Andrew Cuomo Concedes NYC Mayoral Democratic Primary to Zohran Mamdani

Andrew Cuomo’s political comeback via New York City’s mayoral election encountered a major setback Tuesday night, possibly spelling  defeat.

The former governor conceded the primary to Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani after voters seemed to cast votes strongly in favor of the democratic socialist,  who ended the night with an eight-point lead with over 80 percent of the vote counted.

Cuomo appeared on NY1 less than two hours after polls closed congratulating Mamdani for running a formidable campaign. There was  no mention of whether Cuomo plans to rally for the November general election, in which he will be on the ballot as an independent.

While there is still more counting to do — after what is known as “initial runoff” in ranked choice voting — for the Democratic primary results, Cuomo being ranked by only 36 percent of voters to Mamdani’s 44 percent will be difficult to surmount.

“He won… tonight  was not our night,” Cuomo told supporters, Gothamist reported. “Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night, and he put together a great campaign and he touched young people and inspired them and got them to come out and vote.”

A spokesperson for the Cuomo campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If Cuomo pushes through to the general election, it will pit him against Mamdani once again as well as Mayor Eric Adams and Guardian Angels founder and cat aficionado Curtis Sliwa.

Commercial real estate industry leaders seemed disappointed, but unsurprised, by the outcome.

“It’s mind-boggling that we’ve arrived at such a critical moment in NYC’s political future—faced with choices that are not only unsettling, but in many cases, dangerously unqualified,” Adelaide Polsinelli, vice chairman at Compass, told Commercial Observer. “It’s alarming that candidates with no serious experience in business or government are now vying to lead one of the most complex and important cities in the world.”

Cuomo’s victory in the mayoral election seemed imminent earlier in March, even before he officially threw his hat into the ring, holding an impressive lead in polling.

The former governor quickly gained a mountain of financial support from real estate executives who contributed $1.4 million in the first 13 days of his campaign and an additional $2.5 million from the newly formed New York Apartment Association in early June.

But in the days leading up to the primary, Mamdani closed that gap with a poll from Honan Strategy Group showing Cuomo to have a 38 percent lead Mamdani with 22 percent of the vote.

A survey released the day prior had Mamdani leading Cuomo 35 percent to 31 percent.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.