‘Tonight is his night’: Andrew Cuomo concedes defeat to Zohran Mamdani in New York City mayoral primary

NEW YORK: Former Governor Andrew Cuomo has conceded the Democratic primary for New York City mayor to Zohran Mamdani, telling his supporters at his election night party, “Tonight was not our night, but it was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night, NBC News reported.

“Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night, and he put together a great campaign, and he touched young people and inspired them and moved them and got them to come out and vote, and he really ran a highly impactful campaign.” Cuomo said, “I called him. I congratulated him.”
Incidentally, Mamdani is the son of acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair.

Cuomo said, “Tonight is his night. He deserved it.” He said, “He won.” In his remarks, Andrew Cuomo said he wants to “look at all the numbers as they come in”, mentioning that the primary is heading to rounds of ranked choice voting.

He said the city is facing “important issues” and made a veiled reference to a looming decision that he could still appear on the November elections after he launches his new party.

He said, “The challenges we face are real, and they deserve real consideration.” Andrew Cuomo stated, “And I want to give some thought about the best way to help address them, the best way to help the party, but most of all, the best way to help the city, and that’s what we’ll be thinking about as we go forward.”

Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a New York State Assembly member and democratic socialist, is the leader as first-choice votes are tallied in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary.

Mamdani leads the first-choice votes with about 44 per cent support, followed by Cuomo, who has received approximately 36 per cent votes.

New York City will have to wait for at least a week or possibly longer to find out who ultimately has secured victory in the Democratic nomination through the city’s ranked choice tabulations; however, Cuomo made clear to his supporters he believed the clock was running out on his comeback bid.

Under ranked choice voting in the city, voters rank up to five candidates according to their preference on their ballot. Support for the candidates who receive the lowest support is then reallocated to those voters’ next choices, and the process continues until there are two candidates left.

The city Board of Elections plans to release the results of those initial allocations next Tuesday. However, based on how many mail-in and provisional votes still need to be counted, it could take longer to see who the winner is.

The wait was expected to be longer as the 11-candidate field was splitting Democratic votes. The ranked choice system can encourage low-polling candidates to stay in as they know their supporters’ choices can still be taken into account if they fall short, according to NBC News report.

If Mamdani continues to be ahead during the ranked choice voting allocation and ultimately wins the Democratic nomination, he may not have fully vanquished Cuomo. He has created his party and could run in the general election on that party’s ballot line. Cuomo has not yet given an indication that he was preparing for a general election bid.

Born in Uganda, Indian-American Mamdani is the first South Asian man to serve in the New York State Assembly, the first Ugandan, and the only third Muslim ever to be a member of the body.

If elected, Mamdani (33) would be the city’s first Muslim mayor. He has gained support in the closing weeks of the race as he has presented a progressive vision for the city. His election campaign has focused on tackling higher costs, promising to freeze rents and offer free buses, universal childcare and other progressive policies that would be paid for in part by raising taxes on the rich.

He has become the focal point for an anti-Cuomo movement that has been united under the banner of “Don’t rank Cuomo,” stressing that he does not deserve a successful political comeback after resigning from office in 2021 over sexual harassment allegations, NBC News reported.

Zohran Mamdani has also been able to reach cross-endorsement deals with fellow candidates, including city Comptroller Brad Lander and former DNC vice chair Michael Blake. He also received support from Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Working Families Party, and Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders. State Attorney General Letitia James has asked supporters to include Mamdani on their ranked-choice ballots. (ANI)