "let me warn our new leader: if you try to implement socialism, if you try to render our police impotent... we are not only organizing, we are mobilizing and we will become the mayor-elect and his supporters worst enemies."

Sliwa also alluded to entreaties he has said he received from wealthy Cuomo backers to drop out.

"A person said to me, 'c'mon Curtis, everybody has a price. But guess what? We don't have a price. We are not for sale. we are the people."

-Ben Adler

Record turnout will give the winner a mandate, state senator says

State Sen. Mike Gianaris, a Democrat from Queens who has endorsed Mamdani, said whoever wins the race will have a mandate even if they don't cross 50%.

“I think the bigger number is not the margin of victory, it’s the turnout,” Gianaris, old reporters on the floor of the Mamdani election night party before results began trickling in. "It's astounding."

Preliminary voting numbers indicate the highest turnout in decades in a mayoral election in New York. “Whoever comes out of this, the victor is gonna have quite a mandate,” Gianaris said.

- Eduardo Cuevas

Polls close in NYC and the vote count begins

Poll workers across New York's five boroughs will begin counting the more than 2 million votes cast in the 2025 mayoral election.

New York voter turnout tops 2 million

New York has seen its biggest voter turnout in 56 years, the city Board of Election reported.

"We officially hit TWO MILLION votes - first time since 1969!" the board said in a social media post at 8:45 p.m. local time.

The board noted that anyone waiting on line when the polls close at 9 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

When will we know who won the NYC mayoral election?

While results from other off-year races start to trickle in, those watching the NYC race will need to wait a bit longer for returns.

Polls close at 9pm ET, after which the vote count begins.

-Kathryn Palmer

Foreign press packs into Mamdani election night party

Just before polls close at 9 p.m., scores of international, national and local press clamored to get inside the Brooklyn Paramount theaterin downtown Brooklyn. The venue, built in 1928, has capacity for 2,700 people and at least two bars, according to Brooklyn Magazine.

The event space, with balcony seating and soaring blue ceilings, had an open floor looking out to a stage with signage for Zohran. Behind the podium were flags for the city of New York and a large screen for Spectrum News 1, the local New York television station, playing on live.

The city mayor's race has garnered international attention after Mamdani's shock win in the June Democratic primary.

- Eduardo Cuevas

Hope, vibes in Brooklyn deli near Mamdani campaign party

Inside Munch Gourmet Market, a deli just a block from Mamdani’s election night party at the Brooklyn Paramount theater, Bronx resident Helmi Kassim said he likes the vibes in the race for mayor.

“Am I entitled to trust my vibes?” Kassim, 45, who is second-in-command at his brother’s deli, said from behind the counter. “No, I trust my vibes. That’s where my heart is.”

Kassim said Mamdani had given him new hope in politics.

He makes minimum wage and drives an hour-and-a-half from his home in the Bronx to the deli, six days a week and has put his three children through college. Kassim, a Muslim, like Mamdani, said he prays five times a day.

“I go through a pain just to be honorable and have dignity,” he said. “I feel like we share that. And when everybody's going against him, he's still standing. That’s God telling me, like, ‘Listen, this guy's special.’”

Kassim said he voted early for Mamdani. When he gets off work at 10 p.m., he will drive home to the Bronx, with a large sign for Mamdani on his dashboard.

−Eduardo Cuevas

NYC sees record turnout in mayor's race

Polls don't close until 9 p.m. ET, but New Yorkers have already voted in record numbers, according to city Board of Elections data.

With nearly 1.75 million voting check-ins as of 6 p.m. local time, the results mark a high in voting for mayor this century. The century’s previous record was in 2001, when over 1.5 million votes were cast in the election that saw Mike Bloomberg first win office. Early voting numbers also reached historic highs this election.

In 2021, around 1.15 million people voted in the general election that saw Eric Adams win in an uncompetitive race against Republican Curtis Sliwa after winning a nail-biter Democratic primary.

Off-year elections tend to have lower turnout, including in New York City. On this year’s ballot, New Yorkers are also deciding whether to move some elections, including the mayor’s race, to coincide with even-year presidential elections. Proponents, including Adams’ City Charter Revision Commission, say this could boost turnout.

−Eduardo Cuevas

Mayor Eric Adams, four years after swooping to victory, walks alone to polls

Four years ago, Eric Adams coasted to victory in the New York City mayoral election after winning in the Democratic primary. As the city’s second Black mayor, Adams − a former police officer seen as a political moderate − was considered by some to be the future of the Democratic Party before scandals rocked his administration.

This Election Day, video showed Adams, now 65, walking alone in untucked white dress shirt with his hands in his pockets to his polling place at P.S. 81 in Brooklyn. His security flanked him crossing the street.

After facing federal corruption charges that the Trump Justice Department later dropped, Adams skipped the June Democratic primary and ran as an independent before ending his long-shot reelection bid in September. He later endorsed Cuomo − whom he once called “a snake and a liar” − against Mamdani, the Democratic nominee.

Adams' name remains on the ballot, on an independent line. Fabien Levy, Adams' spokesperson, said he supported Cuomo.

−Eduardo Cuevas

Schumer mum on who he voted for

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the senior senator from New York, declined to say who he voted for.

When asked at a press conference on Capitol Hill whether he voted for the Democratic candidate, Mamdani, or for Cuomo, the former Democratic governor running as an independent, Schumer simply said he voted.

"Look, I voted and I look forward to working with the next mayor to help New York City,” Schumer said.

–Rebecca Morin

Who do the city’s past (living) mayors support? Split, just like they are about baseball.

New York’s former mayors are as divided about the race to lead City Hall as they are about which baseball team to back. Here's where the living former mayors and the current hizzoner stand on the election and baseball.

• Rudy Giuliani, a Republican mayor and Brooklyn native who served two terms and is President Trump's ally, is supporting Curtis Sliwa, the GOP nominee in the race. Both Giuliani, 81, and Sliwa, 71, are Yankees fans.
• Mike Bloomberg, the three-term technocratic mayor who settled in Manhattan decades ago, has endorsed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo twice. Bloomberg, an 83-year-old billionaire businessman, has also donated millions to super PACs that backed Cuomo and opposed Zohran Mamdani in Cuomo's unsuccessful primary bid and in the general election. Bloomberg grew up in Massachusetts as a rival Boston Red Sox fan before switching to the Yankees as mayor. Cuomo told the New York Times he liked all New York teams, including the Yankees and Mets.
• Bill de Blasio, the two-term mayor from Park Slope, Brooklyn, who famously sparred with Gov. Cuomo throughout his tenure, has endorsed Mamdani. In a Nov. 4 X post, de Blasio, 64, showed himself at his polling place wearing a campaign-blue “Hot Girls for Zohran” tee, a political fashion statement seen around the city, with an “I voted” sticker. De Blasio, has roots in Massachusetts, similar to Bloomberg, however, de Blasio still supports the Red Sox. Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens, prefers the Mets, who play in the borough.
• Eric Adams, the embattled current mayor, has backed Cuomo. After once calling Cuomo a “snake and a liar," Adams, who was born in Brooklyn and served as its borough president, has campaigned with Cuomo leading up to Election Day. Adams, 65, has worn both Mets and Yankees gear, including once with a cap having both teams' logos. The New York Times reported that an Adams spokesperson later clarified he's a "long-suffering Mets fan."

None of the living former mayors or mayoral hopefuls’ teams made it to this year's World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who originated in Brooklyn, won after midnight early Sunday morning, Nov. 2.

- Eduardo Cuevas

White House calls Mamdani ‘irresponsible’ over bomb-threat allegations

After Mamdani linked Trump to bomb threats at New Jersey polling places, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the candidate “irresponsible.”

Mamdani called the bomb threats part of voter intimidation like Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud.

“I think they are completely irresponsible and they are based on zero evidence,” Leavitt told reporters Tuesday at the White House.

−Bart Jansen

Early voting saw record turnout

In arguably the buzziest mayoral race in New York history, New Yorkers have recorded the highest turnout in the city's history in the general election.

Final New York City Board of Elections tallies showed over 735,000 check-ins in the early voting period from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2. In 2021, the last time the city elected its mayor, more than 169,000 people cast their ballots during early voting, four times less than in 2025.

Sunday, Nov. 2 − the final day for New Yorkers to cast their ballots in early voting before the Nov. 4 election − marked the highest early voting day in New York City history, elections officials announced in a Monday news release.

−Eduardo Cuevas and Jay Stahl

What is a democratic socialist?

Like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Mamdani identifies as a democratic socialist. And like Ocasio-Cortez, he belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America.

Democratic socialists believe that the government and economy should be run for the benefit of the public rather than private profit. They typically favor an enhanced social safety net such as universal health insurance provided by the government and paid for with higher taxes on the rich.

Unlike communism and other authoritarian systems of government, democratic socialists believe in democracy. Sanders has pointed to the social democracies in Scandinavia as models he would emulate in the United States.

−Ben Adler

Voters on both sides focused on cost of living

Mamdani reshaped the New York City mayoral race by focusing on cost of living in the notoriously expensive city.

Inwood resident Gisselee Rivera, 20, voted for Mamdani, citing cost of living as the top issue for her and her parents. She works in an after-school program for kids, and she thought Mamdani's proposed rent freeze would help her family. She said she noticed Mamdani talking to people and businesses across different neighborhoods on social media, and he also campaigned heavily in her neighborhood during the primary.

“It gives you a different idea of how the actual neighborhood is working,” Rivera said.

Bronx resident Zoila Cruz, 59, had a more pessimistic view and said she was leaning toward voting for Cuomo. Cruz had two jobs as a home attendant, but recently lost work in one job and said she struggles to keep up with rising expenses.

“Every day is worse,” she said in Spanish. “The economy, the cost of living, the rent.”

Cruz wasn't confident that Cuomo could improve things, but she sided with him more than the others. She thought Mamdani’s proposal for free buses was unrealistic. “Es una locura, verdad, mi amor?” Cruz said. It’s crazy, right, my love?

−Eduardo Cuevas

In Manhattan Latino hub, voters divided

In northern Manhattan, which has the highest concentration of Dominicans in the United States, voters appeared split between Mamdani’s vision and Cuomo’s experience. The area is represented by Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the first Dominican in Congress, who has backed Mamdani in the general election after endorsing Cuomo in the primary. The area swung to Mamdani in the primary.

“I’m going to vote for the youth and something new,” Jose Rodriguez, 72, a retiree, said in Spanish outside of the Washington Heights Academy in the Inwood neighborhood on a windy Election Day morning. His family encouraged him to vote for Mamdani. Rodriguez said he was most concerned about public safety and homelessness, and thought Mamdani could make a change as opposed to Cuomo, who he said represented the old political class.

Cell phone vendor Hector Ferreira, 49, planned to cast his vote for Cuomo. Mamdani was too liberal and New York had already gone too left, Ferreira said in Spanish. Ferreira was in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic capital, during the primary and didn’t vote then. But Cuomo, he said, “has the experience that New York City needs right now to fight crime and to improve quality of life.”

A year ago, Ferreira voted for President Donald Trump to fix the economy, which Ferreira blamed on former President Joe Biden. Inwood, like many working-class Latino communities, voted in record numbers for Trump. Mamdani has tried to bring back these voters to Democrats, while Cuomo has made appeals to conservatives to join his side.

−Eduardo Cuevas

Musk points out Mamdani appears on ballot twice. That's normal for New York.

Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla owner who has endorsed Cuomo, wrongly suggested that because Zohran Mamdani is listed twice on the ballot, he could win twice.

New York allows candidates' names to appear on multiple ballot lines to reflect various party endorsements, which is often used as a way to give support for parties or causes outside of the traditional two-party system. But New Yorkers can only vote for a single candidate, as their ballot indicates.

For example, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa appears on both the GOP ballot line and Protect Animals ballot line. Sliwa’s wife Nancy, an animal welfare advocate, reportedly voted for her husband under the Protect Animals line.

Mamdani appears as the Democratic nominee and also as the candidate for the left-leaning Working Families Party. Independent candidate Cuomo is listed once, on the Fight and Deliver line.

−Eduardo Cuevas

Cuomo apologizes for COVID-19 deaths but says he 'did nothing wrong'

Cuomo, in an Election Day morning appearance on Fox News, said he was sorry to people whose loved ones died from COVID-19 while he was governor.

"I apologize for any family that lost a loved one during that time. It was on my watch, and I understand how terrible it was," Cuomo said.

Cuomo has been dogged during his campaign by ongoing accusations that, when he was governor, his administration undercounted the number of nursing home residents who died from the coronavirus.

New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a report in 2021 finding that the state's Department of Health published data that may have undercounted those deaths by as much as 50%, and that nursing homes put residents at increased risk by failing to comply with infection control protocols.

Even with his apology, Cuomo continued to defend his record.

"We followed all the federal rules. We did nothing wrong," he said. "It was horrific, but everyone did the best that they could."

–Aysha Bagchi

Cuomo says Trump is 'pragmatic' in endorsing him

Andrew Cuomo said President Donald Trump was being realistic by telling Republican voters to support him against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.

“President Trump is pragmatic,” Andrew Cuomo said on the conservative talk show “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday morning. “He’s telling them the reality of this situation. If you do not vote, Mamdani is going to win.”

Trump has increasingly voiced support for Cuomo against Mamdani, the frontrunner in the race. Cuomo, running as an independent, previously disavowed Trump's endorsement while also trying to pull Republican voters away from GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa, who trails in third.

“Even if you’re not voting for a Republican, you’re voting to save New York City,” Cuomo said. “This election is not about Democrat or Republican. It’s about saving the city.”

−Eduardo Cuevas

Sliwa, wearing a cat tie, accompanies wife to vote

Sporting his signature red beret and a tie decorated with cats, Curtis Sliwa accompanied his wife, Nancy, on Tuesday as she cast her ballot for her husband in the New York City mayoral race.

Sliwa, the Republican candidate running on the Protect Animals ballot line, said that the results of the city’s election will “be determined by the people, even if they don’t choose me” and not the “political elites.” While holding a book entitled, “Pawverbs for a Cat Lover's Heart,” Sliwa said that he has the people’s support.

“Hopefully by the time the ballots are counted tonight, when all is said and done, I’ll be the next mayor of the City of New York,” he said. “And you know animals throughout the city will be partying hardy because they’ll have a friend both in Gracie Mansion and in City Hall.”

–Rebecca Morin

Candidates highlight their signature policy proposals

The three candidates vying for mayor gave vastly different closing arguments Tuesday while appearing on WNYC’s popular “The Brian Lehrer Show” to describe their signature policy proposal.

Mamdani, who has run on a campaign to address affordability, said his key issue was universal child care, which he wants to fund via taxes on the city’s wealthiest. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who would have to ultimately approve the tax hike with state lawmakers, has supported Mamdani’s proposal.

Sliwa cited his opposition to the city’s controversial housing proposals, which Cuomo and Mamdani support. Sliwa also pointed to opposition from City Council leadership, which is staunchly Democratic. “Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani are helping developers and realtors,” he said. “I’m standing with the people.”

Cuomo’s signature proposal was public safety, including hiring 5,000 new police officers. “Safety is the foundation,” he said. Mayor Eric Adams, who endorsed Cuomo, recently announced funding to hire 5,000 new NYPD officers. Recent data has showed a continued decline in major crimes in the city, with the lowest October for homicides since NYPD began tracking data in 1994.

−Eduardo Cuevas

Mamdani votes 'yes' on NYC housing measures

Outside of his polling place in Astoria, Queens, Mamdani told reporters he voted yes on New York City’s controversial ballot proposals 2 through 4, which Mayor Eric Adams' administration put forward in what proponents said is needed to address the city’s dire housing shortage.

City Council leadership opposed the measures, arguing it left local officials unable to respond to local needs of neighborhoods while concentrating power in the hands of the mayor and developers.

Mamdani hadn’t said whether he supported proposals until now. In the last mayoral debate on Oct. 22, his opponents and moderators ridiculed him for not having a response.

“We urgently need more housing to be built across the five boroughs,” he told a New York Daily News reporter on Election Day, acknowledging councilmembers who opposed the measures based on concerns over investment in their communities. “I share the commitment to that investment. I look forward to working with them and delivering on that.”

Mamdani also voted no on ballot proposal to move city elections for offices such as mayor to presidential years in order to boost turnout.

−Eduardo Cuevas

Cuomo declines to embrace Trump endorsement

Andrew Cuomo declined to embrace President Donald Trump's last-minute endorsement of him in the final hours before Election Day. Trump urged his supporters to cast their ballots for Cuomo in a Nov. 3 evening post on Truth Social.

"Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!" Trump said.

Rather than leaning into the endorsement, Cuomo highlighted that Trump previously called him a "bad Democrat."

"Trump called me a bad Democrat? No I’m a good Democrat. A proud Democrat," Cuomo said in a Monday evening post on X.

Cuomo added that Trump wouldn't be sending ICE or the National Guard into New York City under his watch, and painted himself as someone who could stand up to the Republican president.

−Aysha Bagchi

Mamdani says he aims to ‘Trump-proof’ New York City

Mamdani said his economic plan aims to protect the city from President Donald Trump’s threat to provide it less federal funding.

Mamdani calls for a 2% tax on people making more than $1 million per year, to raise $4 billion per year, and seeks to increase the corporate tax rate to 11.5%, to generate $5 billion. Mamdani would also freeze the rent for 2.5 million residents in a city of 8.5 million people.

“It would actually allow us to start Trump-proofing our city,” Mamdani told “The Beat with Ari Melber” on MSNBC on Monday. “We have to protect the New Yorkers with the least from the attacks from the man with the most power in this country.”

Trump calls Mamdani a communist and said the federal government can’t afford to throw good money after bad if he is elected.

“It's going to be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York,” Trump told “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired Sunday.

−Bart Jansen

Mamdani calls Cuomo Trump’s ‘hand-picked’ candidate

Mamdani called Cuomo Trump’s “hand-picked” candidate in the race.

Trump urged New Yorkers to vote for Cuomo, whom Mamdani already beat in the Democratic primary. Mamdani said voting for Cuomo in the heavily Democratic city would be the same as voting for Trump.

“I'm saying that because Donald Trump has hand-picked his candidate. That candidate's name is Andrew Cuomo,” Mamdani told “The Beat with Ari Melber” on MSNBC on Monday. “And New Yorkers have the chance to handpick their fighter. And I believe that candidate should be me.”

−Bart Jansen

Who is Zohran Mamdani?

Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani is a 34-year-old democratic socialist and state lawmaker. He won election to the New York State Assembly in 2020 and represents the 36th district in Queens. Before joining the assembly, Mamdani worked for a year at a housing nonprofit.

Mamdani was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda, until the age of 7 when his family moved to New York City. He became a naturalized citizen in 2018.

He became the first South Asian man and Ugandan to join the assembly and is the third Muslim elected to the chamber.

Mamdani is the son of academic Mahmood Mamdani and prominent filmmaker Mira Nair. He married 28-year-old artist Rama Duwaji in February.

−Kathryn Palmer

Who is Andrew Cuomo?

Andrew Cuomo, 67, is a former governor of New York running as an independent in the race to lead New York City. He is a lifelong Democrat and resigned as governor in 2021 due to a series of sexual harassment allegations that he has denied.

He is the son of the late three-term former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who also served as the state’s lieutenant governor and secretary of state. He has three children with former wife Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy. The pair divorced in 2005.

Before he became governor, Cuomo was a Manhattan assistant district attorney and worked in former President Bill Clinton’s administration in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He later served one term as New York attorney general before making his bid for governor. Cuomo won his first gubernatorial election in 2010 and again in 2014 and 2018.

−Kathryn Palmer

Who is Curtis Sliwa?

Curtis Sliwa, 71, is the Republican nominee in the race. He is the founder of the Guardian Angels, a citizen-led safety patrol group created in the 1970s to address subway crime.

Sliwa has hosted various radio talk shows for decades and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2021, losing in a landslide to current Democratic mayor Eric Adams.

He is married to animal activist and attorney Nancy Regula.

−Kathryn Palmer

Who are the candidates for NYC mayor?

Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from Queens, has been ahead in polls following his stunning win in the June primary against Andrew Cuomo, the three-term former New York governor who has sought to revive his political career after resigning in disgrace. If elected, Mamdani would be the first Muslim and the first South Asian to lead the city, and the first immigrant mayor in 80 years.

Cuomo, 67, running as an independent in the general election, has been consolidating voters against Mamdani, shrinking Mamdani’s lead headed into Election Day. A turnaround victory would be a monumental comeback for Cuomo, the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo.

But Cuomo still faces a roadblock by Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, the beret-wearing founder of the Guardian Angels vigilante group. Polls have indicated Sliwa’s conservative base could help Cuomo climb to compete against Mamdani, but Sliwa, 71, did not drop out.

Sliwa, a well-known New York City figure for decades, lost handily to Adams four years earlier. If a fractured electorate can't decide between Cuomo or Mamdani, Sliwa would be the first Republican elected in the heavily Democratic city since Mike Bloomberg.

Is Eric Adams running for reelection?

New York City mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat-turned independent who trounced his Republican opponent in the 2021 election, is no longer running for a second term.

Adams announced he was dropping out of the race on Sept. 28, after consistently polling far behind race frontrunners Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo.

A little less than a month after he bowed out of the race, Adams endorsed Cuomo.

He had been pressured to drop out of the race for months after failing to shore up support following numerous scandals in his administration, including resignations and corruption allegations.

-Kathryn Palmer

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mamdani wins NYC mayor's race in generational shift for Democrats. Live updates.

Reporting by Eduardo Cuevas, Aysha Bagchi, Bart Jansen, Rebecca Morin, Ben Adler, Kathryn Palmer and Jay Stahl, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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