The Democratic Party primary for the 2025 New York City mayoral election took place on June 24, 2025. Voters ranked up to five candidates using ranked-choice voting. The early voting period began on June 14. Incumbent mayor Eric Adams did not run in the primary, instead choosing to compete for re-election as an independent in the general contest.
First-choice results on election night showed State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani had a large lead ahead of former governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo conceded the race to Mamdani in what is considered to be a major upset victory. On July 1, 2025, preliminary final-round results showed Mamdani to be the clear winner with 56.0% of the vote, making him the official Democratic nominee in the November 4, 2025 general election. Cuomo secured the remaining 44.0% of the vote. The primary was the largest in New York City's history, almost reaching the same turnout as the 2021 mayoral general election.
Background.
In 2019, New York City voters passed Ballot Question #1 to amend the City Charter to allow for voters the choice of ranking up to five candidates in primary and special elections for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president, and city council, starting in January 2021. This primary was the second time ranked-choice voting is used in the New York City mayoral primary, following its use during the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary.
In the 2021 primary, then Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was narrowly selected as the nominee with 50.4% of the final round vote over former New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, who won 49.6%.
City-wide elections in New York City are solidly Democratic, meaning the nominee chosen is likely to become the favorite to win the general election. Prior to the primary, former Governor of New York from 2011 to 2021 Andrew Cuomo emerged as the favorite, beating every other candidate in opinion polls and additionally forming his own party, Fight and Deliver, to would allow him onto the general election ballot in the event he did not win the Democratic primary.
Candidates.
Major candidates.
The candidates in this section have held elected office or have received substantial media coverage.
Campaign.
Early in the campaign, incumbent mayor Eric Adams was criticized for his handling of policing, the city budget, and the influx of migrants. By September 2024, Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer, state Senator Zellnor Myrie, and state Senator Jessica Ramos had announced campaigns for mayor. Adams increasingly faced calls to resign after being indicted on September 25, which resulted in multiple city officials resigning. Following the scandal, multiple additional candidates announced their campaigns to challenge Adams, including investor Whitney Tilson, former state Assemblymember Michael Blake, and state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.
In March 2025, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had resigned several years earlier amid a sexual harassment scandal, and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced their campaigns. The progressive "Don't Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor (DREAM) for NYC" campaign urged voters not to rank Eric Adams or Cuomo on their ballots. In April, Eric Adams withdrew from the Democratic primary race and announced that he would continue to seek re-election as an independent candidate. That same month, criminal charges against Eric Adams were dismissed at the request of the Department of Justice, which argued that the case distracted him from enforcing President Trump's immigration program.
Mamdani's campaign focused on affordability, proposing a rent freeze, free buses, and universal childcare. Cuomo's campaign focused on crime, supporting an increase in police and building housing. Lander's campaign supported building housing, services to immigrants, and investment in education. Adrienne Adams' campaign supported closing Rikers Island and investment in housing and education. Stringer's campaign supports recruiting more police and ethics reform. Myrie's campaign supported building more housing. Blake's campaign supported tax incentives for businesses and funding mental services. Ramos's campaign supported improving mental health services. Tilson's campaign largely focused on education.
Throughout the race, Cuomo consistently led in polls, with Mamdani emerging in second place. In May, in response to a request from Republican members of Congress, the Justice Department opened an investigation into Cuomo's testimony before Congress regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in New York. The polling margin between Cuomo and Mamdani began to shrink in June, though most polls continued to show a Cuomo lead. Cuomo created the "Fight and Deliver Party", which he planned to run on regardless of the outcome of the primary. The Working Families Party said it was very unlikely to endorse Cuomo if he won.
The first debate was held on June 4, where Cuomo was pressed on his sexual harassment allegations and the frontrunners shared their stances on Israel. The second and final debate was held on June 12, where Cuomo was again criticized for his record, with increased attention to his administration's nursing home scandal, and Mamdani was criticized for his inexperience and identity as a socialist.
Prominent endorsements for Mamdani included the Working Families Party, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Senator Bernie Sanders. Cuomo received endorsements from former mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also donated millions of dollars to his super PAC, Representative Jim Clyburn, and former President Bill Clinton. On June 6, Ramos endorsed Cuomo while remaining on the primary ballot. During the second debate, Tilson endorsed Cuomo second. Mamdani and Lander cross-endorsed each other for second place, and Mamdani and Blake cross-endorsed each other a few days later. On June 16, the "New York Times" editorial board advised voters not to rank Mamdani while criticizing Cuomo.
On June 18, Mamdani was criticized for appearing to defend the phrase "globalize the intifada" by describing it as "a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights", also denouncing antisemitism and saying the city should increase anti-hate crime funding. On June 19, Lander was briefly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement while escorting an immigrant out of a court hearing in Manhattan. On June 20, Mamdani walked the length of Manhattan for seven hours, meeting supporters along the way.
Polling.
Other polls.
Eric Adams vs. Brad Lander
Eric Adams vs. Jumaane Williams
Eric Adams vs. generic Democrat
Debates.
The first debate was sponsored by WNBC and held on June 4, 2025. The second debate was sponsored by NY1 and was held on June 12, 2025.
Fundraising.
In addition to candidate's campaign accounts, super PACs are allowed to make independent expenditures supporting or opposing candidates so long as they do not officially coordinate with candidates. Unlike public matching fund-participating campaign accounts which have a $8 million spending cap, independent expenditure groups have no limit. At the time of the primary, Andrew Cuomo's PAC had amassed $25 million, which was the most money for any mayoral campaign in New York City's history.
Results.
384,251 people voted early in the primary, more than double the turnout of 2021. As of June 20, there are 45,597 scanned, valid mail-in ballots.
The Board of Elections released unofficial results of the first-choice votes on election night. Unofficial results of all rankings came a week later, taking into account mail-in ballots received after election night, cured ballots, and provisional ("affidavit") ballots. Official results are expected in mid-July.
On the night of the election, with about 90% of the votes counted, Mamdani led Cuomo by about seven percentage points, becoming the presumptive winner and prompting Cuomo to concede at around 11:15 p.m. that night. Lander gave his concession speech at Mamdani's watch party, with chants of "Brad Brad Brad" as he hugged Mamdani supporters. Afterward, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez addressed the crowd, followed by Attorney General Letitia James, before Mamdani finally addressed supporters, claiming victory at 12:20a.m.
Mamdani drew support from the middle and upper-middle classes, and White, Hispanic, and Asian voters, while making inroads with young Black voters. Cuomo won in many majority Black precincts, and drew support from the lower and upper classes.
Mamdani's victory was announced by the Associated Press on July 1 after the New York City Board of Elections released its ranked-choice ballot tabulation. 
By borough.
Mamdani attained the plurality of first-choice votes in three boroughs — Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan — while Cuomo did so in Staten Island and claimed a majority in the Bronx. Mamdani recorded his best result in Brooklyn, outperforming Cuomo by more than 17% of the vote and enjoying strong turnout, and did well in Queens, a district he has represented since 2021. Mamdani's margin of victory was narrowest in Manhattan, where neither he nor Cuomo passed the 40% threshold. Conversely, Cuomo did the best in the Bronx, beating Mamdani by more than 18% of the vote. Finally, he secured the traditionally conservative-leaning Staten Island, albeit by a margin of just 9% of the vote.
Aftermath.
Mamdani's win was widely viewed as an upset victory over Cuomo, and emblematic of a struggle between left-wing and centrist factions of the Democratic Party following Democratic losses in the 2024 federal elections. Jerry Nadler, a Democrat representing parts of Manhattan in the House of Representatives, described the result as a "seismic election for the Democratic Party that I can only compare to Barack Obama's in 2008", and endorsed Mamdani. President Donald Trump, originally a resident of Queens, called the result "a big moment in the History of our Country!"
The "New York Times" reported that the night following the primary, independent mayoral candidate Eric Adams met with a loose consortium of hedge fund managers, landlords, and cryptocurrency moguls who were "aghast" at the result and seeking a strategy to oppose Mamdani in the general election. "CNBC" reported that figures on Wall Street were "alarmed" and "depressed". Conversely, labor unions including SEIU 32BJ and the New York State Nurses Association endorsed Mamdani in the week following the primary.
After conceding the primary, Cuomo neither confirmed nor denied whether he would run as an independent in the general election against Mamdani, Adams, Sliwa, and Walden on his "Fight and Deliver" line. On June 26, sources close to Cuomo told "CNN" that he would remain in the race as an independent. Cuomo's brother Chris, whose efforts to defend Andrew against a sexual misconduct scandal led to his termination from "CNN" several years prior, gravely pronounced Mamdani an "open socialist" and declared the Democratic Party "dead".
The prospect of New York electing a Muslim mayor triggered various commentators, most of whom conservative, to engage in Islamophobic attacks on Mamdani, tying him to jihad, burqas, sharia, and the 9/11 attacks.