LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Democrats had a great night last night. They scored major victories in a series of off-year elections in Virginia, California, New Jersey and New York. But can the party maintain this momentum into the midterm elections a year from now? In a few minutes, NPR's Domenico Montanaro will help us answer that question. We start with the results from New York.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
New York City voters turned out in record numbers on Tuesday to elect a new mayor.
FADEL: Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo, the former governor who was running as an independent candidate. Mamdani will become the city's first Muslim mayor, first Indian mayor and, at 34 years old, the youngest person to lead the city in more than a century.
MARTÍNEZ: Member station WNYC's Brigid Bergin joins us now to talk about this historic election. Brigid, I mean, it seemed like there was a lot of excitement around this one. How many people voted yesterday?
BRIGID BERGIN, BYLINE: So we know that more than 2 million people voted, A, and according to the city's board of elections, that has not happened in a city mayoral race since 1969.
MARTÍNEZ: OK, yeah. So clearly, lots of people excited. He made affordability the central message of his campaign. What did he have to say last night?
BERGIN: So Mamdani said he had a mandate for change. His signature campaign pitch included making buses fast and free, a rent freeze for nearly 2 million tenants and rent-stabilized apartments and providing universal child care to all families from 6 weeks to 5 years old. These are big, transformative and expensive proposals, but he offered voters a vision of hope and stressed that this moment was a transition from the politics of the past to a new generation.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: The future is in our hands.
(CHEERING)
MAMDANI: My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty.
BERGIN: That, of course, was a comment about defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo, son of another former governor, Mario Cuomo.
MARTÍNEZ: So let's talk about Cuomo for a second because he was trying to make a political comeback, but he also tried to use Mamdani's background against him - the fact that he's a Muslim and also an immigrant. Clearly, it did not work. Did Cuomo give any indication last night about his future political career?
BERGIN: No. And, you know, this is Cuomo's second defeat to Mamdani this year. He was running for mayor as really a form of political redemption after resigning from office in 2021 in the face of more than a dozen women who accused him of sexual harassment, which he denied. Throughout the campaign, he said the city was in crisis and that New Yorkers were living in fear every day. And last night, there was no note of regret about how he ran his campaign.
ANDREW CUOMO: This campaign was to contest the philosophies that are shaping the Democratic Party, the future of this city and the future of this country.
(CHEERING)
BERGIN: Cuomo said that his campaign actually had some success because they made Mamdani fight for this win.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, President Trump endorsed Cuomo. Did Mamdani have any words for President Trump?
BERGIN: He did. He was quite direct, in fact. He celebrated the diversity of the coalition that helped him win and his own background. Mamdani was born in Uganda, and his parents are from India. He said he will be unapologetic about his Muslim faith despite repeated attacks. And he said New York will remain a city of immigrants, powered by immigrants, and now a city that will be led by an immigrant. And then he said this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MAMDANI: So hear me, President Trump, when I say this - to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.
(CHEERING)
BERGIN: And now Mamdani will be sworn into office on January 1.
MARTÍNEZ: That's WNYC's Brigid Bergin. Thanks a lot.
BERGIN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
