Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo conceded New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary to Zohran Mamdani as the 33-year old member of the state Assembly had a significant lead in the race Tuesday night.
Cuomo’s concession came as the race’s outcome will be decided by a ranked choice count after neither Democrat got a clear majority in the vote.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist member of the state Assembly, started to pull ahead with more than an estimated 80% of ballots counted.
This is why ranked choice has been banned in a lot of places. It breaks the duopoly.
The election here was the Democratic primary. It didn’t cut the Democrats out of the loop.
Democrats hate progressives. The two would be separate parties in a sensible democracy, but in the legacy first-past-the-post American system, splitting the party while Republicans exist is political suicide. There are more progressives than center Democrats, but they are not as united as the core establishment Democrats are, which made any one of them irrelevant in primaries up to now. RCV has given them a real chance for the first time. For example by giving Lander votes to Mamdani in the instant runoff. The moment RCV got implemented, long-serving Democrats started suddenly getting kicked out in the primaries. This terrifies them, so Democrats will continue to fight against RCV in the future. Just look how both Cuomo and Adams will try to commit political murder-suicide now by running as independent in the general just so that the “official Democratic party nominee” would not win.
Democrats hate progressives
Democrats hate socialists. Their job is to ensure that the leftward fringe of the party, and of acceptable mainstream discourse, never moves past progressive/social democracy. The Democratic Party serves capital by ensuring a neutered American left
Hopefully this can be changed
They’re acting as close to a controlled opposition as ever before.
At least RCV is a single and measurable cause to ralley around. I feel like public pressure tends to be more effective when focused on causes such as these.
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Ha ha, whoops I should read the articles.
TBF it’s possible that RCV created an incentive for Democrats to nominate a better candidate. They’re smarter than they look.
I suspect that a party that ran a ranked choice primary to select a candidate for a FPTP election would have an advantage over an opposing party that didn’t. I haven’t got the math or statistics to back it up, but everything I’ve read about ranked choice discouraging scorched earth politics sounds like it would be healthy in a primary.
Let’s fucking goooooo
Thank fuck
Hopefully he wins the general
Adams doesn’t stand a chance
Wtf happened to Adams? Sure, he was under criminal corruption indictments, then cozied up to Trump and got “pardoned” (charges dismissed). But then he was supposed to be on the Democratic primary ballot, his picture was even in the official voter guide from a month ago, but on election day his name wasn’t even in the list? Now he’s apparently running as independent incumbent instead? What a booger!
EDIT: Both Cuomo and Adams are intending to run as independent in the general? WhyTF do we even have primaries then! If they are not going to play by their own rules of their special little club, let’s just extend Ranked Choice Voting to cover the general and scrap the primaries altogether!
WhyTF do we even have primaries then! If they are not going to play by their own rules of their special little club, let’s just extend Ranked Choice Voting to cover the general and scrap the primaries altogether!
Because the US doesn’t really have a true democracy. It’s always going to be weighted against the actual interests of the people. The more success candidates the Zohran have, the more the established politicians will stack the deck against them. The good thing is that the more the game is rigged the more obvious it all becomes.
The article says Adams is running as an independent, and that Cuomo has the option and is looking into it! It’s not decided.
He’s probably trying to save face; he’s on record in May saying he’s running no matter the result of the primary.
WhyTF do we even have primaries then!
So progressives don’t get any ideas. As I said elsewhere in the thread: I better not hear another liberal saying we can’t split the vote again.
As I said elsewhere in the thread: I better not hear another liberal saying we can’t split the vote again.
Do you actually understand the difference between FPTP and ranked choice?
They’re talking about the general election, which is FPTP, and losing primary moderates refusing the result and trying again in the general.
The NYC general is FPTP, and Cuomo is running anyway despite having lost the primary. Neither me nor the other person are criticizing anyone for running in the primary.
Do you actually understand the voting process you’re commenting on?
EDIT: I’ll take that as saying the same thing as the others above me as a “No, I don’t get what I’m commenting on, everyone is wrong but me.”
I assume you mean in reference to the general last year? I raged against the way the left brought disaster upon the Palestinians despite their best intentions. This outcome, however, is exactly what I argued the left should be doing: fight FOR the left in primaries, vote AGAINST fascists in the general. You are damn close to sham elections as it is, giving the facisits any opportunity to shut down democracy is self defeating.
I assume you mean in reference to the general last year?
That’s the most recent example, yes, but you get this spiel whenever you suggest going against the party in anything beyond local elections.
I raged against the way the left brought disaster upon the Palestinians despite their best intentions.
Where are you getting the idea that it was the left that let Trump win? Democrat non-voters were for the most part moderates.
fight FOR the left in primaries, vote AGAINST fascists in the general.
The whole point of this mantra is to not split the anti-fascist vote. And what are the Democrats doing now after not getting their way? Ignore the primary and split the anti-fascist vote. The whole point of not splitting the vote is defeated when the liberals then decide to split the vote. I’m also very much not convinced that a vote for Democrats is a vote against fascism given that they just voted not to impeach Trump.
Where are you getting the idea that it was the left that let Trump win? Democrat non-voters were for the most part moderates.
no centrist has ever cared. they don’t want to move to the left under any circumstances, so they blame the left every time their unpopular policies, refusal to represent anyone but themselves, cowardice, and complicity lose them elections.
fight FOR the left in primaries, vote AGAINST fascists in the general
That’s how it should have worked, except that in the 2024 Democratic Presidential primary, when Biden was the only name on the ballot, we were STILL told to vote for him and only him or we’d be supporting Trump. In the primary! Voters in Michigan tried to campaign for “uncommitted” option in protest of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and how the administration was ignoring it, and they were crucified by establishment Democrats. Even Bernie Sanders distanced himself from the protest vote, saying to vote Biden no matter what. In the primaries!
The way Democrats run primaries is shameful, no denying it. But the only way to change the dems is to get actively involved, push for RCV, start grass roots, and, yes, vote for the good guy in the primary.
and, yes, vote for the good guy in the primary.
when the party deigns to have them.
centrists are still the wing of puma pac.
And they had the temerity to say “no matter who” for three fucking election cycles.
This is the dream of ranked choice. The more candidates the better.
Don’t understand why it wasn’t done this way in the first place. RCV was approved as a New York City Charter amendment by a voter initiative in 2019, but only applies to primary city elections, not general. You’d think procedurally it would be easier to justify altering the general election process that the Constitution actually applies to, rather than what is technically internal business of independent private organizations (the Democratic and the Republican parties).
I don’t realize it wouldn’t be in the main election. If so, then Cuomo better not run… Maybe they do it like this as a stepping stone. Get everybody used to the process in the primaries before rolling it out to the main.
adams is running to daddy-trump.
So you don’t have to spend millions on a liberal Joe Rogan, or attack trans people, or support genocide to win a race in America? God damn, that’s incredible!
I’m very happy to hear this news. Genuinely one of the best news I’ve heard all year round. Maybe there is a sliver of hope.
I don’t mean to blunt your enthusiasm, but this was just a primary election, so only registered Democrats were voting here. So a much different demographic than 51 separate Presidential elections. But still, it’s a sign that the voters in the city are fed up with the politics-as-usual the party is force-feeding them.
There are a lot more Democrats than Republicans there, though, so this should give him the inside track for the job, especially if Cuomo backs down from his threat to run Independant. (I think he knows that if he did that, he will never win an endorsement from any other Democrat, ever, so that may give him pause.) Adams is running as an independant, but I think the city is done with him. Curtis Sliwa is the Republican nominee, but he hasn’t been relevant since the 80s and 90s, and is kind of a cartoon now.
You are way understating his odds at winning the general.
Your implicit argument that so-called “centrist” Democrats are better at winning purple states because voters all exist along a simple left to right spectrum is absolutely wrong. The people in this country are fed up and they want revolution. Republicans offered it, and Democrats didn’t. The rightward lurch was just an artifact of people rationalizing their vote and conforming to the stereotype on offer.
One big excuse the Democratic establishment gave was that the world is in an anti-incombancy mood. That’s a correct observation, but what is really happening is the death of neoliberalism everywhere. The one big outlier to the trend was Mexico where an aging male President successfully handed the reigns over to his protege, a younger woman. The difference is, they were progressives. Mexico is also arguably a more religiously conservative country than America.
The wonky framing of the US electorate has been the standard Democratic perspective for decades. It’s what led to the income inequality we have now. It’s what led to Trump, and the complete routing of Democrats in both federal and state governments. For the love of God, wake up already.
The Democrats don’t win because they aren’t real people, they are characters on TV that people are sick of. Neoliberalism drains the blood and passion that people want to see in leadership. Republicans have it, and Democrats don’t. It’s past time that changed.
I have seen articles saying that a Zohran win would force the Democratic Party to face change, and acknowledge the rising progressive movement. Let’s see if they accept the changes, or they fight against it. I suspect they’ll fight, but if other elections start moving left, they’ll be forced to change.
The next big test will be the mid-term primaries. Hopefully, this win will encourage progressives to run, and hopefully they’ll win enough primary races to become a serious threat, especially against Establishment Dems.
And I hope one of them is AOC primarying Chuck Schumer. That spineless, whining bitch has got to go. He holds a lot of the blame for the rise of MAGA.
I keep writing my reps about how much I approve of Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and I’ll now mention Zohran too!
I live in a blue state near NY. Im tired of the Dem party not backing actual progressive candidates.
Let your reps know how much you approve of their messages! We need hope!
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You just have to ignore all polls and vote with your conscience. The polls were clearly bullshit imo. All the chatter completely ignoring everyone but Adams and Cuomo were bullshit.
Yes you do. I hate to be a pessimist, but Trump and all he’s doing is a major contributor souring people about extremists and establishment. If Harris had won, I don’t think this would have been the outcome because people wouldn’t be nearly as riled up about politics, in general.
When rumpy won in 2016, after my initial shock I thought, well maybe he will make it so bad, we will collectively be forced to see the truth, forced to come together and actually have a positive change for the working people.
I didnt know then, that I’d be fearing for the loss of democracy as a whole in 2025, but I think my initial thought still stands.
Maybe this wouldn’t be the outcome if Harris won, but if the silver lining is people start paying attention, I’m happy for it.
Yeah, I certainly hope they do as well! It’s high time people started to give a fuck about what our elected leaders do.
“Nearly a quarter of early voters had not voted in a Democratic primary at any point between 2012 and 2024.”
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-primary-results-2025-election
Here you go folks- GET INVOLVED! Go vote! Every single election, especially primaries.
Alternately: people actually fucking vote when you give them something, anything, to vote for!
> stupid, barely democratic election system
> only assholes and morons get elected
> change to a sensible system
> an actual representative of the common people gets elected
> mfw
Who knew making it easier for voters to pick a candidate makes the candidates easier to pick?
The fact that Clinton endorsed Cuomo is the cherry on top.
When do you think they’ll realize their name is poisonous? Or would that require more introspection than a Clinton is even capable of?
I’m suspicious that sociopaths are a parasitic subspecies. Like there are these alien creatures that look entirely human walking around among us. They look like us, talk like us, but think that the general human species is inferior to their own.
What if they could identify other sociopaths, and were working in concert. Hmm, this is ridiculous.
Anyway, yeah. I don’t think Clinton is capable of that level of introspection.
I’m suspicious that sociopaths are a parasitic subspecies.
That’s an interesting perspective. I wouldn’t go so far as to dehumanise them, though. I think they’re just another type of human — that’s particularly well adapted at fucking shit up in such a way that they, and potentially their ingroup, come out on top.
It’s a highly unfortunate type of person of course and a very likely cause for the premature death of our biosphere if it comes to that.
Evolution - at a species level or a societal level - has no “guiding hand”. It throws shit at a wall to see what sticks, and the best-adapted variants tend to propagate.
Selfish behavior is very powerful in a large and strong society where most people are producing more value than they’re consuming. There’s so much wealth to be found that if you don’t care about the enemies you make, you can just jump from victim to victim as you amass power faster tab the people you leave behind. The problem is, this drives the society towards no longer being one of such surplus.
In a smaller society where people are largely just surviving, selfish behavior will cripple your own ability to survive. If everybody has only a modest surplus, they only want to share it with people they can trust to return the favor when they’re the one in need. If you make enemies with everyone in a small community, you’re going to have a hard time finding community support.
If that’s the case, then humanity is doomed.
Let’s see if Chelsea runs.
If the sexual predators coalition had won this thing the party might have collapsed. So this is good for the party and the city.
I saw this somewhere else, but if Cuomo tries to run in the general election as an independent, Mamdani’s line should be: “Cuomo: no means no”.
It is unfair to reduce them to that. They are also staunch supporters of genocide and imperialism.
CGPGrey is that you?
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Looks like the lower income is the Bronx and a bit of Brooklyn. Higher income is Manhattan and the Brooklyn/queens riverfront. The middle income map is more like what I’d expect to see overall based on the neighborhoods. More Cuomo for Staten Island/False New Jersey as well as east Brooklyn/Queens/Don’t call it Long Island (even though they act like Nassau county is out in the country). There’s a bunch of conservative, racist pricks that insist on NYC being the greatest (so they’re definitely part of it) but off in homeowning urban areas pissed that they’re making suburb money but paying urban prices. All while refusing to enjoy the fun parts of the city because they don’t like the people there.
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It’s makes you want to cry or throw a big shiny round bomb in someone’s gilded carriage. One of those two.
It depends where the cut off is. But there’s a lot of educated people that fall into the higher income category that all too aware what rampant poverty and inequality can do to cause instability. His policies might not benefit them the most but it would still benefit them in some way.
Good. The Democratic machine didn’t want this. It happened anyways. Maybe they will pull head from ass. (Doubtful)
The people you are talking about about will never remove their cranial bowel obstructions, but their twisted forms can be removed from the Democratic party by voters.
FIRST ROUND KNOCKOUT! 🤛
Incredible result for him and NY, and I hope this signs the death knell of Cuomo’s career. Step off, creeper.
If this election was held in 2023, you have to wonder if the outcome would have been wildly different.
For once, an encouraging sign for sanity and common sense.
Yeah, that’s what we all thought when Biden won.
I called the 2024 election when Biden won in 2020. He was a shitty corporate centrist candidate who was never going to address our deep structural inequality, and so frustrated uneducated people voted for change in 2024. Obama won 2008 because people wanted “Change”. Trump won 2016 to drain the swamp. We’re all so sick of this crony corporate bullshit.
Socialists or we lose. It should’ve been obvious all along that the “centrists” and “Libertarians” are just embarrassed Republicans. America has been sick and tired of corporations overtly ruling for decades and moderates don’t want to own that.
Voters weren’t scared of a dictatorship on day one by a guy quoting Hitler. And at this point, they aren’t scared of socialism, not anymore. The only way we win elections is by supporting candidates who are actually good. Even if a moderate wins this election, they’ll lose us the next election and the good half will be undone. We can only discount the value of the next election iff our candidate will address our broken elections.
TL;DR: Socialists or we lose.
Biden was right when he said “Nothing will fundamentally change”
The crazy thing is that nothing will change unless someone takes control to stop the corporate-controlled stalemate that runs our society. The far right is awful, and the fact that they are the only ones capable of getting it done is probably the most terrifying notion this country has experienced in my lifetime. It’s just going to be splitting all the wealth with another group of nerdy billionaire assholes and making a worse gov. I just want to wake up and realize it’s a nightmare.
Yeah I didn’t think that. Biden was a bandaid that let the wound fester.
Biden was a hope for a return to a normalcy that ceased to exist in 2015.
Sure would be nice if this is a sign of things to come
Mamdani destroyed Cuomo in the first round of RCV, when it was expected to be much closer. This gives me a hesitant hope that nationally the voters want real change within the Democratic party. Let’s just hope this isn’t a fluke, and the technofascists have really awoken a huge progressive voting bloc.
The squad was born in the original Trump administration so it shouldn’t be that surprising to see a return of these kinds of progressive candidates.
Fingers crossed, but give us rank choice voting or I fear the progressive bloc will not be obvious
That’s why there’s such fervent pushback against any RCV proposals across the country (from both sides of the duopoly). Many places have already outlawed it because they see it would actually affect real change, and they just can’t have a challenge to their financial streams and power.
Holy shit! It happened! I’m elated.
Edit: Congrats New Yorkers!
As non american I just discovered Mamdani and he seems like a legit dude who cares and has the energy to match. Wishing luck to New York friends here!
