NYC Mayor’s Race: How Zohran Mamdani pulled off his stunning Democratic primary win – and what comes next

By Ethan Stark-Miller

Posted on June 25, 2025

Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic socialist, shocked the world on Tuesday night with his apparent defeat of Andrew Cuomo, a moderate, in the Democratic primary to replace Mayor Eric Adams, preliminary results from the city Board of Elections indicate.

The outcome saw a relative political newcomer, with only four years in the Assembly under his belt, topple a three-term former governor whose father also served as the state’s top executive before him. If he wins in November, he will become the first Muslim mayor in the city’s long history.