Why the NYC mayoral election may be a five-way race in November
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Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, rolls up his sleeves during a campaign event on Monday, June 23, 2025. Photographer: Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Zohran Mamdani's stunning mayoral primary win in New York City on Tuesday night is a major step for the state assemblyman, but the race isn't over yet.
Why it matters: In the general election, Mamdani, a democratic socialist, will face off against Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent. There's also still a chance that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who conceded the Democratic nomination, runs as an independent as well.
State of play: For the past three mayoral cycles, a Democratic primary win has fast-tracked a win in the November general election, due to the party's majority of registered voters and limited competition from Republican and independent candidates. This year, however, could be shaping up to be a five-way race.
Here's the rest of the timeline for the mayoral election:
The Democratic primary still has to dot its i's and cross its t's.
- This is New York City's second election cycle with ranked-choice voting, meaning that if no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, the election transitions into elimination rounds.
- Mamdani came close with 43.5% of round one votes, but didn't quite clear the bar.
- The city's Board of Elections will complete the ranked-choice tally on Tuesday, July 1, until a candidate notches more than 50%.
How it works: With ranked choice, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated first.
- Voters who ranked the eliminated candidate first have their second choice counted. If a voter's first and second choices are eliminated, their vote is counted for their next choice, and so on.
- That process continues until a candidate secures 50% of votes.
Yes, but: Despite his concession, Cuomo may be back for the general election.
- Cuomo left the door open to running as an independent, saying in his concession speech that he will be giving "some thought" to what comes next.
- He has registered to run on the "Fight and Deliver" ballot line.
Adams is running for reelection as well.
- Following a fraud and bribery scandal – with a federal judge dismissing the charges against him – Adams aligned himself politically with the Trump White House and pledged to aid its immigration crackdown.
- Adams has said that he'll run on one of two ballot lines: "EndAntiSemitism" or "Safe&Affordable."
The other side Cuomo, Adams, and Mamdani will also face competition from two lesser-known candidates on November 4.
- The Republican nominee, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is running on the GOP ballot line. Sliwa previously ran against Adams in the 2021 election.
- Former federal prosecutor Jim Walden, a defense attorney, is running a centrist platform on another independent line.
Go deeper: Zohran Mamdani has NYC's business community "terrified"
