Zohran Mamdani had an important advance on former governor Andrew Cuomo during the primary of the New York Democrat town hall on Tuesday evening, leaving the young liberal ready to unravel an astonishing upheaval in a race still to be determined by a count of choice.
Cuomo, who was trying to make a return of a sexual harassment scandal, conceded the competition less than two hours after closing the ballot boxes, saying that he had called Mamdani to congratulate him.
“Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won,” Cuomo told supporters.
The ultimate result of the race will be decided by a tab of choice classified after no democrat has obtained a clear majority in the vote. Mamdani, 33, a democratic socialist member of the State Assembly, held a significant lead with around 90% of the counted voting bulletins. Mamdani was also ranked second on more ballots than Cuomo, narrowing Cuomo’s path to catch up.
While the news broke out from the Cuomo concession, the supporters of Mamdani broke out in the refrain of “Na na hey hey you embrace goodbye”.
Mamdani would be the first Muslim and Indian mayor of the city if he was elected. The outgoing mayor Eric Adams jumped the primary. He presents himself as an independent in the general elections. Cuomo also has the possibility of presenting itself in the general elections.
“We are going to take a look and make decisions,” said Cuomo.
The ultimate result of the race could say something about the type of leader that Democrats are looking for during President Donald Trump’s second term.
The vote takes place about four years after Cuomo, 67, resigned from his post as governor following a sexual harassment scandal. However, he was the favorite throughout the race, with his deep experience, his name recognition, his solid political ties and his mastodon fund collection apparatus.
The progressive wing of the party, on the other hand, had merged behind Mamdani. A relatively unknown state legislator when the competition began, Mamdani has grown by setting a fine laser campaign on the high cost of living in the city and obtained the approvals of two of the country’s main progressives, representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders.
The main winner will be confronted with his holder Adams, a democrat who decided to introduce himself as an independent in the midst of a public tumult on his indictment on the accusations of corruption and the subsequent abandonment of the case by the Ministry of Justice of Trump. The Republican Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, will be on the ballot in the general elections of the fall. It is also possible that Cuomo runs on the November ballot as an independent candidate.
The two main candidates of the mayor’s primary – one progressive with a fresh face and the other an older moderate – could be stand -over for the greatest ideological fracture of the Democratic Party, although the past of the Cuomo scandal adds a unique shade to the story.
The rest of the pack had difficulty gaining recognition in a race where almost all the candidates have expressed themselves as the best placed to challenge Trump’s agenda.
Controller Brad Lander, a faithful of the government of the liberal city, caused a sensation last week when he was arrested after having linked arms with a man that federal agents were trying to hold an immigration court in Manhattan. It was not clear if this episode was enough to relaunch a campaign that had not managed to speed up the speed behind Lander.
Among the other candidates are the president of the Municipal Council Adrienne Adams, the state senator Zellnor Myrie, the director of hedge funds Whitney Tilson and the former city controller Scott Strnger.
Mamdani’s energetic race was difficult not to notice.
His army of young solicitations implacably struck at city doors looking for support. Posters of his smile cup were on the windows. You cannot put yourself on social networks without seeing one of his well -produced videos to present his vision – free bus, free children’s guard, new apartments, a higher and more minimum wage, paid by new taxes on the rich.
This juvenile energy was obvious on Tuesday evening, while prudently optimistic soldiers and ecstatic supporters bordered on the streets of the center of Brooklyn, creating a festive atmosphere that spreads ballot sites in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Apart from the Caribbean apothecary of his family, Amani Kojo, a first 23 -year -old voter, evacuated iced tea to Mamdani Shoevanders, encouraging them to stay hydrated.
“It is 100 degrees outside and it’s an atmosphere. New York feels alive again,” said Kojo, raising a pile of Mamdani brochures. “It’s very electric to see everyone around, flyers, all messages on my Instagram all day.”
Cuomo and some other Democrats threw Mamdani as unqualified. They say that he does not have the steering chops to struggle with the sprawling bureaucracy of the city or manage the crises. Critics also referred to Mamdani support for Palestinian human rights.
In response, Mamdani criticized Cuomo on his sexual harassment scandal and his manipulation of the Pandemic COVID-19.
In an exchange of heated debates, Cuomo has shaken a long list of what he considered as managerial gaps in Mamdani, arguing that his opponent, who has been in the State Assembly since 2021, has never dealt with Congress or Unions and has never supervised an infrastructure project. He added that Mamdani could not rely to go out with Trump.
Mamdani had a ready counter.
“To Mr. Cuomo, I never had to resign,” he said.
Cuomo resigned in 2021 after a report commissioned by the State Attorney General concluded that he had sexually harassed at least 11 women. He has always argued that he had not intentionally harassed women, saying that he had simply lagged behind what was considered to be an appropriate workplace.
During the campaign, he became more aggressive to defend himself, supervising the situation as a political job orchestrated by his enemies.
The new scandal at the town hall involving Mayor Eric Adams, however, gave Cuomo a path to end his exile.
