Andrew Cuomo concedes NYC Democratic mayoral primary to Zohran Mamdani

Former governor Andrew Cuomo has conceded New York City's Democratic mayoral primary to Zohran Mamdani who took a significant lead in the race on Tuesday night.

Mr Cuomo's concession came as the race's outcome will be decided by a ranked choice count after neither Democrat got a clear majority in the vote.

Mr Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist member of the state assembly, started to pull ahead with more than an estimated 80 per cent of ballots counted.

Mr Cuomo, in a speech to supporters, said Mr Mamdani 'won' and that 'we are going to take a look and make some decisions'.

'Tonight is his night,' Mr Cuomo said.

Mr Mamdani would be the city's first Muslim and Indian American mayor if elected. Mr Cuomo is trying to make a comeback from a sexual harassment scandal. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams skipped the primary. He's running as an independent.

The race's ultimate outcome could say something about what kind of leader Democrats are looking for during President Donald Trump's second term.

The vote takes place about four years after Mr Cuomo, 67, resigned as governor following a sexual harassment scandal.

Yet he has been the favourite throughout the race, with his deep experience, name recognition, strong political connections and juggernaut fundraising apparatus.

The party's progressive wing, meanwhile, had coalesced behind Mr Mamdani.

A relatively unknown state legislator when the contest began, Mr Mamdani gained momentum by running a sharp campaign laser-focused on the city's high cost of living and secured endorsements from two of the country's foremost progressives, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders.

The primary winner will go on to face incumbent Mr Adams, a Democrat who decided to run as an independent amid a public uproar over his indictment on corruption charges and the subsequent abandonment of the case by Mr Trump's Justice Department.

Republican Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, will be on the ballot in the fall's general election.

There is also a possibility that Mr Cuomo will run on the November ballot as an independent candidate.

The mayoral primary's two leading candidates — one a fresh-faced progressive and the other an older moderate — could be stand-ins for the larger Democratic Party's ideological divide, though Mr Cuomo's scandal-scarred past adds a unique tinge to the narrative.

The rest of the pack has struggled to gain recognition in a race where nearly every candidate has cast themselves as the person best positioned to challenge Mr Trump's agenda.

Comptroller Brad Lander, a liberal city government stalwart, made a splash last week when he was arrested after linking arms with a man federal agents were trying to detain at an immigration court in Manhattan. It was unclear if that episode was enough to jump-start a campaign that had been failing to pick up speed behind Lander.

Among the other candidates are City Council speaker Adrienne Adams, state senator Zellnor Myrie, hedge fund executive Whitney Tilson and former city comptroller Scott Stringer.

Mr Mamdani's energetic run has been hard not to notice.

His army of young canvassers relentlessly knocked on doors throughout the city seeking support.

Posters of his grinning mug were up on shop windows. You couldn't get on social media without seeing one of his well-produced videos pitching his vision — free buses, free child care, new apartments, a higher minimum wage and more, paid for by new taxes on rich people.

Mr Cuomo and some other Democrats have cast Mr Mamdani as unqualified. They say he doesn't have the management skills to manage the city's sprawling bureaucracy or handle crises. Critics have also taken aim at Mr Mamdani's support for Palestinian human rights.

In response, Mr Mamdani has slammed Mr Cuomo over his sexual harassment scandal and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.