So, you think you know how the race for Gracie Mansion went down? Honestly, if you just glanced at the headlines last June, you probably missed the most chaotic political shift New York has seen in decades. The New York mayor election primary wasn’t just a typical local vote; it was a total demolition of the old-school political establishment.
I’m talking about a race where a sitting mayor essentially quit his own party’s primary, a former governor tried to stage the world’s biggest comeback, and a socialist state assemblyman from Queens—someone most people couldn't have picked out of a lineup a year prior—ended up taking the whole thing. It was wild.
The Upset Nobody Saw Coming
Basically, the June 24, 2025, Democratic primary was supposed to be Andrew Cuomo’s "I’m back" tour. After resigning in 2021, the former governor saw an opening when incumbent Eric Adams started drowning in legal drama and federal investigations. Cuomo jumped in late, around March 2025, and for a while, it looked like he’d steamroll everyone. He had the Michael Bloomberg endorsement, millions from super PACs, and that name recognition that usually scares off smaller fish.
But New York voters had other plans. Zohran Mamdani, a State Assemblyman representing Astoria, ran a campaign that felt more like a grassroots movement than a political operation. While Cuomo was talking about "law and order" and more transit police, Mamdani was out there promising a "Rent Freeze" for the city's one million rent-stabilized apartments. He basically turned the primary into a referendum on whether the city should be for the elites or the working class.
How the Ranked-Choice Math Actually Worked
New York’s Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) system is kinda confusing to people outside the five boroughs, but it’s what ultimately sealed the deal. In the first round, Mamdani didn’t have a majority, but he had momentum. He pulled about 43.8% of the first-choice votes, while Cuomo sat at 36.1%.
The real magic happened when the "lower-tier" candidates were eliminated.
- Brad Lander, the City Comptroller, had a decent showing with about 11%.
- Adrienne Adams, the City Council Speaker, hovered around 4%.
- Scott Stringer and Zellnor Myrie were further down.
As these candidates were knocked out, their supporters' second and third choices started moving toward Mamdani. By the final round in July, Mamdani had surged to 56.4%, leaving Cuomo at 43.6%. It was a massive upset. Cuomo didn't take it lying down, though—he immediately launched an independent bid for the general election, but the primary had already broken the spell of his inevitability.
Why Eric Adams Wasn't Even on the Primary Ballot
This is the part that still trips people up. Eric Adams is the incumbent, right? So why wasn't he in the Democratic primary?
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Well, by April 2025, things were looking pretty grim for the mayor. Between the federal probe into his campaign's ties to Turkey and plummeting approval ratings over his handling of the migrant crisis, Adams made a move that basically signaled he knew he’d lose the Democratic vote. He withdrew from the primary and announced he would run as an independent under the "Safe & Affordable" party line.
It was a "you can't fire me, I quit" moment. He eventually withdrew from the race entirely in late September 2025, but because the deadline to pull his name had passed, he still appeared on the ballot in November. He ended up getting less than 1% of the total vote.
The Issues That Actually Swung the Vote
If you ask a political consultant, they’ll tell you elections are won on "the middle ground." They were wrong this time. The New York mayor election primary was won on two specific, visceral pain points: housing and transit.
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Mamdani’s "Free Bus" proposal—a plan to make the entire MTA bus system fare-free—was a massive hit with young voters and the outer-borough working class. Cuomo, on the other hand, doubled down on installing high-barrier turnstiles to stop fare beating. You had two completely different visions of the city: one that saw fare beating as a crime to be punished, and another that saw the $2.90 fare as a "tax on being poor."
The "DREAM" Campaign
There was also this really effective "Don't Rank Eric or Andrew for Mayor" (DREAM) campaign. It was a coalition of progressive groups that urged voters to literally leave the two biggest names off their ballots entirely. It worked. By preventing Cuomo from picking up "safety" votes as a second or third choice, the progressives managed to box him into a corner.
What This Means for You Right Now
Now that Zohran Mamdani has officially succeeded Eric Adams (taking office on January 1, 2026), the "primary fever" hasn't really broken. The city is watching to see if his big promises can actually clear the City Council or if he'll get bogged down in the same gridlock that haunted his predecessors.
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If you’re a New Yorker or just someone interested in urban politics, here are the three things you should be tracking as the "Mamdani Era" begins:
- The Rent Guidelines Board: Watch the June 2026 vote. This is where Mamdani will try to deliver on that "Rent Freeze" promise. If he can't get it through, his base might turn on him fast.
- MTA Negotiations: Making buses free requires a huge budget shift. The state controls the MTA, not the mayor, so keep an eye on how Mamdani handles the inevitable showdown with the Governor’s office.
- The Public Safety Shift: Mamdani appointed Jessica Tisch as Police Commissioner, which was a surprise to some, but he’s still pushing to move certain NYPD functions to a new "Department of Community Safety."
The lesson from the 2025 primary is simple: New York is no longer a city where a big name and a bigger bank account guarantee a win. The voters are looking for radical affordability, and they're willing to take a chance on a "political outsider" to get it.
Keep an eye on the City Council's upcoming legislative sessions. You can track the progress of the "Fare-Free NYC" bill directly on the NYC Council's official website or attend your local community board meetings to see how these city-wide shifts are hitting your specific neighborhood.