After New York City chose Zohran Mamdani to become the city’s 111th mayor, exit polls revealed that the mayor-elect captured the majority of votes from both the younger population and newcomers to the city.
Some experts said Mamdani’s success with these voters resulted from his campaign’s messaging about challenging the status quo.
“He awakened something in them. That goes for the new voters and young voters, where they thought that they had to accept the status quo of politics as usual and things that are coming out of Washington, D.C., and the corruption that we’ve had, and they realize that they actually don’t have to look that way,” Christina Greer, an associate political science professor at Fordham University, told ABC News.
New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani celebrates during an election night event in Brooklyn, New York City, 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 those voters 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 edged out Mamdani, 53% to 47%. A 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, the exit polls found.
Along with his electoral success among younger and newer New Yorkers, Mamdani also earned support from 55% of voters who lived in the city for over 10 years, but were not born in the city. More of those who were born in New York City voted for Cuomo (49%) than Mamdani (38%), according to the exit polls.
More first-time New York City mayoral voters also voted for Mamdani than those who have previously voted for mayor in the city, 66% versus 47%, the exit polls found.
Greer said this accomplishment in gathering the majority of the youth’s vote was through Mamdani’s engagement in 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 — it was about an additive type of politics, where if we work together, we can collectively get more. I think that message resonated with a lot of people,” Greer said.
Additionally, Mamdani’s focus on the affordability of New Yorkers — specifically his plans to freeze rent for rent-stabilized apartments and provide universal child care and free buses — “resonated” with younger generations, according to Jessica Siles, the senior director of communications for advocacy organization Voters of Tomorrow.
“I think New York has some specific affordability issues that maybe aren’t everywhere in the country. When you are moving to New York, there are certain financial hurdles in some ways that make things difficult. So fresh faces absolutely are looking for some relief and leadership that is able to at least have them feel like they’re better equipped to navigate them,” Siles told ABC News.
Supporters attend the election watch party for New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, November 4, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Asked to comment on Mamdani securing the votes of younger people and newcomers to the city, a spokesperson for Cuomo’s campaign said, “it’s more than that.”
“This needs to be a city for everyone and the fact that nearly half of New Yorkers from across the spectrum united against what the democratic nominee in an overwhelmingly democratic city campaigned on shouldn’t be overlooked,” Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, said in a statement to ABC News. “We’re proud of the campaign Andrew Cuomo ran in the general, a record 42% on an independent ballot line buried on the ballot.”
Cuomo, 67, who had attempted a political comeback after resigning as governor in 2021 amid sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct allegations, which he denied, was able to frame himself as a moderate who could tap into his previous experience in politics.
Greer said Cuomo’s name recognition resonated with native New Yorkers and longtime residents, which is why they would vote for him despite his “foibles and woes.”
“He’s a trusted politician in some ways because he had a 40-year head start over Mamdani. His father was a 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 known Democratic quantity,” Greer said.
Despite Cuomo’s favorability with native New Yorkers, Mamdani’s ability to meet with voters across the city — whether they are waiting in a taxi cab line or on the subway — allowed for everyone in the city, including those who are new to the area, to quickly become familiar with his vision, Greer said.
“Whether it’s 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 lots of different places where people are,” Greer said. “It’s reminiscent of Obama days — at a certain point in time, it’s not about the candidate, it’s about the movement.”
Regardless of where Mamdani was engaging with New Yorkers, Siles said he was better able to build a community and “coalition of support of all ages,” creating avenues for people — including fresh faces in the city — to connect.
“I think that a lot of young people who perhaps have moved here fairly recently were able to really meaningfully connect with their neighbors and their peers and their community in a way that maybe hasn’t been provided to them before, in a really meaningful way that is striving to improve the city,” Siles added.
While Greer said Mamdani must follow through on the promises he has made during his campaign to maintain the support of all demographics, his voters might give him grace due to his ambition as a leader.
“If New Yorkers see that he is working for them, they are more likely to give him some sort of grace as he tries to deliver on behalf of the people. They want to see people fighting for them. Some of that will be just 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.