Overview and Live Results: New York City Mayoral Primary

Tuesday is primary day in New York City. Voters will nominate candidates for mayor and other city offices.

Also on Tuesday: Buffalo mayoral primary and a number of legislative special elections Tuesday. 

Buffalo Mayoral Primary and Special Elections >> 

New York City Primary Overview and Results

New York is the nation's largest city, with an estimated population of 8.5 million residents living across the five boroughs. 

Primaries for city offices with more than two candidates use ranked choice voting. This lets voters rank multiple candidates in order of preference. If no candidate gets a majority of the vote, the ranked choice tabulation is conducted to determine a winner. 

On Tuesday, results will be available for first-choice votes. That may or may not be sufficient to project a winner.

Where needed, the city Board of Elections will conduct a ranked choice tabulation on July 1. The seven-day delay allows for the receipt of mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day, and also covers the window for individual voters to correct/cure any issues associated with their ballot.

Polls close at 9:00 PM Eastern Time.

Mayor

Eric Adams is seeking a second term. Adams was indicted on federal corruption charges in September, 2024. It was the first federal indictment of a sitting NYC mayor in modern history.

Those charges were dismissed in April. However, Adams chose to run for reelection as an independent after it became clear he would not be renominated as a Democrat.

Adams will be on the November ballot along with the Democratic nominee from Tuesday's primary and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

Sliwa was the 2021 GOP nominee, losing by 67% to 28% to Adams.

The frontrunners in the eleven-candidate field are former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. Most polling has had Cuomo winning the nomination via the ranked choice tabulation, although a Monday poll release from Emerson College showed Mamdani prevailing.

Cuomo is attempting a political comeback. He served as governor of New York from 2011 until he resigned in 2021 after the release of a report that found he had sexually harassed numerous women.

The much younger Mamdani - he is 33 - has represented an Assembly district in Queens since 2021. He identifies as a democratic socialist, and is campaigning on a very progressive platform, including free city buses and additional rent controls. He has also been an outspoken critic of Israel. 

Lakshya Jain, CEO of Split Ticket, calculated the polling average in the graphic below. It shows Cuomo with a 6.6% lead after the final ranked choice round.

Given the large field, it is unlikely either candidate will receive a majority of the vote, necessitating the July 1 ranked choice tabulation. However, the first choice vote released Tuesday may provide some clues. 

Prediction Markets are giving Cuomo a roughly 50% chance of winning (as of publication time). Those odds changed significantly on Monday - Cuomo was previously seen as 80% likely to win - after the Emerson College poll release.

While ranked choice adds some complexity, these markets often respond quickly as results come in, so we've included embeds for the odds of the two leading candidates.

We will have results of select primaries for the following offices.

Comptroller

The Comptroller is the Chief Financial Officer of the City. Democrat Brad Lander is retiring to run for mayor. There are four candidates on the ballot:

• Justin Brannan, a member of the City Council
• Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough President
• Ismael Malave Perez
• Kevin Parker, a State Senator

Brannan and Levine look to be the frontrunners. Parker ran for this same office in 2021. He received about 7% of the vote (in a field of ten) in the ranked choice tabulation round prior to his elimination.

The winner will be a heavy favorite over the GOP nominee. Peter Kefalas and Daniel Maio are running in the party primary.

Public Advocate

The Public Advocate is the liaison between citizens and government. The office investigates complaints against city agencies. 

The incumbent is also first in the line of succession to the mayor.  This role gained some visibility after Eric Adams was indicted, although the mayor has remained in office.

Democrat Jumaane Williams is seeking a second term. He has drawn a strong challenge from State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar.

Also on the ballot is Marty Dolan, a retired business executive. Dolan notably challenged Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the 2024 NY-14 Democratic primary, losing by 82% to 18%. 

Manhattan Borough President

Each of the boroughs of New York City has a president. All of these offices are up for a four-year term in 2025. Incumbents are expected to be renominated and ultimately reelected in the four outer boroughs.

The current Manhattan Borough President, Mark Levine, is a candidate for Comptroller. State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and City Councilman Keith Powers are the leading candidates to succeed him. Also on the ballot is Calvin Sun, a physician.

No Republicans filed for this office.

City Council District 2

Andrew Cuomo is not the only politician attempting a comeback Tuesday. Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner is on the Democratic ballot for this lower Manhattan City Council seat. Carlina Rivera is ineligible to run due to term limits.

As the AP reports, "Yes, that Weiner: The guy whose once-promising political career was derailed by sexting scandals and then seemingly ended forever when he was imprisoned for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl."

There are four other candidates on the ballot.

Manhattan District Attorney

While serving Manhattan, this is a state government office. As such, even if there were more than two candidates, ranked choice voting would not be used.

Alvin Bragg is seeking a second term. He is being challenged by former Bronx prosecutor Patrick Timmins. 

The incumbent has had a notable first term, and seeks reelection as one of the most well-known district attorneys in the country. 

Calendar

Scheduled Elections

• August 5
  • Detroit Mayor Primary
  • Seattle Mayor Primary
• November 4
  • 2025 General Election

Congressional Special Elections

• July 15
  • Arizona District 7 (Primary)
    • General Election September 23
• September 9
  • Virginia District 11
• November 4
  • Texas District 18

Legislative Special Elections

• July 8
  • Rhode Island Senate District 4 (Primary)
    • General Election August 5
• July 15
  • Alabama House District 12 (Primary)
    • Runoff (if needed) August 12
• August 5
  • Nine Mississippi Senate Districts; five House Districts (Primary)
    • Due to court-ordered redistricting
  • Washington Senate Districts 5, 26, 33, 34, 48 (Primary)
  • Washington House Districts 33, 34, 41, 48 (Primary)