New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani pulled off a win, but what challenges could he face once in office?
Zohran Mamdani will become mayor of New York City on Jan. 1 2026 with nearly half the city's voters not supporting him.
While his Nov. 4 victory was celebrated by progressives and younger voters in areas like Brooklyn and South Asian Queens communities, it was greeted with negative reaction in many of the city's more suburban, middle-class outlying areas.
While Mamdani, 34, earned nearly 51% of the vote over 49% of voters cast their ballots against the mayor-elect, overwhelmingly for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo - who ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani - and in smaller numbers for Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
And the high turnout - over 2 million New Yorkers came to the polls, the most for a city election in over 50 years - indicates unusual enthusiasm not just to vote for him, but to vote against him. In other words, he enters office with an intensity of both support and opposition that no other recent mayor has faced.
Even in a city that typically favors Democrats by wide margins, many moderate members of his own party strongly opposed Mamdani's candidacy. Some raised concerns about his democratic socialist ideology and proposals to expand social programs such as creating universal childcare. Others objected to his past calls to defund the police and to boycott Israel.
"They're going to have to live with him, and they're going to be watching him very carefully," said Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime political consultant who has opposed Mamdani.
On the eve of his inauguration as New York City's first Muslim and first South Asian mayor, those voters are left trying to figure out how to respond over the next four or eight years.
Some are looking to actively support Israel in light of Mamdani's opposition to the country's existence as a Jewish state and promise to arrest its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.
Others are thinking about working to elect moderate Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections. Many Mamdani opponents vowed to flee the city altogether if he won, but so far the data shows no exodus at all.
"This is not the time to run," said Rabbi Avi Weiss, who plans to hold a vigil of conscience at Mamdani's inauguration. "The more we run, the worse it's going to become, and the more we're going to be overwhelmed."
Supporting Israel
Weiss is the founding rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, a modern Orthodox synagogue in the Bronx which has a Israeli flag in front. Calling Mamdani antisemitic for his criticism of Zionism, Weiss is among the roughly two-thirds of Jewish New Yorkers who opposed Mamdani, according to exit polls. Jews make up about one in 10 New Yorkers, with many having ties to Israel. About a third of Jewish voters backed Mamdani.
New York City Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker, who is Jewish, submitted his resignation over Mamdani's views toward Israel. In another blow, Mamdani's incoming director of appointments resigned a day after her job announcement because of antisemitic social media posts she made over a decade ago.
Weiss cited Mamdani’s response to a November protest outside Manhattan’s Park East synagogue, which held an event by an organization that promotes Jewish immigration to Israel and the occupied West Bank. While Mamdani condemned slogans used by demonstrators, he said places of worship shouldn’t violate international law, referring to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
His comments drew swift pushback from many Jewish groups, including from Weiss, who attended an early December protest in support of Israel outside Park East. But he said those in attendance didn’t call out Mamdani and seemed to want to negotiate with Mamdani’s administration.
But, Weiss said,“the more we speak out, the more it doesn’t weaken the negotiators. It strengthens them. It gives them the ability to say, ‘Look at our community. Our community is upset with you.’”
Cuomo voters as opposition
J.C. Polanco, an assistant professor at University of Mount Saint Vincent and a political analyst, said opposition is composed primarily of those who backed Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani in the Democratic primary and again in the general election.
With 41% of votes in the general election, Cuomo garnered an array of moderate Democrats, independents and even Republicans who supported him over Sliwa. Cuomo’s supporters have to now back incumbent Democrats in the midterm elections against progressive primary challengers who are aligned with Mamdani, said Polanco, a former GOP candidate for city Public Advocate who identifies as an independent. Democrats far outnumber Republicans in New York City, and Democrats have dominated in local and federal elections.
The Democratic Socialists of America, of which Mamdani is a member, has racked up recent wins in New York elections, starting with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s upset of Rep. Joe Crowley in 2018. More moderate politicians are now targeted for primary challenges. For example, Rep. Dan Goldman, an Israel supporter who declined to endorse Mamdani, will have to defend his seat against New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who backed Mamdani in the general election after cross-endorsing with him in the primary under the city’s ranked-choice voting system.
"If they want to see another day, they have to stand firm and support normal Democrats," Polanco said.
'Wait-and-see' in Mamdani's NYC
Mamdani saw the city's elite pour millions against him and for Cuomo. Some said they will flee New York if Mamdani won.
Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager, criticized Mamdani’s advocacy for Palestinian rights and his socialist politics. John Catsimatidis, owner of the Gristedes grocery chain, vowed to close his supermarkets. Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, with a net worth of $109.4 billion, donated nearly $10 million to boost Cuomo’s failed campaign.
Stratis Morfogen, owner of Diner 24 NYC in Manhattan, said he has held back for at least a year from signing three additional leases to expand locations of his 24-hour diner. Morfogen vehemently disagreed with Cuomo’s COVID-19 pandemic-era restrictions. But in the general election, he supported Cuomo to block Mamdani’s socialist policies, especially against Mamdani’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $30 by 2030—which Morfogen said would hurt small businesses.
"Now it's a wait-and-see in New York City,"
Morfogen is now considering moving to South Florida, where he previously lived for five years.
Fernando Mateo, a former Republican candidate for mayor who co-founded the United Bodegas of America association of small deli owners, said people opposed to Mamdani will have to see which policies actually go into effect.
Many of Mamdani’s ideas, like free buses and childcare, require tax increases to pay for them. That means they will need approval from Gov. Kathy Hochul, a moderate Democrat who has been hesitant to raise taxes, Mateo noted.
"We'll give him the benefit of the doubt until he (expletive) it up himself,"
Mateo said.