New York City's general mayoral election on November 4, 2025 will likely be between Democrat former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, who ran against Eric Adams in the last contest. However, due to ranked choice primaries, there's a chance the Democrat nominee for the General Election might be "a pro-Palestine Socialist Democrat who isn't shy about it" called Zoran Mamdani.
As anticipated, Cuomo announced his run for New York City mayor, Saturday, March 1. In addition to incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, he'll face-off against far-left Brad Lander, Jessica Ramos, Zellnor Myrie, Zohran Mamdani, Scott Stringer, Michael Blake, Jim Walden, and Whitney Tilson in the June 24 Democratic primary.
That will be a ranked-choice primary, a procedure which was implemented four years ago. This could allow a radical Leftist to win the nomination, if a candidate can get enough votes by picking up votes of other eliminated candidates who failed to receive enough votes. "Here's all anyone really needs to think about — the progressives are going to rank the full slate of progressive candidates, of which Zoran Mamdani seems to be gaining the most momentum," said NY City Councilwoman, Vickie Paladino (R).
Mamdani, who describes where he lives as "The People's Republic of Astoria," [Queens] is campaigning on freezing rent, making buses "free," making child-care "free," making supermarkets state-run, and criticizing Israel. He's even been arrested at a pro-Palestine rally.
Another slim but terrifying possibility is Lander. The Progressive Socialist and current NYC Comptroller in charge of the pension systems lost $30 million in pension funds tied to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023. In 2025, he tried tyrannically removing Mayor Adams from office. Lander supports the panoply of Leftist fetishes, from backing sex-change operations for minors, to Drag Queen Story Hours in New York Public Libraries, to illegal immigrants, to pro-Hamas activists, to funding and arming the war in Ukraine, to climate activism.
"All the moderates are going to be ranking Cuomo and Adams, of which Cuomo will probably prevail. The only question is: does the Progressive constituency exceed 50%?" asks Paladino. This is a great point, as the city's demographic composition has shifted considerably under Adams, who resettled illegal aliens in the city. Adams' quibble with the Biden administration over the border crisis was primarily about the lack of federal funds to aid New York in providing food, shelter and work for those people. Questions about voting eligibility and potential electoral participation have sparked concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
"Or, do Cuomo/Adams voters hold that majority? Because that's how most of the rank splits are going to break down," continued Paladino.
"Andrew Cuomo is well positioned to take the democratic nomination," political consultant Robert Hornak said. "Recent polling shows that primary voting Democrats, generally considered the most left in the country, are most concerned about the issues every other voter in NY is concerned about; public safety, ending the illegal migrant crisis, and quality of life. They see Cuomo as the person best able to fix these issues and to take on the radicals in his party. That's why, unlike in 2021 when Adams barely won the nomination after still receiving many of the votes that initially went to Maya Wiley, Cuomo is likely to expand on his already commanding lead in the polls with many ranked choice votes he will pick up from other candidates that will be eliminated."
Wiley, of course, is the former mayoral candidate who faced off against GOP Rep. Nancy Mace in Congress over the "woman" question. "Can you define what a woman is?" Mace asked. "A woman is a person who says she is," Wiley replied.
If this likely scenario plays out, New York City voters must choose between Cuomo and Sliwa. There's more excitement surrounding Cuomo than Sliwa for the time being, with Cuomo leading the NYC mayoral race with 38 percent of the vote, per a poll from Honan Strategy Group and per financial disclosures submitted in January, has approximately $8 million in his campaign account.
However, the tie-breaker might be the largest voting bloc and the one helping to move every neighborhood in New York City Right for Trump: NYC moms.
Cuomo gave us unconstitutional pandemic lockdowns during his time in Albany. He is known for the Covid-era nursing home scandal resulting in the elderly dying unnecessarily, and he was a backer of bail reform, which led to more criminals running free on New York City streets. All of these decisions have led New York City to the present disaster, hitting the tripwire and electing Trump.
As the electoral process unfolds, the interplay between ranked choice voting mechanics, shifting voter preferences, and candidate positioning will determine the city's leadership and policy direction. Whether Cuomo can successfully leverage voter fatigue and short-term memory with progressive policies or whether Sliwa can mobilize coalitions that Trump tapped into remains to be seen in what will be a consequential election for New York City's future.
