After New York City elected Zohran Mamdani to become the city’s 111th mayor, exit polls revealed that the mayor-elect garnered the majority of votes from both the city’s younger population and newcomers.
Some experts said Mamdani’s success with these voters was due to his campaign messages about challenging the status quo.
“It sparked something in them. That goes for new voters and young voters, who thought they had to accept the status quo of politics as usual and the things that are coming out of Washington, D.C., and the corruption that we’ve had, and they realize that they don’t really have to look that way,” Christina Greer, an associate professor of political science at Fordham University, told ABC News.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani celebrates during an election night event in Brooklyn, New York, on November 4, 2025.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist, captured 78% of voters under 30 and 66% of voters ages 30 to 44 in Tuesday’s election, according to ABC News exit polls conducted by SSRS. Among voters 45 to 64, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo led Mamdani, 53% to 47%. The majority of voters 65 and older (55%) voted for Cuomo, while 36% voted for Mamdani. Additionally, newcomers to the city were some of the most likely voters in the state to vote for Mamdani, with 81% of those who have lived in New York City less than 10 years supporting him, according to exit polls.
In addition to his electoral success among younger and newer New Yorkers, Mamdani also won the support of 55% of voters who lived in the city for more than 10 years, but were not born in the city. According to exit polls, more people born in New York City voted for Cuomo (49%) than Mamdani (38%).
More first-time voters for mayor of New York City also voted for Mamdani than those who previously voted for mayor of the city, 66% to 47%, according to exit polls.
Greer said this achievement of garnering the majority of the youth vote was due to Mamdani’s involvement on social media, along with the campaign’s clear message about working as a community.
“This campaign, which was incredibly run, was clear and consistent that it’s not just about beating someone else, meaning the Republican Party or Donald Trump or Andrew Cuomo, but it’s about a type of additive politics, where if we work together, we can collectively accomplish more. I think that message resonated with a lot of people,” Greer said.
Additionally, Mamdani’s focus on affordability for New Yorkers (specifically his plans to freeze rent on rent-stabilized apartments and provide universal child care and free busing) “resonated” with younger generations, according to Jessica Siles, senior director of communications for the advocacy organization Voters of Tomorrow.
“I think New York has some specific affordability issues that maybe aren’t found everywhere in the country. When you move to New York, there are certain financial hurdles in some ways that make things difficult. So new faces are absolutely looking for some relief and leadership that can at least make them feel like they’re better equipped to overcome them,” Siles told ABC News.
Supporters attend New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s election watch party on November 4, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
When asked to comment on how Mamdani got the votes of young people and newcomers to the city, a spokesperson for Cuomo’s campaign said, “it’s more than that.”
“This should be a city for everyone and the fact that nearly half of New Yorkers across the spectrum rallied against what the Democratic candidate campaigned on in an overwhelmingly Democratic city should not be overlooked,” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said in a statement to ABC News. “We are proud of the campaign Andrew Cuomo ran in the general, a record 42% in an independent voting line buried in the ballot.”
Cuomo, 67, who had attempted a political comeback after resigning as governor in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct, which he denied, was able to present himself as a moderate who could draw on his previous experience in politics.
Greer said Cuomo’s name recognition resonated with native New Yorkers and lifelong residents, which is why they would vote for him despite his “weaknesses and afflictions.”
“He’s a reliable politician in some ways because he had a 40-year lead over Mamdani. His father was governor in the ’90s. Older New Yorkers and New Yorkers who have been in the city for several decades or generations know that Cuomo is a well-known Democratic figure,” Greer said.
Despite Cuomo’s preference among native New Yorkers, Mamdani’s ability to meet voters across the city, whether they were waiting in a taxi line or on the subway, allowed everyone in the city, including those new to the area, to quickly become familiar with his vision, Greer said.
“Whether it was a church or a club, he was there. He’s on the subway. If you say you want to be mayor of New York, he’s actually in a lot of different places where there are people,” Greer said. “It’s reminiscent of the Obama days: At a certain point, it’s not about the candidate, it’s about the movement.”
Regardless of where Mamdani connected with New Yorkers, Siles said he was better able to build a community and a “coalition of support of all ages,” creating avenues for people, including new faces in the city, to connect.
“I think a lot of young people who maybe moved here recently were able to connect in a really meaningful way with their neighbors, their peers and their community in a way that maybe hasn’t been afforded to them before, in a really meaningful way that strives to improve the city,” Siles added.
While Greer said Mamdani must deliver on promises he made during his campaign to maintain support from all demographic groups, his voters might give him grace because of his ambition as a leader.
“If New Yorkers see that he’s working for them, they’re more likely to give him some kind of grace as he tries to deliver on behalf of the people. They want to see people fighting for them. Part of that will just be the sheer ambition of not just the agenda, but the aggression of the new mayor in trying to deliver on behalf of millions of New Yorkers,” Greer told ABC News.
Mamdani’s campaign did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
ABC News’ Emily Guskin, Brittany Shepherd and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
