In New York, Democrat Mamdani won the mayoral election against Cuomo, the candidate supported by US President Trump. Democratic candidates also prevailed against Republicans in other elections across the US.
Democrat Zohran Mamdani has won the mayoral election in New York City. He will be the city's first Muslim mayor. Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. More than two million people cast their votes – according to the New York City Elections Commission, the highest turnout since 1969.
According to preliminary projections, Mamdani won by around ten percentage points against Cuomo, who had run as an independent candidate after his defeat in the democratic primary and had already conceded defeat.
Republican Sliwa finished far behind. The incumbent mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, had also entered the race despite a corruption scandal, but withdrew his candidacy due to low chances of success. He congratulated Mamdani on his election victory.
Lowering costs as an election promise
Mamdani describes himself as a democratic socialist. At 34, he will be the city's youngest mayor in over a century. During his election campaign, he promised to lower the exorbitant cost of living in the metropolis. He plans to implement rent control, free buses, and free childcare. This is to be financed by higher taxes for the wealthy and corporations.
His opponents accused him of, among other things, a lack of experience. Furthermore, Mamdani's sometimes drastic criticism of the Israeli government met with disapproval from parts of New York's Jewish population.
Mamdani criticizes Trump
In his victory speech, Mamdani emphasized his intention to combat anti-Semitism and also addressed his words directly to President Donald Trump – with sharp criticism of the current US government's migration and deportation policies."In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light," Mamdani said at an event in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
He knew that Trump was watching his speech and emphasized that New York would remain a city of immigrants."To get to one of us, you have to get past all of us," Mamdani continued.
Before the election in New York, Trump had urged his supporters to vote for Cuomo to prevent Mamdani from winning. He had also threatened to reduce federal funding for the city to the absolute minimum should Mamdani win.
Many party members congratulate him
Former President Barack Obama congratulated all Democratic candidates on their victory."We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but the future looks a little brighter," Obama wrote on the online service X. Mamdani had achieved"one of the greatest political upheavals in modern American history," declared left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders on X.
New York-born Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also a left-winger, described Mamdani's election victory as"a big step towards a better future for our city," which also sends a message to US President Trump: "He knows that if he messes with us, he messes with the whole country."
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the US Senate, also from New York, congratulated Mamdani on a"historic and well-deserved victory." Civil rights activist Al Sharpton compared Mamdani to former Democratic President Obama, noting that voters hadn't been so euphoric and hopeful about a candidate since Obama's 2008 election victory.
More electoral successes for Democrats
In addition to winning the mayoral election in New York, the Democratic Party also won the gubernatorial elections in the two US states of Virginia and New Jersey. The three elections were considered an important test of public opinion for Trump roughly a year after his re-election as president.
And according to US media reports, the Democrats also won the vote in California on a district reform initiative. According to consistent projections, a majority of Californian voters supported the reform.
With a more favorable redrawing of electoral districts, Democrats in California hope to gain five additional seats in the House of Representatives in Washington. Republicans are pushing for similar reforms in states such as Texas to secure their narrow majority in the House of Representatives.
Unlike in Texas, the redrawing of electoral districts in California required a vote from eligible voters. Normally, in this West Coast state, electoral districts are determined by an independent commission.
California currently sends 9 Republican and 43 Democratic representatives to the House of Representatives. The 435 seats in the chamber are up for election every two years. The Democrats are hoping to regain a majority in the House of Representatives in the November 2026 election.
