In a remarkable upset, 33-year-old state Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani has outperformed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the June 24 Democratic New York City primary for mayor. Mamdani leads Cuomo 44% to 36% among first-place votes with 96% of ballots counted.
While the outcome won't be official until the instant runoff conducted with ballots that rank up to five choices is announed in July, Cuomo conceded the nomination less than 90 minutes after polls closed at 9 p.m.
“Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won," Cuomo said.
Mamdani's lead is likely to grow in the instant runoff, because in polls he had far more lower-ranked votes than Cuomo from supporters of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who came in third with 11% of first-place votes.
The Democratic nominee will begin the general election as the favorite in the eDemocratic city.