New York City mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani (L) and Andrew Cuomo (R). Photo by Angela Weiss, Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh and Louis KeeneJune 24, 2025
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo congratulated Zohran Mamdani Tuesday night on a “smart, good, impactful campaign” and conceded that he lost the Democratic primary for New York mayor to the Democratic Socialist.
Cuomo, who began the primary as the frontrunner in a crowded field that became a two-man race, acknowledged that Mamdani’s lead with a majority of early votes counted – 44% for Mamdani to Cuomo’s 36% – is likely definitive once ranked choices are added to the final count next Tuesday.
“Tonight is his night, he deserved it, he won,” Cuomo told his supporters.
“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,” he said. “I called him, I congratulated him, I applaud him sincerely for his effort.”
Cuomo confirmed to The New York Times that he is conceding the Democratic primary for mayor but considering whether to run in the general election.
Mamdani, who is Muslim, competed with Cuomo for Jewish support. He faced blowback over his statements on Israel, but persisted in reaching out to the city’s Jews; New York City is home to more Jews than any other city outside of Israel. More than 700,000 Jewish adults have typically made up about 16% of the Democratic primary electorate.
Mamdani, 33, took a rapid path from three-term state legislator with a minimal record of achievements to leading progressive contender, bypassing more seasoned politicians. His record on Israel, including his support for the Israel boycott movement and a recent defense of the phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” sparked significant backlash.
Cuomo accused Mamdani of “enabling the forces of antisemitism” through his affiliation with the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, widely condemned for defending the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel at a demonstration in Times Square a day later.
Mamdani first made his case to Jewish voters over a bowl of chicken soup at a Manhattan diner during an April interview with the Forward, describing his positions as driven by a commitment to universal human rights.
He also met with skeptical Jewish leaders and gave an interview to a Hasidic Yiddish-language paper. Over the weekend, photos circulated on social media showing pro-Mamdani Yiddish-language campaign posters on a pole in Borough Park. His campaign did not confirm whether it sanctioned the posters.
Mamdani made a final pitch to New Yorkers – and a national audience – on Monday night in a joint appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with fellow mayoral hopeful Brad Lander, the city’s comptroller and highest-ranking Jewish elected official. The two cross-endorsed each other under the ranked-choice voting system to maximize their chances against former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Lander, a liberal Zionist, highlighted his own Jewish identity to back up Mamdani.
“Look, no mayor is going to be responsible for what happens in the Middle East,” Lander said. “But there is something quite remarkable about a Jewish New Yorker and a Muslim New Yorker coming together to say, here’s how we protect all New Yorkers.”
New York state Senator John Liu, who ran for mayor in 2013, praised Mamdani on Tuesday night, saying he disagrees with him on Israel but believes he should be given a chance to make good with the Jewish community.
Tish James, the state attorney general who endorsed Mamdani as part of the Working Families Party slate, told Jewish leaders on Tuesday night that Mamdani will need to come to the table to clear the air.
“It’s important that we stand together, and it’s important that we tell individuals who we may disagree with that you need to come to the table and speak to the Jewish community and not ignore them, not now, not ever,” James said in remarks at the Jewish Community Relations Council of NY’s annual gala in Manhattan.
‘I can’t believe this is real’: NYC’s Orthodox Jews panic
For many Orthodox New Yorkers, Mamdani’s surge in the city’s Democratic primary was a death knell for Jewish life in the city.
Mamdani’s refusal to disavow pro-Palestinian chants to “globalize the intifada” struck many as tacit approval of antisemitic violence — whose victims in New York are disproportionately Orthodox Jews. (Mamdani has said he hears a “desperate desire for equality and equal rights” for Palestinians in the chant.)
One Orthodox voter, Jeffrey Lax, called the prospect of a Mamdani victory an “unthinkable disaster.”
“NYC is in big, big trouble,” Lax, a professor of law at CUNY, wrote on X.
Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, co-founder of Altneu, an Orthodox synagogue on the Upper East Side, appeared to accuse Mamdani of antisemitism in a post on X Tuesday morning.
“Perhaps soft antisemitism is not a liability for a NYC politician. It’s an asset,” Chizhik-Goldschmidt wrote. “Perhaps New York City is not the city we thought it was.”
Another Orthodox voter, Yehuda Teitelbaum, wondered if New York was “suicidal.”
“Nothing proves the diaspora is safe for Jews like voting in a mayor who proudly ran on globalizing the intifada in the biggest Jewish city outside of Israel,” Teitelbaum wrote on X. “I can’t believe this is real.”
David Bashevkin, an Orthodox podcaster, summed up the mood with an emoji: “I 💔 NY,” he wrote.
