NYC Mayoral Race Unresolved: Mamdani Leads Cuomo in Ranked-Choice Drama

Sarah Johnson
June 25, 2025
Brief
NYC's Democratic mayoral primary remains undecided due to ranked-choice voting, with Zohran Mamdani leading Andrew Cuomo in a heated race.
The polls have shut their doors in New York City, but don’t hold your breath for a quick winner in the Democratic mayoral primary. Thanks to the city’s ranked-choice voting system, we’re in for a waiting game that could stretch into early July. The initial tally shows Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani nudging ahead with over 43% of first-choice votes, but this race is far from settled.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assembly member who could become NYC’s first Muslim mayor, has ridden a wave of late endorsements from progressive heavyweights like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders. His vision, including fare-free buses and tuition-free City University of New York, has galvanized a passionate base. On Election Day, even NYC celebrities like Cynthia Nixon and Emily Ratajkowski threw their social media weight behind him.
Meanwhile, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who’s been staging a political comeback after resigning in 2021 amid scandal, secured over 36% in the first round. Cuomo’s campaign has leaned hard on his experience, painting Mamdani as untested while touting his own crisis management credentials. Yet, his past—laden with sexual harassment allegations and COVID-19 nursing home controversies—remains a lightning rod, with voices like former Mayor Bill de Blasio urging voters not to rank him.
Ranked-choice voting, where voters list up to five candidates in order of preference, means no instant victor since no one crossed the 50% threshold. The process of eliminating lower vote-getters and redistributing ballots will drag on, especially with mail-in votes still trickling in. Add a brutal heatwave on primary day that might’ve kept some voters home, and this race could hinge on turnout quirks—Cuomo’s union muscle versus Mamdani’s volunteer army.
Mamdani’s strategic alliance with Comptroller Brad Lander, who recently made headlines for an arrest tied to an immigration court incident, aimed to pool anti-Cuomo sentiment. But with a crowded field of contenders and current Mayor Eric Adams running as an independent after a scandal-plagued term, the political chessboard in NYC is messier than a subway delay during rush hour.
As we await the final tabulations, one thing is clear: New York City’s next mayor will inherit a city hungry for fresh leadership—or at least a break from the drama.
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Editor's Comments
Well, folks, NYC’s mayoral race is stickier than a pretzel cart on a summer day. Ranked-choice voting has us all playing a political game of Jenga—pull one candidate out, and who knows where the votes stack up next? Mamdani’s got the progressive glitter with AOC and Sanders in his corner, but Cuomo’s playing the ‘I’ve been there, done that’ card harder than a bodega cat claims its turf. Here’s a thought: if this drags on past July, maybe we just let the subway rats pick the winner—they’ve seen more of the city than any of us!
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