NYC mayoral race heats up as Mamdani rises as serious challenger

The Democratic primary race for New York City mayor has narrowed into a competitive two-man contest, with former New York governor Andrew Cuomo maintaining a modest but shrinking lead over Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, The New York Times reported citing a new Marist Institute poll released on Wednesday.

The survey showed 38% of likely Democratic voters planning to rank Cuomo first on their ballots, while 27% chose Mamdani. When simulated under the city’s ranked-choice voting system, Cuomo still edged out Mamdani by 10 percentage points in the seventh round.

With less than a week to go before the June 24 primary, the poll signalled growing momentum for Mamdani, 33, a democratic socialist of South Asian and Muslim background campaigning on a populist economic platform. 

Compared to Marist’s May survey, Mamdani has cut Cuomo’s lead nearly in half by uniting progressive voters and gaining support among Latinos.

Already, nearly 132,000 Democrats have cast early ballots in an election expected to draw roughly 1 million voters. While Democratic primary winners have traditionally dominated the general election, this year's race is proving more unpredictable.

Mamdani’s rise received a significant boost on Tuesday when Senator Bernie Sanders, endorsed his campaign, according to Fox News. Sanders, a leading figure on the American Left and former presidential candidate, joined Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in backing Mamdani—cementing support from two of the most influential progressive leaders in the country.

“We need a new politics and new leadership which is prepared to stand up to powerful corporate interests and fight for the working class,” Sanders said, citing Mamdani’s platform of building 200,000 affordable housing units, implementing a citywide rent freeze, offering free public buses, slashing small business fines and fees, and introducing universal childcare and city-owned grocery stores.

“At this dangerous moment in history, status quo politics isn’t good enough,” Sanders posted on X (formerly Twitter), linking to Mamdani’s announcement of the endorsement.

Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders had earlier joined forces on a national “Fighting Oligarchy Tour,” energising support for democratic socialism and railing against President Donald Trump’s economic policies—messaging that Mamdani has echoed throughout his campaign.