'Mandate for change': Zohran Mamdani wins New York City mayoral election

Zohran Mamdani, 34, has won New York City’s race for mayor in a contest that rallied young voters and sparked debate about the future direction of the US Democratic Party.

Ugandan-born Mamdani, a Democrat, beat former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, to become the youngest person in over a century to lead the largest city in the US.

“My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” the self-described democratic socialist told the crowd during a victory speech.

Democrats also won governor races in Virginia and New Jersey, while in California voters backed a proposition to redraw the congressional electoral map ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Mamdani made affordability the central message of his campaign, pledging to expand social programmes paid for by new taxes on high earners and corporations.

In New York, he was a relatively unknown member of the state assembly until his campaign gained online momentum a few months ago, propelling him to victory in the Democratic primary contest over the summer.

Mamdani has become the first South Asian and Muslim to lead the city. In his victory speech, he spoke of a “new age”.

“For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands,” Mamdani said.

“The future is in our hands,” he said, pledging to create a government that works “for everyone”.

Mamdani’s campaign has drawn significant national attention, including from US President Donald Trump, who in the days before the vote threatened to withhold federal funds from New York if Mamdani won.

The president calls Mamdani a communist – a label that Mamdani rejects.

In overnight projections from BBC news partner CBS, Mamdani had secured 50.3% of the vote, compared with Cuomo’s 41.6%. Republican Curtis Sliwa had just over 7%. Shortly after the winner was projected, Sliwa conceded.

“We have a mayor-elect,” Sliwa told a group of supporters. “Obviously I wish him good luck, because if he does well, we do well.”

Cuomo also conceded, congratulating Mamdani despite a chorus of boos from his supporters.

But Cuomo highlighted that almost half of New Yorkers who voted had not picked Mamdani, and said his opponent had made “promises that cannot be met”.

There are questions over how Mamdani will pay for his ambitious social agenda and critics have questioned how a politician with no executive experience will handle a hostile Trump administration.

On Tuesday night, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson criticised the “consequences” of New York City’s choice on social media platform X. “Zohran Mamdani’s election cements the Democrat Party’s transformation to a radical, big-government socialist party,” he wrote.

The president also posted on social media, blaming the shutdown, and his not appearing on the ballot, for Republican losses Tuesday night.

Centrist Democrats clinched victories in elections for governor on Tuesday night, with Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill winning races to run the states of Virginia and New Jersey respectively.

The races were being viewed as an indication of how Americans were feeling about the national government’s policies, although the latter state is reliably blue.

In another closely watched contest in Virginia, Democratic candidate Jay Jones won the race for state attorney general, defeating incumbent Republican candidate Jason Miyares. That was despite a scandal over his historical text messages that wished violence against a political rival, for which Jones apologised.

Voters in California also approved a measure to redraw political lines to favour Democrats, in response to similar efforts by conservative-led states in a nationwide battle for control of the US House of Representatives.

The redistricting measure, called Prop 50, was aimed at reconfiguring the state’s voting districts to give Democrats better chances at taking five seats in the US House of Representatives from Republicans during next year’s midterm elections.

Whether the measure will tip the balance of power in Washington remains unclear.

Mamdani’s win in New York presents a dilemma for the Democratic establishment, which has been reluctant to endorse him. Mamdani was nonetheless favoured to win his race, having led his rivals in the polls by double digits for weeks leading up to election day.

A relatively unknown figure just months ago, few could have predicted his journey from hip-hop artist and housing counsellor to the frontrunner candidate to lead a city with a $116bn (£88bn) budget and global scrutiny.

The former New York assemblyman centred his campaign on cost-of-living issues in one of the country’s most expensive cities, campaigning on issues like universal child care, and free and faster buses.

His candidacy drew criticism from business leaders and centrist Democrats, some of whom did not endorse him, including fellow New Yorker and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Republicans have seized on Mamdani’s popularity to paint the future of the Democratic Party as more and more left-leaning – a point that Trump has made during his threats to withhold federal funding to the New York City.