On the evening of June 24th, in the Democratic primary for mayor in New York City, an unexpected candidate with a far-left political stance emerged victorious, causing a stir worldwide. While young progressive Democratic voters celebrated the win, moderate Democrats, business leaders, the Jewish community, and other groups expressed concerns about the outcome. Everyone is now speculating on what the November election will bring.
As of Wednesday, June 25th, the New York City Board of Elections website showed that with 93% of the total votes counted, Zohran Mamdani had received 43.5% of the votes, while Kummer had 36.4%. Although the vote counting is not yet complete, the results are already clear.
New Yorkers compared Mamdani’s victory over Kummer on Tuesday night to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 win over longtime Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley, leaving the establishment Democrats caught off guard.
President Trump sharply criticized Mamdani as “a 100% communist lunatic,” calling the Democrats’ actions “beyond belief.”
“The Democrats have crossed a line, elevating a 100% communist lunatic to the heavens,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth. “We’ve had radical leftists before, but this situation is somewhat absurd.”
Trump also mocked Mamdani’s appearance and took a swipe at Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, who had recently considered impeaching him.
Kummer, who easily conceded, told CBS on Wednesday that out of New York City’s 8 million residents and 5 million voters, only 1 million people turned out to vote on Tuesday, so the 70,000 votes difference between him and Mamdani accounts for just 1.4% of the electorate.
“So these primary voters represent a very small portion of the overall electorate,” he said. “It does not reflect the entire city’s sentiment.”
Kummer mentioned that he might join the independent candidate team in November, stating, “I did it a few months ago because in the general election, more people come out to vote, representing a broader and more diverse group of New Yorkers.”
However, the New York Post reported that many business leaders, who had backed Kummer wholeheartedly, now feel that he has lost his chance. Some are urging Kummer to withdraw from the race and are shifting their support to the incumbent New York City Mayor Adam Adams for re-election.
Incumbent Mayor Adam Adams, who is set to announce his re-election campaign, likened Mamdani to a “snake oil salesman” during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
“To get elected, he’ll say anything,” Adams said, accusing Mamdani of proposing socialist free policies funded by raising taxes on the wealthy, which are not feasible.
“Think about it—trying to raise taxes on the top 1% of high-income earners in New York City… but as mayor, you don’t have the power to do that,” he said. “He doesn’t understand the government’s powers or how to improve the economy and raise living standards.”
The results from Tuesday have given confidence to Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for New York City mayor and founder of the “Guardian Angels.”
“No one wants to go back to the time of Adams or Kummer; they want to move forward,” Sliwa told the media, adding on X platform, “Mamdani is too extreme for a city that’s already tense. I know many New Yorkers are now afraid—afraid of rent freezes, afraid of crime, afraid of being forced to leave their only place they call home.”
Sliwa called on New Yorkers to vote for him in the general election in November, saying, “The campaign is not over; it’s just begun. New Yorkers have a choice, and I will continue to fight for you. Let’s win on November 4th!”