As New York City’s mayoral race barrels toward its November 2025 climax, the political theater has reached a fever pitch—complete with family legacies, sharp-tongued rivals, and the looming shadow of national figures. The contest, once thought to be a predictable affair, has been upended by a string of unexpected twists, not least of which is the meteoric rise of Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who stunned observers by clinching the Democratic primary earlier this summer.
On August 8, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a scion of the city’s most storied political family, took to X (formerly Twitter) to remind voters of his heritage and to throw a public jab at Mamdani. “In case you forgot, I’m Andrew Cuomo, son of Mario, grandson of Andrea. Welcome to the heavyweight bout, @ZohranKMamdani. This is a two man race. You look tired already. It’s just the second round,” Cuomo wrote, invoking the memory of his father, Mario Cuomo—governor of New York through the 1980s and early 1990s—and his grandfather, Andrea, a Sicilian immigrant who built a life in Queens.
The move, intended to project strength and continuity, instead drew swift and biting ridicule. Mehdi Hasan, the former MSNBC anchor and CEO of Zeteo News, lampooned Cuomo’s message, quipping, “In case you forgot, I’m a nepo baby!” Film producer Franklin Leonard piled on, correcting Cuomo’s narrative: “Technically, this is a rematch. You got knocked out in the first fight.” Journalist Keith Olbermann, never one to mince words, added his own sting: “You'll need to provide a paternity test because you sure as hell aren't acting as smart as either of them.”
The numbers tell a story of their own. Mamdani, who represents a new and more left-leaning generation of New York politicians, won the Democratic primary in June with 43.8 percent of the vote, while Cuomo trailed at 36.1 percent. The loss was a blow to Cuomo, whose name once carried near-automatic political heft in New York. Undeterred, Cuomo has chosen to soldier on as an independent, joining a crowded general election field that also features incumbent mayor Eric Adams—himself running as an independent after a tumultuous term—and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.
Recent polling underscores the changing tide. A July 2025 survey by Public Progress Solutions and Zenith Research found Mamdani leading the pack with 50 percent of likely voters. Cuomo, despite his high profile, sat at 22 percent, while Adams languished in fourth place with just 7 percent. With only a few months left until ballots are cast, the numbers suggest that Mamdani’s appeal is more than a flash in the pan—it’s a movement in the making.
But the drama doesn’t end there. On August 9, Meghan McCain, media personality and daughter of the late Senator John McCain, weighed in with her trademark candor, calling Cuomo “an out of touch loser” and predicting he would lose handily to Mamdani in the general election. “You lost a primary and Mamdani is going to beat you in the general by like 80 points because you’re lazy, corrupt, entitled and thought you were owed it - literally every single thing the American public is repulsed by,” McCain wrote on X. She dismissed any suggestion that she favored Mamdani, adding, “I would rather eat glass.”
Cuomo’s social media presence hasn’t been limited to family boasts. He’s also taken aim at Mamdani’s personal life, criticizing the candidate for living in a rent-regulated apartment costing $2,300 per month. Cuomo argued that such a unit should go to “a single mother and her children” currently residing in a homeless shelter. The comment, intended as a populist jab, backfired among critics who pointed to Cuomo’s own controversial record on homelessness and questioned whether $2,300 a month truly qualifies as affordable in New York’s punishing housing market.
Amid the local squabbling, the national spotlight has swung back to the city’s mayoral contest, thanks in part to reporting by The New York Times. The paper revealed that former President Donald Trump—never one to shy away from New York drama—had spoken with Cuomo about the race, fueling speculation about Trump’s preferred candidate. According to Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi, however, “The Governor and the President have not spoken in some time. As far as I know, they have not discussed the race.”
Still, Azzopardi offered a wry assessment of Trump’s possible motives: “Regarding his reported interest, it seems clear that President Trump would either prefer Mr. Mamdani, whom he refers to as a ‘commie,’ because he believes Mamdani would serve as a political boon to Republicans nationwide in the midterms, symbolizing what he sees as the Democratic Party’s extremism. Alternatively, he may favor Eric Adams, who is a wholly owned subsidiary of the President. And there is already a Republican in the race [Curtis Sliwa], who is the nominee of President Trump’s party.”
Trump himself has made no secret of his disdain for Mamdani, having previously threatened to arrest the candidate if he won and then carried out his promise to defy Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in New York City. The former president’s involvement has drawn fierce criticism from Mamdani, who has staked much of his campaign on resisting what he calls “an authoritarian administration.”
“Whatever Donald Trump seeks to do to influence the outcome of this election, I have more faith in New Yorkers themselves, who have shown…that they do not want to support our current president’s vision of a New York City that is ripping immigrants from their homes, that is detaining New Yorkers on the basis of political expression,” Mamdani declared in a statement reported by The Independent. “What they want is someone who can stand up to an authoritarian administration.”
The contest’s stakes are high, not just for the city but for the broader political landscape. For some, Mamdani’s rise signals a shift toward a more progressive future for New York, one that rejects both establishment politics and the heavy hand of federal intervention. For others, the specter of a democratic socialist mayor is cause for alarm, a sign of the city veering too far left for comfort. Meanwhile, Cuomo’s campaign, once buoyed by name recognition, now faces the dual challenge of regaining lost ground and overcoming a wave of public skepticism—much of it fueled by his own missteps and the barbed commentary of political adversaries.
As November approaches, the city’s voters are left to sift through the noise, weighing dynastic claims, outsider energy, and the ever-present influence of national politics. In a race marked by bruising rhetoric and shifting alliances, one thing is certain: New York’s next mayor will inherit a city at a crossroads, with the eyes of the nation watching every move.
