Title: City Politics: Mamdani's Huge Night

[MUSIC]

Zohran Mamdani: In the words of Nelson Mandela, "It always seems impossible until it is done."

[crowd cheering]

Zohran Mamdani: My friends, we have done it.

[crowd cheering]

Brian Lehrer: Again, Zohran Mamdani, after joining us live. That was from his victory speech last night. As we continue with coverage of the morning after the New York City Democratic Primary, can we say that at least two candidates who left politics in disgrace over their behavior toward women had their comeback bids stopped in their tracks last night? One was Anthony Weiner, who was running way behind in his city council primary. The other, well, you know. With Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, two questions now for the general election. Of course, there are many, but here are two for the moment.

Will Cuomo run on the independent line that is available to him after being humiliated in this way by the Democratic base? He was non-committal in his statement last night. Political reporter, Ben Max, tweets this question. "Do New York Republicans find a way to get Curtis Sliwa off the ballot and give it to Eric Adams?" Who knows? What looked like a probable multi-track free-for-all in the November election could wind up as a two-man race after all. Democrat Mamdani versus newly minted Republican Eric Adams, maybe with a Trump endorsement? Maybe that's getting ahead of ourselves.

The big news, of course, is that history did not end last night, but history was definitely made. With us now to discuss and take your calls and texts, WNYC Political Reporter Elizabeth Kim and Fordham University Political Science Professor Christina Greer, who is also co-host of the podcast, FAQ NYC, and she is author of the book Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream. Liz, thanks for burning the candle on both ends to come right back on with us this morning. Christina, I imagine you were up with a popcorn eyes late last night, too. We always appreciate your time. Welcome back to WNYC.

Elizabeth Kim: Always happy to be on with you, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Again, listeners on the phones right now, it's a victory lap for Mamdani voters. We'll get to you in a few. How do you feel, and what are your hopes if he actually gets elected mayor? 212-433-WNYC. We will also touch on some other results in some other races in the primary, but Liz, Mamdani did not officially win the mayoral primary yet, but Cuomo has conceded. What's the actual status of the race?

Elizabeth Kim: As we said yesterday, Brian, what the Board of Elections was planning to do was release the first round of counts, which is basically counting people's top choices, and we have the results of that. It's Mamdani's at 43.5%, Cuomo's at 36.4%, but Cuomo obviously felt he did not have enough. If you start doing the tabulations, and by doing the tabulations, we mean because this is a ranked-choice vote, they start taking into account the other slots of the ballot, meaning slots two through five.

Cuomo obviously thinks that he would not get enough second and third and fourth and fifth choices to make him rise above Mamdani. That's not a surprise, because I think we often talked about Cuomo as someone who votes for Cuomo, what are the alliances that he has made among maybe a like-minded candidate like Whitney Tilson? He hasn't really done any of that. There's been no cross-endorsement. What really encapsulated it, I thought, was when Cuomo went to vote yesterday at his Upper East Side poll site, he didn't rank anyone else. He only voted for himself. To many, that almost seemed like a metaphor for his campaign.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Christina, here is part of how history was made yesterday. I referred to it with Mr. Mamdani in his appearance a few minutes ago. As we are reporting the numbers this morning, nearly a quarter of early voters had not voted in a Democratic primary at any point between 2012 and 2024. What does that tell you about who the Mamdani campaign inspired to the polls?

Christina Greer: I think when we see the results on July 1st, we'll see that there are so many people who were inspired by this campaign. That's the phrase that people kept saying. They were just so disgusted with what's going on in the national government. They were so discouraged by what happened in November of 2024, and that the Mamdani campaign awakened something in them, considering his campaign was one of the few campaigns that we saw out there these past few months. People door-knocking and volunteering, and just being a presence in the city.

I will say, Brian, first things first, congratulations, obviously, to the entire team, but the fact that Mamdani knows to come on The Brian Lehrer Show the morning after a very long and busy evening says a lot about how his campaign understands the importance of talking to a diverse group of New Yorkers. I think that should not be underestimated.

Brian Lehrer: Liz, anything to add on the demographics of this result by neighborhoods or by voter characteristics where Mamdani overperformed the pre-election polls?

Elizabeth Kim: I'm kind of still looking at the map, Brian. I think it's something that people are going to dissect in the days to come, and especially after, like Chrissy mentioned, the total tabulations are done, because it will be interesting, too, to see where did Lander voters transfer their votes to as you start counting? Where did Adrienne Adams voters transfer their votes to? Just at first blush, if you look at the map and at the top choices, it's fairly impressive. The territory that Mamdani won, it's pretty sweeping. It's a lot of Manhattan. There are parts of northern Staten Island that he won. It's a lot of Queens and the Park Slope area, Downtown Brooklyn area.

Throughout the race, there was this question, "Who was going to win the Kathryn Garcia voter?" You had people like Brad Lander and Scott Stringer make the argument that they were this kind of pragmatic progressive who was going to come in and win that vote. You look at the map, and it pretty much says that he won the Kathryn Garcia vote. He won the Kathryn Garcia voters, and he won the Maya Wiley voters, and I think he won some of the Eric Adams voters, too. Not a huge slice, I would say, from just looking at the top choice votes, but certainly some of them, I would think.

Brian Lehrer: Christina, even that last day Emerson Poll that showed Mamdani winning the election on the eighth round of the ranked-choice formula had Cuomo winning about 60% to 40% among Black New Yorkers, Latino New Yorkers, and New Yorkers without a college degree. 60% to 40% in each of those categories. Mamdani, though, he framed his campaign as for the working class, winning big among more of the educated and economic elite, and white and Asian American voters who tend to make up those groups.

Maybe even in the context of your book, Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream, did it or why did it come out differently from that in real life, if you think it did?

Christina Greer: Yes. We're still waiting to see the data, but I do think that the difference between, say, Mamdani and Cuomo is that Mamdani actually spoke to those New Yorkers. When you hear stories of, say, older Black voters or Latinos, especially in northern Manhattan, Mamdani was in those communities trying to make the argument of the case. Cuomo essentially ran what I called the less is more tour. He rarely talked to people. He participated in no forums, begrudgingly participated in two debates, gave very few interviews.

It was essentially, "Let me say as little as possible, because when I open up my mouth, I actually expose myself where I don't really know that much about New York City." Andrew Cuomo hasn't lived in New York City in decades. I've said many times on FAQ, he's essentially raised in captivity. He's been in Albany the vast majority of his life, but as far as the granular New York City politics and policy, I think he came up short. I think he realized that. He didn't really have much of a relationship with voters.

Many Black voters respect and love Mario Cuomo and therefore transferred into Andrew Cuomo several times, but I think a lot of people were feeling the economic strains. They're feeling the disarray and chaos and ineptitude at the federal level, and here's a young candidate, very Obama-esque, and we can talk about that, who comes into communities fearlessly, I might add, and seamlessly communicating a vision that many people, I think, especially Democrats, have been searching for.

I think the real crisis within the Democratic Party is do we double down, move to the center, and just consistently choose older white men to represent us, or do we make bold decisions and take chances on younger candidates, candidates who don't look like establishment candidates, and try and move our party into a progressive direction, or at least a direction that has a vision for, say, economic security that doesn't just take care of people at the top?

Brian Lehrer: With Christina Greer from Fordham and FAQ NYC, and our Elizabeth Kim, it's a victory lap for Mamdani voters on the phones in this segment. Olivia in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hello, Olivia.

Olivia: Hi. Thanks, Brian. I'm not just a Mamdani number one voter. I'm also a New York City DSA member, and I also have been canvassing with the campaign for months now. I just want to be clear, I'm speaking on my own behalf, not on behalf of the campaign or on behalf of the chapter, but I just want to plus-up everything that Christina just said. In the past several weeks, I've noticed, even speaking with older Black and brown voters on the doors, they just didn't fit into that mold that we were seeing in the polling.

They were appreciative of the message that Zohran was bringing to everyone, and they really resonated. I was completely expecting every single one of them to tell me, "Oh, I'm going to vote for Cuomo. I don't have time for you," but so many of these older folks told me, "Oh, yes, I think he is the best one for the job." When I would ask them, "Are you putting Cuomo on your ballot?" They would say, "Absolutely not. I don't have any time for him." I'm very excited.

I was asked by your screener which policy I'm excited about. Of course, I'm excited for all of it, but I just want to give a shoutout. I'm really, really excited for the prospect of extending universal childcare. That really, really resonated with so many people on the doors, and that's one of the things that I'm personally passionate about. One of the ways in which I contributed to this campaign was I didn't just knock doors. I helped provide childcare while some of our comrades were out knocking doors.

One of my favorite days on the campaign was bouncing a baby on my knee while his dad went and knocked doors for his neighbors. He told us that he came out because he and his partner are paying what amounts to a second rent in childcare. Many of my friends have had to leave the city once they decide that they're ready to make the move and have kids, because they know it's not possible on even a fairly decent salary, two working professional household, to be able to afford to live in the city, pay rent, and pay for childcare. I'm really excited about the possibilities there for this campaign.

Brian Lehrer: Olivia, thank you very much. Good story about the babysitting. Here's another Mamdani canvasser, Isabelle, on the Upper East Side. You're on WNYC. Hello, Isabelle.

Isabelle: Hi, Brian. Thank you for having me. I wanted to share. I live on the Upper East Side, which went for Cuomo. It's definitely an area where I diverge from a lot of people's thinking, but I think this experience has helped the left actually get out of Twitter, get offline, and get in front of people and start making their case. Taking the example of Zohran, who says, "You might not agree with me on everything, but let's have a conversation." I think it's a deeply needed, hopeful, positive vision, and it helps us get offline and actually start talking to people who really disagree with us.

Brian Lehrer: Interesting about going out face to face. Is there a policy that you're most excited about for him to try to enact?

Isabelle: I'm excited to see what he'll do on housing. I think he's going to take sides of both the NIMBY and YIMBY sides, which I see is the next segment on the show today, and I'm really excited for that. I think he's hopefully going to be able to synthesize them and prioritize affordability, but also take a look at where we need to have increases in supply, while also not just increasing gentrification as well. Looking forward to that.

Brian Lehrer: Isabelle, thank you very much. One more on this set. CJ in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hello, CJ.

CJ: Good morning. I voted for Mr. Mamdani. I believe he's 33 years old, and I think born in Uganda. I'm in my early 60s now, and I think we needed new, young, fresh perspective, but I also think he's unlike anybody else. Inherently, I feel he's going to actually care and do what the others haven't done. I believe him when he speaks. He has a bit of a soulful quality that I think, "Hey, he's going to make major changes." I hope he changes the cost of living here. I am very distraught about the mentally ill and drug addicted people living on the street.

It reminds me of depression, error times. In my own particular situation, I've been in my apartment for 33 years, and we have a new owner who purchased my building. I'm rent stabilized, and I went through extreme harassment, and so my focus is abuse of elders and how the housing court attorneys, that was a debacle. To protect people who are good people who have been in their homes for a long time, who are going through vicious and really sick abuse.

The other week, Brian, you had a young man and a woman on debating, talking. They had their own opinions about who to vote for. The young man was pro-Mamdani, and the woman wasn't. I really thought he was wonderful. The woman was interrupting him and she spoke about Keith Powers. "He's amazing," and all these people. I don't know if I can say this, but I personally dealt with Keith Powers' office. I've dealt with Gale Brewer. I've dealt with the attorney general. I was begging them for help. I was totally ignored. It was really painful.

This is what I hope to God this young man will focus his energies on, because I think where he focuses his mind, he will make changes. I think Cuomo was an absolute joke. I can't even imagine having him in office.

Brian Lehrer: CJ, thank you very much for your call. Christina, she mentioned Keith Powers, who was on the ballot yesterday for the nomination for Manhattan Borough president, mostly against Brad Hoylman-Sigal. Do we have a result in that? Have you seen?

Christina Greer: I don't, but last I saw, Brad was up quite a bit. I don't know if they've called it just yet. I do think, Brian, what I was hearing the guest say also is that a lot of people-- this is a change election. I was under the impression, honestly, initially, that this would be a status quo election before I saw the real ground game of Zohran Mamdani, just because I think some voters are of two minds, or at least they were a few months ago, which is when there's so much chaos at the top, some people like stability and status quo locally.

What I think this election has shown us thus far is that even when there's chaos at the top, this is a prime opportunity for change at the bottom and on a local level. I think that was the vision that Mamdani articulated to so many different New Yorkers as he walked the length of Manhattan a few days ago, talking to as many New Yorkers as possible to hear from them, but also give them what would be his vision if elected.

Brian Lehrer: All right. Liz, I know you brought us a few clips from Mamdani's victory party last night. We're going to go through three of those, and then we'll discuss the set. Cynthia Nixon was there, the actor. Remember, she primaried Andrew Cuomo for governor back in 2018, I think it was, and did not prevail. She still has her eye on Cuomo a little bit despite his loss in this primary.

Cynthia Nixon: I worry about what he has in store for the fall, but I think that there is a candidate like Zohran once in a generation. I think there is Barack Obama, AOC, and Zohran Mamdani, and his campaign was undeniable.

Brian Lehrer: We will talk in a minute about what Cuomo might still have in store for the fall, but here's Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, also at the Mamdani party.

Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez: He showed the power of talking to people about their issues, discussing your vision for the city, and engaging people at all levels, but particularly young people.

Brian Lehrer: One more. Brad Lander at the party last night. Brad Lander, the city comptroller, who, of course, and maybe consequentially, cross-endorsed with Mamdani.

Brad Lander: Obviously, this is a mandate for change. People want something big. They're fed up with the politics of the past with a city they can't afford, with a small-ball, corrupt politics that both Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo represent. I think it's a really exciting moment for the future of the city.

Interviewer: Democrats around the country are watching this and saying New York just elected a democratic socialist as a Democratic nominee. What would you say to them?

Brad Lander: I don't think the line right now is so much between progressives and moderates. I think the line is between fighters and fakers, and Zohran Mamdani is a fighter. I'm a fighter. We're going to work together to build a city.

Brian Lehrer: Christina, hold that thought in your head for a minute. Brad Lander is saying he doesn't think the line is so much between progressives and moderates. Liz, what do you want to say about those clips, especially the first two, Cynthia Nixon and Nydia Velasquez, both emphasizing generational change, it sounded like.

Elizabeth Kim: Yes, that's right, Brian. I thought those three clips were touching on some different themes. First, you had Cynthia Nixon hint at what is to come in the general, and in the background, you hear the supporter is saying, "We will win. We will win." Then she goes on to talk about how she believes that Mamdani is a once-in-a-generation kind of candidate. Nydia Velázquez talks about the importance that younger voters played in this race, and she also talks about the need for the party to do more outreach to younger voters.

Then, like you said, that clip from Brad was also very much talking about what was this race really about? Was it about left versus the center? He says no. He gives you that answer. It's about fighters versus fakers.

Brian Lehrer: A lot of people, Christina, will say this is about left versus the center of the Democratic Party, which is obviously such a huge topic of conversation within the party since the results of last year's election. What do you think?

Christina Greer: I think Democrats have to shake off some of their calcified definitions of what a Democrat should be and could be, because I think we're seeing a lot more Democrats slide across the ideological spectrum. I think it's very smart that Mamdani says there are parts of a Bloomberg mayoralty that worked. We would be disingenuous, and I had lots of problems with Michael Bloomberg, but I always think about protecting our watershed. It's amazing, and hiring competent people. Bill de Blasio hired Bill Bratton, something I didn't agree with.

As you know, he said he was a progressive, and he hires this non-progressive police chief. I think Democratic mayors have to understand that our tent is so massive that you have to actually have conversations with diverse ideological spectrums. Eric Adams, I've written about it in the Times. He slides across the ideological spectrum. Sometimes he's super progressive. Other times, he's wildly conservative, and then sometimes he rests in the middle of being a moderate. I think if Mamdani is successful after November 4th, and that is still a big if, Brian, and we'll talk about that, obviously, a lot more over the summer and in the fall.

If he is successful in November, he will work with the Brad Landers of the party, absolutely, but I think understanding New York and understanding the financial implications of New York and the real estate sector in New York and the labor sector and the very diverse labor sector in New York, I think a lot of his policies, he can still stay true to his core values, obviously, of childcare and affordable housing and maybe busing if the budget allows from the federal and state government.

I think that there will be some hard conversations about moving the conversation sometimes to the middle to help serve as many New Yorkers as possible.

Brian Lehrer: With Christina Greer and Elizabeth Kim, back to some of our callers and texters with open phones for Mamdani voters. For today's show, you get a victory lap. Then we go on to the general election. Mamdani voters taking a victory lap today, like Virginia in Manhattan. You're on WNYC. Hello, Virginia.

Virginia: Hi, Brian. Can you hear me? My phone is giving me a little--

Brian Lehrer: Yes, you're breaking up a little bit. Give it a shot.

Virginia: I'll give it a shot. I'm a long-time caller and a long-time listener. I heard [inaudible 00:24:20] when he was on the show a few months ago, and I like him. I like what he thought, and I like what he said. I'm very, very happy that [inaudible 00:24:34]

Brian Lehrer: Virginia, I think it's not working. I apologize. You can try to call us back if you can get on a more stable line or a more stable place in your place, but I'm going to have to move on to Abby in Manhattan. You're on WNYC. Hi, Abby.

Abby: Oh, my God. Hi, Brian. I'm calling because I have a little baby, so I'm excited about where Mamdani stands on childcare. I also feel like he's an accessible guy, so I'm really hoping he does Ask the Mayor again, because that was my favorite radio show.

Brian Lehrer: I'm sure Bill de Blasio appreciates that, and I certainly appreciate that. We'll see. First, Mamdani has to get elected in November, and whoever's elected in November, we will certainly invite them to do that. Here's Muhammad Ali in Manhattan. You're on WNYC. Hello, Muhammad Ali.

Muhammad Ali: Yes, Good morning, Brian. Thank you so much for picking my call. I was a Cuomo die-hard supporter until you guys featured the debate. I saw Mamdani talking about issues that affected me so much. One, Democrats don't listen to their constituents. They don't listen, and they must listen to us. Why? Democrats must listen to those who will vote them. They don't. We have issues. You don't come and talk to us. I was in a masjid, a mosque, when somebody came and was campaigning for Mamdani.

Cuomo doesn't do that. I said, "My friend, if you don't come to the mosque to come and talk to people to vote for you, why should I vote for you?" That's why I went from Mamdani head over heels. I'm calling for Democraticts. They should understand you have a chunk of voters in the masjid, in the synagogue, in the church. This guy is a Muslim. He went to everybody. Everybody. Democrats, wake up, wake up, wake up. This guy is the best card for us, for this country, and he's a good story for this country.

Brian Lehrer: Muhammad Ali, thank you very much for your call. Here's a text that builds on what Muhammad Ali was just saying about Mamdani going everywhere, synagogues, churches, mosques. Whereas Cuomo, as the caller cited in the debate that we hosted, could not identify one time that he ever visited a mosque. That was obviously influential for that caller who said he was a Cuomo supporter until that moment. We also have this text, though.

Listener writes, "I know a lot of Jews who are scared about antisemites feeling emboldened. I pray that if Mamdani wins, he works decisively and forcefully against anti-Semitism, and I pray that those Jews get involved with and try to influence Mamdani's governing rather than have their minds already made up that he can't be anything but a threat and enemy." Between that text and that caller, it highlights at least some of the divide that was there and some of the electorate.

Christina, do you think that the debate might have made a difference, maybe even to some degree, that particular question that Errol Lewis from New York 1 pressed Cuomo on not being able to remember ever in his 10 years as governor, visiting a mosque, no less in the campaign?

Christina Greer: Yes, I think that did have something to do with that. Keep in mind, Brian, we've got over 1 million Muslim New Yorkers, and Andrew Cuomo has been a son of the city for a very, very long time as a governor in several other elected offices. I know a lot of people watch debates because they're already pretty much locked in. That's typically how things have been.

I think this race really showed us there were a lot of New Yorkers who tuned in to the debate that you and Errol, and my co-host Katie Honan, hosted, fantastic job, by the way, who were really undecided, and they really didn't know what their ranking would be. People were going into the polling stations for the first time, for many-- having a real strong sense of uncertainty. That debate, I think, really exposed Cuomo. Keep in mind, he only did two debates. He did zero forums. He very rarely talked to anyone. Not even editorial boards. He talked to one or two, and that was it.

I also think, though, and I said this to Ben and Harry last night on our podcast, which is I think Mamdani needs to have the Barack Obama 2008 Philadelphia Frederick Douglass speech where he doesn't shift positions, but he articulates his position on Israel and Palestine and these false claims that keep following him, that he's anti Semitic somehow because he has a nuanced understanding of international relations that I think a lot of New Yorkers understand, especially younger New Yorkers respect, and older New Yorkers, Jewish New Yorkers specifically, who may disagree with him, need a contextualization as to where he's coming from.

Because he is such a great politician, dare I say, a once-in-a-generation type politician, I do think putting together that type of messaging to essentially take the issue somewhat off the table because right now it is following him and it's a distraction for many of the other policy messages that he's trying to say. I think he's capable of having a contextualization, I call it the Philadelphia Obama speech, to move forward in the campaign. I think that'll help him in November.

Brian Lehrer: Interesting. Liz, I want to come back, as I said I would, to the Cynthia Nixon clip that you brought us, where speaking about Andrew Cuomo, she said, "I don't know yet what he has in store for us for the fall." That, of course, was a reference to the fact that Cuomo has gotten himself an independent line to run on. If he chooses, will he choose? Cuomo released this statement last night. After conceding, he said, "I want to look at all the numbers as they come in and analyze the ranked-choice voting. I will then consult with my colleagues on what is the best path for me to help the city of New York, as I have already qualified to run for mayor on an independent line in November."

Liz, any tea leaves there about whether he'll pull that trigger or not?

Elizabeth Kim: Based on what we see of the map so far and the fact that he conceded on the first round, it's difficult to see what the path for him would be. Like I said, take him at his word. They're going to slice and dice the numbers, but as Christina mentioned, he clearly didn't enjoy campaigning. Is there a world in which we believe that he lost the primary, but that somehow this reinvigorates him, this somehow lights a fire under him, and recommits himself to actually pressing the flesh, going to mosques, going to churches?

Well, he did go to churches and synagogues, but I mean, really campaigning in the streets of New York? I'm not sure that's a decision that Andrew Cuomo has to make, and his campaign has to make. A lot of money was spent to help him. The Pro-Cuomo Super PAC had over $24 million. That is unprecedented amount of spending. To see a result like this, you can't help but wonder, this is a huge disappointment to those donors, and they certainly must be questioning, is he the right candidate for them to try to put up?

If they still are determined to defeat Mamdani in the general, is Andrew Cuomo their best bet?

Brian Lehrer: Christina, that's one scenario for the fall. Will Andrew Cuomo be running as an independent? As for Eric Adams, who at the moment is running as an independent. I mentioned in the intro that Ben Max tweet, the journalist, Ben Max, who tweeted this question. "Do New York Republicans find a way to get Curtis Sliwa off the ballot and give it to Eric Adams?" Do you think that's a realistic scenario?

Christina Greer: Yes, it is, because, Brian, my text chain this morning is filled with people who were elated that Mamdani is looking forward to November 4th, and people who were devastated and shook. I think that there's still a large group of folks out there who do not believe or understand, appreciate a progressive message, and how he wants to reshuffle the economic deck of New York City. I think if we thought that Michael Bloomberg spent a lot of money a few months ago, I don't think we've seen anything yet for the mobilization of people getting behind in Eric Adams to help make his victory a reality.

Don't forget, Brian, Eric Adams does have some hits. There are a lot of New Yorkers who like the corruption and the perceived incompetence of some of the people around him, but when it comes to dollars and cents, there are a lot of folks who will put that as a secondary or tertiary issue to make sure that a progressive like Mamdani is not the 111th mayor of New York City. Just a point about Cuomo, because we don't know what Cuomo will do, and I think the data on July 1st will tell us a lot more.

Cuomo, if elected, would have been the oldest mayor in the history of New York City at 67. I don't know if this is something where Cuomo has nothing else to do, so he's running, or if this was a last push for relevance or something that he wants to have a comeback because he did resign in disgrace. I don't know if he has it in him to do so. I think, honestly, the money conversations will dictate whether or not Cuomo stays in or if everyone packs up their marbles and goes back to Eric Adams very quickly to make sure that they have someone in Gracie Mansion on January 1st who's more of a friend to their economic interests.

Brian Lehrer: Really interesting. We do have a text from somebody who's saying, and I can't tell if this is sarcastic or not, but "All the millionaires and billionaires should move out of New York State now before Mamdani is elected and takes all your wealth." For what that's worth on the money, but Christina, follow up to what you were just saying, talking about Cuomo, and I did refer to him in the intro earlier as being humiliated by this result.

Listener writes, "I don't quite understand the motivation for Mr. Brian Lehrer's language this morning. Why is Cuomo singled out for humiliation? How many other candidates ran? Why exactly are they not humiliated, but Cuomo is?" That's a fair question since Cuomo came in second, and all these other relatively prominent Democrats hardly got any points.

Christina Greer: Absolutely. I think for some people who were barely hitting 1%, sure. I think the difference with Cuomo is that because he's been an elected official for so long, and not in New York City. He's never been an elected official in New York City. Because he decided to come into the race in the final hour and essentially just say, "Well, I'm the king of New York, so I'll just take this thing from all of the others." After resigning in disgrace, having all these prominent leaders from across the country falling in line endorsing him, something like 40% of the elected in New York who called for him to resign, got in line and said, "Oh, I want him to be the 111th mayor of New York City."

He essentially ran a coronation and not a campaign. He presented himself as the heir apparent, and that's the way he conducted himself for the past two months, and that fizzled out. I think the difference between the other candidates who came up short, they actually were trying to run campaigns. They just didn't connect with voters. Sometimes, it's not your time. We hear this all the time with someone like Zellnor Myrie. Fantastic politician and public servant, clearly has a bright future. This clearly wasn't his time, and his message just got overshadowed, I think, by a lot of the Mamdani messaging and manpower of the Mamdani volunteers.

Similarly with Adrienne Adams. A Black woman coming in late to a race, we know that that does not fare well for Black female candidates. The difference, though, is Andrew Cuomo rolled into the race, essentially saying, "It's mine for the taking," and it didn't happen that way. It's not just the loss, but the percentage, Brian, because so many of us had conversations, "We're going to talk to Brian on Wednesday, but we won't have any idea where the race will be. It'll be so close, it'll be so tight. We'll have no clear conversation."

This was a very clear conversation from New Yorkers whether they were voting for Zohran Mamdani and his messaging or whether they were voting for Zohran because they wanted to send a message to the Democratic establishment that they did not want Andrew Cuomo and they did not want the status quo and some stale ideas or a non articulation of a vision for New York City.

Brian Lehrer: One more clip from last night. This is going to be from Brad Lander's appearance before his supporters, and besides thanking them and talking about his vision for New York and being happy about Mamdani, who, of course, he cross-endorsed with, he tweaked maybe lovingly, maybe just sarcastically, The New York Times Editorial Board.

Brad Lander: I also need to thank some of the most important people in my life and on this campaign. I mean, of course, the New York Times Editorial Board. Just kidding. Of course, I love Wordle and Connections, but I really urge the Times to cancel their new feature, Editorial Riddles.

Brian Lehrer: Because they did not endorse a candidate, Liz. They just said mostly negative things about each candidate. They were very anti-Mamdani, and they had that separate thing with 15 different columnists, and they came up mostly for Lander. He was thanking them for that, but it all was like a riddle.

Elizabeth Kim: No, that's right, Brian. I think that was the what-if that Brad Lander's campaign was wrestling with and probably will into the future. What if The New York Times had come out with an endorsement? Would they have in fact endorsed him? What would that have done for his campaign? Could that have been a game-changing moment for him? That was a funny tweak that he did at his-- that was a speech he gave at his party before he left to join Mamdani's party.

Brian Lehrer: Listener texts, "Big props to Brad Lander, and I'd love to see Mamdani make him a deputy mayor so they can continue to radiate their together in the struggle united front." Of course, Mamdani hasn't been elected mayor yet. He just got the Democratic nomination. Liz, we talked last night on our Primary Night Coverage about why did Brad Lander, who was running third, throw in with Mamdani as much as he did, rather than trying to say, "I don't have Mamdani's weaknesses and I don't have Cuomo's weaknesses and I have all this experience. Just vote for me."

What role do you think he would have in a Mamdani administration? After being the comptroller, would he even want to be first deputy mayor? Have you thought about this at all?

Elizabeth Kim: I'm glad you asked me this, Brian, because my colleague, Liam Quigley, was at the Lander party. I spoke to him this morning and he told me that was a question that was posed to Lander. "Would you be a deputy mayor in a potential Mamdani administration?" He was open to it. I have to say, I'm a little bit surprised about that because I don't think you normally think about, especially someone like him, who is currently in a citywide office. He's the city comptroller, and having run for mayor, as being willing to accept a lesser role than the one that he sought out to get.

We know that he's wanted this for years, but I don't know, there is a transformation that is going on with Lander. When I caught up with him last night, and I said this on your show yesterday, Brian. There is a joy around Brad Lander that I have not seen during the race or even before. Something about how ranked-choice affected him and his decision to cross-endorse, it seemed to make him stronger. This idea of being on a team with Mamdani, I think, also made him stronger.

It doesn't seem that unbelievable to me that he would actually be open to joining a potential, and we keep saying potential, Mamdani administration.

Brian Lehrer: He's getting a lot of love now from-

Elizabeth Kim: Oh, totally.

Brian Lehrer: -Mamdani voters who ignored Lander previously.

Elizabeth Kim: The chants of, "Brad. Brad. Brad." He got some of the warmest and tightest hugs of the evening that night.

Brian Lehrer: Just briefly, on some other races, if you haven't heard, Mark Levine won the Democratic nomination for New York City Comptroller on some of these very contested city council races. The Times puts it this way this morning, or they put it this way in previewing the race the other day. "Gaza dominates a Brooklyn contest." That's the re-election campaign of Shahana Hanif in Brooklyn. She did win re-election.

Then it says, "Gaza Dominates a Brooklyn Contest Part 2." The district next to Ms. Hanif is also partly defined by a progressive candidate's views of Israel, Alexa Avilés, looks like she also won. Anthony Weiner was trying to make a comeback. He lost. Carolyn Maloney's daughter, Virginia Maloney, trying to win a city council nomination on the east side of Manhattan. Christina, I haven't seen a result on that one yet.

The other really contested one in lower Manhattan, Christopher Marte, who I think was for the affordable housing and against the Elizabeth Street Garden. I can't see yet if he won. Do you have anything on those?

Christina Greer: No, I don't, Brian. Obviously, I'm waiting for Steve Romanowski and his maps to come out as soon as possible as well. I do think, though, just circling back to the Second District with Anthony Weiner, the repudiation of Weiner and Cuomo should say something to the Democratic establishment. I know that they weren't really behind Anthony Weiner, and I know that MeToo was definitely downplayed quite a bit in the Cuomo case, but I hope that Democrats who are in these party politics recognize that there is a yearning for new ideas and new people.

When you think about certain representation in various boroughs and offices on the local and state level, there are people who are in office for decades, serving as gatekeepers. I'm trying to inspire my students to not just be involved in politics, but to run for office, and they're looking at this mountain that seems insurmountable because of larger economic forces that want to keep people out.

I'm hoping that this earthquake that they keep calling it serves as somewhat of a wake-up call for some in the Democratic establishment to recognize that there is a real yearning beyond the status quo and change elections could and should happen, and even if we're late to the party, myself included, they need to do so in order to keep people involved in Democratic politics.

Brian Lehrer: Just one correction from something I said a minute ago. Christopher Marte was on the side of protecting the Elizabeth Street Garden, and he won that fight. Eric Adams announced the other day that they are backing off the plan to use that space for senior housing. Well, we thank Christina Greer, who is a Fordham University Political Science Professor, who is a co-host of the podcast FAQ NYC, and is the author of Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream, and our political reporter, Elizabeth Kim. Thanks for spending so much time with us on the morning after Primary Day in New York City.

Elizabeth Kim: Thanks, Brian.

Christina Greer: Thanks, Brian.

 

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