2025 New York City mayoral election

An election for the mayor of New York City was held on November 4, 2025. Democratic state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani won the election with 50.78% of the vote, defeating Republican activist Curtis Sliwa and independent former Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo. This election featured the highest turnout for a New York City mayoral election since 1993, mainly due to significant young voter registration. Mamdani succeeded Democratic incumbent Eric Adams on January 1, 2026. He also became the first Muslim and first South Asian mayor of New York City, as well as its youngest since 1892.

Adams initially ran for a second term (at first as a Democrat, and later as an independent), but withdrew from the race in September 2025. He remained on the voting ballot because he ended his campaign too late for his name to be removed. Cuomo, pursuing a political comeback after he resigned as New York governor in 2021, was the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination as of early June 2025; however, he was defeated by Mamdani in the Democratic primary in a major upset. Following his primary loss, Cuomo launched an independent campaign. Sliwa, the Republican nominee in the 2021 New York City mayoral election, ran unopposed for his party's nomination.

Mamdani ran on a democratic socialist platform focusing on affordability. Cuomo ran on a broadly centrist platform with a focus on crime and combating antisemitism while also being endorsed by Donald Trump, an endorsement Cuomo declined, while Sliwa criticized both from the political right and advocated tough on crime policies. Mamdani became the first mayoral candidate since 1969 to receive more than one million votes, and the race was the first since 1969 to attract more than two million votes in total. This was the closest mayoral election since 2009.

Background

Eric Adams was elected mayor of New York City in the 2021 mayoral election, narrowly winning the Democratic primary election and defeating the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, in the general election in a landslide victory. In September 2024, a series of investigations into the Adams administration emerged. Adams was indicted on federal charges of bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. Adams pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Adams was the first New York City mayor to be charged with crimes while in office, and he received several calls to resign before the end of his term. An early October 2024 poll conducted by Marist College found his approval rating to be just 26%, and found that 69% of voters thought he should resign. In February 2025, the United States Department of Justice under the second Trump administration instructed federal prosecutors to drop all charges against Adams. The case against Adams was dismissed with prejudice in April 2025.

Democratic primary

Primary elections for the Democratic Party were held on June 24, 2025, with the early voting period beginning on June 14. In New York City, primaries are held using ranked-choice voting, also known as instant-runoff voting. In March 2025, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, pursuing a political comeback after he resigned as governor in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal, announced his mayoral campaign; polls showed Cuomo leading all other mayoral candidates among Democratic voters following the announcement of his intention to run. In April 2025, Adams announced that he would exit the Democratic primary and instead seek re-election as an independent. Leading up to the election, polls showed that Cuomo continued to be the narrow frontrunner in the Democratic primary, with Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in second place; one June poll found that Mamdani had a narrow lead over Cuomo.

On June 24, Mamdani defeated Cuomo, City Comptroller Brad Lander, and eight other candidates to become the Democratic nominee for mayor. Mamdani's victory was considered a major upset. Mamdani suggested imposing a flat 2% tax on New Yorkers who earn more than $1 million and a number of housing plans, such as a promise to freeze rents on rent-stabilized units, extensive public housing development and refurbishment, and stricter regulation of landlords, upsetting some in the luxury real estate market. Nevertheless, Cuomo, who also filed to run on the independent "Fight and Deliver" ballot line, remained on the general election ballot.

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

• Adrienne Adams, speaker of the New York City Council (2022–present) from the 28th district (2017–present)
• Selma Bartholomew, educator
• Michael Blake, former state assemblymember from the 79th district (2015–2021), candidate for public advocate in 2019, and candidate for New York's 15th congressional district in 2020
• Andrew Cuomo, former governor of New York (2011–2021) and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1997–2001)
• Brad Lander, New York City comptroller (2022–present)
• Zellnor Myrie, state senator from the 20th district (2019–present)
• Paperboy Prince, artist and perennial candidate
• Jessica Ramos, state senator from the 13th district (2019–present)
• Scott Stringer, former New York City comptroller (2014–2021) and candidate for mayor in 2021
• Whitney Tilson, hedge fund manager

Withdrawn

• Eric Adams, incumbent mayor (running as an independent; later withdrawn)

Declined

• Jennifer Jones Austin, lawyer and nonprofit CEO
• Jamaal Bowman, former U.S. representative from New York's 16th congressional district (2021–2025) (endorsed Mamdani)
• Justin Brannan, city councilmember from the 47th district (2018–present) (running for comptroller)
• Kathryn Garcia, New York State director of Operations (2021–present), former commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation (2014–2020), and candidate for mayor in 2021
• Dan Goldman, U.S. representative from New York's 10th congressional district (2023–present) (endorsed Myrie)
• Letitia James, attorney general of New York (2019–present) and former New York City public advocate (2014–2018) (running for re-election, co-endorsed Adrienne Adams, Lander, Mamdani, and Myrie)
• Mark Levine, Manhattan borough president (2020–present) (running for comptroller)
• Yuh-Line Niou, former state assemblymember from the 65th district (2017–2022) and candidate for New York's 10th congressional district in 2022 (endorsed Mamdani)
• Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn borough president (2022–present) (running for re-election, co-endorsed Adrienne Adams, Lander, and Mamdani)
• Ritchie Torres, U.S. representative from New York's 15th congressional district (2021–present) (endorsed Cuomo)
• Jumaane Williams, New York City public advocate (2019–present), candidate for lieutenant governor in 2018, and candidate for governor in 2022 (running for re-election, co-endorsed Adrienne Adams, Lander, and Mamdani)

Results

Republican primary

Curtis Sliwa won the Republican Party primary, having run uncontested, becoming the Republican nominee for mayor. Sliwa was the Republican mayoral nominee in 2021 but was defeated by Eric Adams in a landslide.

Candidates

Nominee

Declined

• Eric Adams, incumbent Democratic mayor (2022–present) (ran as an independent; later withdrawn)
• Joe Borelli, former minority leader of the New York City Council (2021–2025) from the 51st District (2015–2025)
• John Catsimatidis, CEO of Gristedes and D'Agostino Supermarkets and candidate for mayor in 2013 (endorsed Adams, then Sliwa, then Cuomo)
• Rudy Giuliani, former mayor (1994–2001) and former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York (1983–1989)
• Jim Walden, antitrust and government law attorney (ran as an independent; later withdrawn)

Third parties and independents

Independents

On April 3, 2025, Eric Adams announced his exit from the Democratic primary and instead ran in the general election as an independent. Adams circulated petitions to run on an "EndAntiSemitism" ballot line, as well as a "Safe&Affordable" ballot line; however, the Board of Elections limited independent candidates to one ballot line each; major party candidates can otherwise appear on multiple lines. Adams formally selected the latter line on August 22. On September 28, Adams withdrew his candidacy from the general election, but his name remained on the ballot.

Andrew Cuomo formed a minor political party called the "Fight and Deliver Party" in May 2025. After Cuomo conceded the Democratic primary, he confirmed his intention to remain on the ballot on the "Fight and Deliver" ballot line. He then launched his independent campaign on July 14, 2025. The "Protect Animals" ballot line was newly created by Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, with Sliwa as the nominee. Sliwa made animal rights a centerpiece of his campaign, accusing Animal Care Centers of NYC of mistreating animals, and advocating for no-kill shelters.