Mamdani's night
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With help from Amira McKee
The political world is waking up to a shockwave.
Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist with a scant four years in elected office, toppled Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary.
Mamdani's victory is a seismic political moment, a reflection of the profound dissatisfaction Democratic voters feel less than six months after Donald Trump's return to the presidency.
If he wins in November, Mamdani would be the first Muslim mayor and the first person of South Asian descent to hold the office.
Polling in single digits in February, Mamdani rode a wave of frustration with the cost of living and discontent for institutional powers that backed Cuomo.
The 67-year-old dynastic scion's attempt to return from a scandal-induced downfall less than four years ago was halted by voters.
The former governor long asserted in the wake of his resignation that while the politicians demanded he leave office, he never lost support from the masses. On Tuesday, it was clear most Democratic voters wanted nothing to do with him.
Cuomo's loss is a clear repudiation of the political establishment that reluctantly supported him.
A road-tested Cuomo strategy — labor unions with touted turnout operations, well-heeled donors pouring cash into an allied super PAC, endorsements from elected officials and a fabled political name — utterly failed.
But as the ex-governor said in what amounted to a concession speech, it was Mamdani's night.
His campaign touted his thousands of volunteers and produced slick videos well suited for the TikTok era.
The victory may also have reordered the Big Apple's electoral politics.
Mamdani marshaled young New Yorkers — who typically stay home, especially for normally sleepy municipal elections — and he may have activated new voters, especially those of South Asian descent.
It's an indication that a constantly changing city is going through yet another transition.
His win is the first time a democratic socialist has scaled up beyond a House or local legislative district.
It's also a sign that decades of pro-Israel politics — de riguer in New York — is fading for a city that's home to the second largest Jewish population on the planet.
Mamdani overcame a torrent of negative advertising — much of it proffered by the $25 million spent by the Cuomo-aligned super PAC — that cast him as too inexperienced.
He was slammed for his support of the boycott, divest and sanction movement and defended the use of the phrase 'Globalize the Intifada.'
Mamdani campaign attorney Ali Najmi told NY1 Tuesday night there will be outreach efforts to Jewish groups today.
Questions persist for Mamdani.
Can he gain an understanding with the city's monied elite? Will Mayor Eric Adams — who sat out the primary due to his cozy Trump relationship — capitalize on Mamdani's past support for defunding the police?
'I don't think the line right now is between progressives and moderates. I think the line is between fighters and fakers,' Brad Lander, who cross-endorsed Mamdani, told Playbook. 'And what we've got to do is deliver on the promises of this campaign.'
Mamdani changed Democratic politics on Tuesday night. The general election battle, which at minimum will pit him against Adams, Republican Curtis Sliwa and independent Jim Walden, will be the next test for his movement. — Nick Reisman with Emily Ngo
IT'S WEDNESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
WHERE'S KATHY? In New York City with no public schedule.
WHERE'S ERIC? In New York City meeting with senior administration officials, calling into 94.7 The Block's 'Jonesy In The Morning,' making an announcement on combatting Islamophobia and other faith-based hate, making a public safety related announcement, hosting a Staten Island African American Community roundtable, meeting with the champions of inaugural Robotics Mayor's Cup, joining 'RUSA Radio' and appearing live on WCBS-TV's 'CBS News NY at 5.'
QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'Tonight was not our night. Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani's night... He really ran a highly impactful campaign.' — Cuomo in his primary night speech all but conceding to Mamdani.
ABOVE THE FOLD
MARK MY WORDS: Mark Levine won the Democratic primary for city comptroller Tuesday night, besting City Council Member Justin Brannan. And Public Advocate Jumaane Williams trounced state Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, winning a second term.
Levine and Brannan ran a race with nearly identical policy positions that became largely focused on President Donald Trump. In a pair of debates, the difference between the two hopefuls became one of delivery style, with Levine more measured and cerebral and Brannan leaning into a tough-guy persona that was popular this election cycle.
'You gave voters in this city hope that we can build affordable housing, that we can fix the broken mental health system, that we can fight back against the madman in the White House. And we can use this office of comptroller to do it,' Levine told a roomful of jubilant supporters Tuesday night.
Williams faced a spirited challenge from Rajkumar, who employed a bizarre line of attack that falsely accused the incumbent of sleeping too much.
As the incoming watchdog of the city's finances — and someone who will boast a small army of auditors — Levine could be tasked with keeping tabs on Mamdani, who was poised to clinch the Democratic primary (though he would still have to win a general election.)
The two officials were supported by opposite wings of the Democratic Party. While the Working Families Party and Sen. Bernie Sanders backed Mamdani in the mayoral race, they got behind Brannan, Levine's competitor, in the comptroller contest. — Joe Anuta
CITY HALL: THE LATEST
THE COUNCIL RESULTS: Progressives in New York City fared well further down the ballot too.
That includes two DSA-backed members who handily won new terms in Brooklyn despite being targeted by super PACs. Council Member Shahana Hanif had a 70-26 lead over her nearest challenger with most districts reporting in Park Slope. And Council Member Alexa Avilés led 72-28 in Sunset Park.
Cuomo wasn't the only scandal-scarred politician who fell short in a comeback bid, either.
As of late Tuesday night, former Rep. Anthony Weiner placed a distant fourth in a five-way Manhattan race in which Assemblymember Harvey Epstein held a 39-21 lead over his closest challenger. Bronx Council Member Kevin Riley had a 50-point lead over predecessor Andy King, who was expelled from the council in 2020. And former Council Members Fernando Cabrera, Ruben Wills and Ari Kagan all lost their primaries.
Virginia Maloney — daughter of former Rep. Carolyn Maloney — was up 27-26 in a six-way Manhattan race that will come down to ranked-choice voting. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams' chief of staff Ty Hankerson led 35-25 in the race to succeed her in Queens. And Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala's chief of staff, Elise Encarnacion, is on track to succeed her boss, holding a 10-point lead over her nearest competitor. — Bill Mahoney
More from the city:— Mark Levine was poised to clinch the Democratic primary for city comptroller over Justin Brannan, capping an under-the-radar race that focused heavily on President Donald Trump. (POLITICO)
— Public Advocate Jumaane Williams handily won the Democratic primary, virtually guaranteeing he will be reelected for a second term as the city's chief ombudsman. (POLITICO)
— State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal won the primary to be Manhattan's next borough president. (Daily News)
NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY
THE UPSTATE RACES: This year's upstate races weren't as sharply divided along ideological lines as the election in New York City, but the left still had a good night. Working Families Party-backed mayoral hopefuls went three-for-three on the I-90 corridor, including a race in which they toppled an incumbent and one where they beat the candidate favored by county Democrats.
Those races include the election in Buffalo, where state Sen. Sean Ryan defeated Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. Scanlon submitted petitions to run on an independent ballot line in November, so there might still be a rematch.
In Syracuse, Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens won in a landslide. Owens, whose backers included the WFP and state Sen. Rachel May, led the Onondaga Democratic Committee-backed Pat Hogan by 40 points with over 90 percent of votes counted.
And in Albany, Chief City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs led closest challenger Dan Cerutti 53-28 with every votes counted. Applyrs was backed by several top Democrats — including Attorney General Letitia James and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie — as well as the WFP.
Owens and Applyrs will be the first Black mayors of their respective cities if they hold on in November.
In Rochester, Mayor Malik Evans won a Democratic nomination that all but guarantees a second term, with 57 percent of the vote in a three-way race. — Bill Mahoney
AND ON LONG ISLAND: Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim and Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth both appeared to win GOP nominations as they seek new terms. They were both challenged by candidates running against plans to build high-density housing.
More from Albany:
— The MTA is considering easing its ban on booze ads. (Newsday)
— The organization overseeing New York's power grid issued an energy warning. (WRGB)
— A federal judge will determine whether Acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone will remain in office. (Times Union)
KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION
VERY SECRET BALLOT: Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the New Yorkers serving as the Democratic minority leaders in the Senate and House, didn't endorse a candidate for New York City mayor this cycle. (Schumer doesn't typically endorse in primaries, and Jeffries sat this one out after backing Maya Wiley in 2021.)
And neither Brooklynite would disclose which candidate or candidates they cast ballots for after voting early and in person in the primaries.
Schumer voted after a recent news conference, his spokesperson told Playbook on Tuesday, declining other details. Jeffries voted and ranked five candidates for mayor, but gave no further information when asked Monday by POLITICO's Nicholas Wu. — Emily Ngo
More from Congress:
— Schumer called the postponement of the Senate's Iran-Israel conflict briefing 'outrageous,' 'evasive' and 'derelict.' (ABC News)
— Three years after the fall of Roe v. Wade turned abortion rights into one of Democrats' most powerful rallying cries, the party has largely shifted its focus to other fights. (Washington Post)
— Rep. Elise Stefanik, a GOP gubernatorial hopeful, brings her bid to Long Island. (Newsday)
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
— Trump cites presidential immunity to try to toss out the $83 million judgment he owes to E. Jean Carroll. (POLITICO)
— The NYCLU sued Nassau County arguing that its police department's partnership with ICE was unlawful. (New York Times)
— Central Park hit its hottest temperature since 2012 when it reached 99 degrees on Tuesday. (New York Times)
SOCIAL DATA
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton … Jon Del Giorno of Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno … Lime's Russell Murphy … former NYC Council Member June Eisland … Reuven Fenton of the New York Post … The Times' Paige Cowett … Hinman Straub's David Previte … The States Projects' Zeeshan Ott … The Martin Group's Leanne Politi … The Roffe Group's Alexandra Moore … ZocDoc's Ilyssa Meyer … Justice Sonia Sotomayor … CNN's Betsy Klein … Narrative Strategies' Patrick O'Connor … John Randall of Burson … Patrick Temple-West … (WAS TUESDAY): Nelson Peltz ... Sy Sternberg ... Moshe Gruber
Missed Tuesday's New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.
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Fox News
31 minutes ago
- Fox News
Flashback: NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani vowed to arrest Netanyahu if he visited the city
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who declared victory in the Democratic primary for mayor on Tuesday, said previously that he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he ever visited the city. In December, former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, now editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, asked Mamdani, "Mayor Mamdani, would you welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu to New York City for the — for whatever he comes for, given the U.S. is not a signatory to the ICC, so he can travel to the U.S., unlike a lot of other countries? Would a Mayor Mamdani welcome Benjamin Netanyahu to this city?" Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assembly member from Queens who was born and raised in Uganda, told Hasan, "No. As mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu. This is a city that our values are in line with international law. It's time that our actions are also." Hasan pressed Mamdani, asking him if he would still arrest Netanyahu even though Israel is not part of the International Criminal Court (ICC), an organization that reviews global matters like war crimes and genocide. In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the ICC in response to its May 2024 arrest warrant for Netanyahu. Mamdani told Hasan that, "It's time that we actually step up and make clear what we are willing to do to showcase the leadership that is sorely missing in the federal administration." In a speech earlier this month at the B'nai Jeshurun synagogue in Manhattan, Mamdani appeared to double down on his position that he would arrest Netanyahu as mayor. "My answer is the same whether we are speaking about Vladimir Putin or Netanyahu. I think that this should be a city that is in compliance with international law," Mamdani said. "And we have seen other countries across the world that are signatories of the ICC [International Criminal Court] that they would honor that same request, being Canada or other countries in Europe, and their honoring of it meant that Netanyahu did not travel there." During an event in May, Mamdani reportedly said that he believes "that Israel has a right to exist with equal rights for all," and recently told Late Night host Stephen Colbert that, "Yes, like all nations, I believe it has a right to exist." He has been linked to anti-Israel activism, according to a report by Canary Mission, a watchdog group that tracks antisemitism, which said that Mamdani regularly attends New York City's anti-Israel protests, and that he took part in protests against Israel days after the Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack that killed 1,200 Israelis. The report also noted that Mamdani's father, Mahmood Mamdani, is an anthropology professor at Columbia University, which has been a hub of anti-Israel protests since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. It also highlights that Mamdani's filmmaker mother, Mira Nair, signed an open letter calling for Israeli actress Gal Gadot to be removed from presenting at the 2025 Academy Awards. During his victory speech on Tuesday, Mamdani said that he envisions a New York City "where the mayor will use their power to reject Donald Trump's fascism, to stop mass ICE agents from deporting our neighbors and to govern our city as a model for the Democratic Party." Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Boston Globe
37 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
A look at how Trump's big bill could change the US immigration system
Advertisement That's what happened earlier in June when protests triggered unrest in parts of Los Angeles. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'The lawlessness happening in LA is ANOTHER reason why we need to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill IMMEDIATELY,' House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X. 'It provides the ESSENTIAL funding needed to secure our nation's borders.' Plenty, though, remains unclear about the legislation. 'One thing about this bill, these sections are super vague,' said Adam Isacson, a researcher with the Washington-based human rights advocacy organization WOLA, including multibillion-dollar expenditures sometimes explained in just a few vague lines. 'There's no real specificity in the bill about how it's going to be spent.' Here's a look at some key immigration sections of the 1,000-page bill, as approved by the House, and what it could mean for the US government's posture on immigration: Advertisement PROJECT: The wall WHAT THE BILL SAYS: The bill sets aside $46.5 billion for what the House Homeland Security Committee calls an 'integrated border barrier system,' including fencing, water barriers, law enforcement access roads and technology like movement sensors. The funding would complete 701 miles of primary walls and 900 miles of river barriers along the US-Mexico border, according to the committee. It is the bill's largest expenditure. 'Any lawmaker who claims to care about border security will need to put their money where their mouth is and work to advance these recommendations,' said the committee's chairman, Republican Representative Mark Green of Tennessee. THE IMPACT: Building the wall has long been one of Trump's signature promises, but its impacts beyond political symbolism are unclear. Illegal border crossings have plunged since Trump took office in January amid a string of orders on immigration, including the suspension of the asylum system. Simply ending asylum meant tens of thousands of people who would've surrendered to law enforcement instead of trying to avoid capture didn't even attempt to cross. Plus, the effectiveness of border walls is hotly debated, even in populated areas where barriers tend to be heavily reinforced. Human smugglers, often linked to drug cartels, have used tunnels, ladders and power tools to cross walls. But, experts note that though illegal crossings are down now, that can change rapidly. PROJECT: Detention facilities and staff WHAT THE BILL SAYS: The bill, which top White House aide and immigration hawk Stephen Miller has called 'the most essential piece of legislation currently under consideration in the entire Western World,' sets aside $45 billion to expand the network of immigrant detention facilities for adult migrants and families. Advertisement The standards in adult facilities, the bill notes, would be set at 'the sole discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security.' More than $12 billion was also requested for 18,000 new ICE and Border Patrol personnel. THE IMPACT: ICE has said it wants to increase its current detention capacity from about 41,000 people to 100,000. It's part of what ICE's acting director, Todd Lyons, has suggested is a deportation system that could function 'like Amazon, trying to get your product delivered in 24 hours.' ICE currently has about 6,000 deportation officers, a number that's been stagnant for years. While expanding staff and detention centers would make it easier for the administration to increase deportations, even the tens of billions of dollars the bill requests may not be enough to meet Trump's goals. Miller has said ICE should be making 3,000 arrests per day of people in the country illegally. That's a vast increase over the roughly 650 arrested a day in the first five months of Trump's second term. But the plans are a boon to America's private prison industry, with stock prices for the two dominant companies, Geo Group Inc. and CoreCivic, up more than 50 percent since Trump's election. PROJECT: Immigration courts WHAT THE BILL SAYS: The legislation sets aside $1.25 billion for the immigration court system, with funds to hire more immigration judges and support staff and to expand courtroom capacity. The courts' annual budget currently stands at roughly $850 million. THE IMPACT: The immigration court system, which has roughly 700 judges, has struggled for years with chronic understaffing and a backlog that has reached more than 3.6 million cases. Judges typically take more than five years to make decisions. Advertisement It's a chaotic system, with overworked judges, a shortage of translators and immigrants who often don't have lawyers. The chaos has grown in recent weeks, with immigration courts seeing a spike in arrests outside courtrooms as agents wait to detain immigrants attending routine hearings. The arrests have spread fed confusion and fear, especially among asylum-seekers, who are accustomed to remaining free while their cases plod their way through the system. The proposed funding would be 'a significant increase, and from an institutional perspective it's urgently needed money,' said Greg Chen, director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. But he also believes the rising numbers of courthouse arrests reflect an administration looking for ways to bypass immigration courts. PROJECT: Immigration fees WHAT THE BILL SAYS: The bill overhauls the system of immigration costs, with dramatic increases and new fees imposed for once-free services. Applying for asylum, which has long been free, will now cost $1,000, with asylum-seekers paying another $550 for employment applications. Among other fee increases, appealing an immigration judge decision jumps from $110 to $900 and applying for temporary protected status, which allows people from certain countries facing civil unrest or natural disasters to stay temporarily in the U.S., goes from $50 to $500. THE IMPACT: For wealthier immigrants, the new fees will be an inconvenience. But for the vast majority of people even a few hundred dollars could be enough to make them change their plans.
San Francisco Chronicle
41 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
A look at how Trump's big bill could change the US immigration system
President Donald Trump's spending cuts and border security package would inject roughly $150 billion into his mass deportation agenda over the next four years, funding everything from an extension of the United States' southern border wall to detention centers to thousands of additional law enforcement staff. The current annual budget for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the government's primary department for immigration enforcement, is around $10 billion. If the Republican president's big bill passes in Congress, the immense cash infusion could reshape America's immigration system by expanding the law enforcement and detention network while increasing costs to legally immigrate to the U.S. The Senate is debating its own version of the bill, which largely aligns with the House's approach when it comes to these issues. In recent days, Republicans have focused on sometimes-violent protests against Trump's immigration crackdown to press for quick passage over Democratic opposition. That's what happened earlier in June when protests triggered unrest in parts of Los Angeles. 'The lawlessness happening in LA is ANOTHER reason why we need to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill IMMEDIATELY,' House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X. 'It provides the ESSENTIAL funding needed to secure our nation's borders.' Plenty, though, remains unclear about the legislation. 'One thing about this bill, these sections are super vague,' said Adam Isacson, a researcher with the Washington-based human rights advocacy organization WOLA, including multibillion-dollar expenditures sometimes explained in just a few vague lines. 'There's no real specificity in the bill about how it's going to be spent.' Here's a look at some key immigration sections of the 1,000-page bill, as approved by the House, and what it could mean for the U.S. government's posture on immigration: PROJECT: The wall WHAT THE BILL SAYS: The bill sets aside $46.5 billion for what the House Homeland Security Committee calls an 'integrated border barrier system,' including fencing, water barriers, law enforcement access roads and technology like movement sensors. The funding would complete 701 miles (1,128 kilometers) of primary walls and 900 miles (1,448 kilometers) of river barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the committee. It is the bill's largest expenditure. 'Any lawmaker who claims to care about border security will need to put their money where their mouth is and work to advance these recommendations,' said the committee's chairman, Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee. THE IMPACT: Building the wall has long been one of Trump's signature promises, but its impacts beyond political symbolism are unclear. Illegal border crossings have plunged since Trump took office in January amid a string of orders on immigration, including the suspension of the asylum system. Simply ending asylum meant tens of thousands of people who would've surrendered to law enforcement instead of trying to avoid capture didn't even attempt to cross. Plus, the effectiveness of border walls is hotly debated, even in populated areas where barriers tend to be heavily reinforced. Human smugglers, often linked to drug cartels, have used tunnels, ladders and power tools to cross walls. But, experts note that though illegal crossings are down now, that can change rapidly. PROJECT: Detention facilities and staff WHAT THE BILL SAYS: The bill, which top White House aide and immigration hawk Stephen Miller has called 'the most essential piece of legislation currently under consideration in the entire Western World,' sets aside $45 billion to expand the network of immigrant detention facilities for adult migrants and families. The standards in adult facilities, the bill notes, would be set at 'the sole discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security.' More than $12 billion was also requested for 18,000 new ICE and Border Patrol personnel. THE IMPACT: ICE has said it wants to increase its current detention capacity from about 41,000 people to 100,000. It's part of what ICE's acting director, Todd Lyons, has suggested is a deportation system that could function 'like Amazon, trying to get your product delivered in 24 hours.' ICE currently has about 6,000 deportation officers, a number that's been stagnant for years. While expanding staff and detention centers would make it easier for the administration to increase deportations, even the tens of billions of dollars the bill requests may not be enough to meet Trump's goals. Miller has said ICE should be making 3,000 arrests per day of people in the country illegally. That's a vast increase over the roughly 650 arrested a day in the first five months of Trump's second term. But the plans are a boon to America's private prison industry, with stock prices for the two dominant companies, Geo Group Inc. and CoreCivic, up more than 50% since Trump's election. PROJECT: Immigration courts WHAT THE BILL SAYS: The legislation sets aside $1.25 billion for the immigration court system, with funds to hire more immigration judges and support staff and to expand courtroom capacity. The courts' annual budget currently stands at roughly $850 million. THE IMPACT: The immigration court system, which has roughly 700 judges, has struggled for years with chronic understaffing and a backlog that has reached more than 3.6 million cases. Judges typically take more than five years to make decisions. It's a chaotic system, with overworked judges, a shortage of translators and immigrants who often don't have lawyers. The chaos has grown in recent weeks, with immigration courts seeing a spike in arrests outside courtrooms as agents wait to detain immigrants attending routine hearings. The arrests have spread fed confusion and fear, especially among asylum-seekers, who are accustomed to remaining free while their cases plod their way through the system. The proposed funding would be "a significant increase, and from an institutional perspective it's urgently needed money,' said Greg Chen, director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. But he also believes the rising numbers of courthouse arrests reflect an administration looking for ways to bypass immigration courts. PROJECT: Immigration fees WHAT THE BILL SAYS: The bill overhauls the system of immigration costs, with dramatic increases and new fees imposed for once-free services. Applying for asylum, which has long been free, will now cost $1,000, with asylum-seekers paying another $550 for employment applications. Among other fee increases, appealing an immigration judge decision jumps from $110 to $900 and applying for temporary protected status, which allows people from certain countries facing civil unrest or natural disasters to stay temporarily in the U.S., goes from $50 to $500.
