Mamdani Speaks After New York City Mayoral Race Win
BBC News
This video can not be played
Donald Trump says election results in the US aren't "good for Republicans", after Democrats sweep the first major elections of his second term
Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, and Democrats are projected to win governor races in Virginia and New Jersey too – here's how the night unfolded at a glance
Mamdani, 34, becomes New York City's first Muslim mayor and youngest person in over a century to lead the largest city in the US – we cover his key policies here
"In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light," Mamdani says in a victory speech where he addresses Trump directly
Trump, who had threatened to cut NYC's federal funding if Mamdani beat independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, wrote on social media earlier: "And so it begins"
Mamdani has sealed a remarkable victory, but real challenges lie ahead and his successes – and failures – will be closely scrutinised, writes Anthony Zurcher
Meanwhile, Californians vote to redraw the state's congressional districts to favour the Democratic Party ahead of elections next year
Edited by Caitlin Wilson and Alex Smith
Mamdani is speaking at the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York.
He says "New Yorkers deserves a government they can trust."
He says when he is inaugurated on 1 January 2026, it will mark "a new era for our city – one that we all feel invested in".
He then hands over to members of his transition team for their own comments.
In the coming months, Mamdani says he "will build a city hall capable of delivering" his campaign's promises of integrity and compassionate government.
He announces some members of his transitional team, and says that he'll announce leaders overseeing his agenda "in the coming days".
These people will be united by a commitment to "solving old problems with new solutions".
Mamdani is set to become mayor on 1 January.
We are now hearing from Mamdani.
"Last night, we made history," he says. "I'm so proud to be standing here today as the mayor-elect of the greatest city in the world."
He says he will work every day to honour the trust he now holds.
"The poetry of campaigning may have come to a close last night," he says. "But the beautiful prose of governing has only just begun."
New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is speaking to reporters about his City Hall transition process.
Following his election party speech last night shortly after winning the mayoral race, it will be his first news conference as the incoming mayor.
You can watch live above or follow along here as we bring you the updates. Stick with us.
More Republicans are reacting to Democrats' state and local election wins last night, with US House Speaker Mike Johnson speaking outside Congress on day 36 of the federal government shutdown.
Johnson downplayed the significance of last night's results, suggesting Democrats' wins in New York, New Jersey and Virginia were expected.
"There were no surprises last night," he says.
"What happened last night was blue states and blue cities voted blue," he says referring to the colour commonly used to designate the Democratic Party in the US. "We all saw that coming and no one should read too much into last night's election results."
Virginia's governorship flipped from incumbent Republican to Democrat, as did seats on Georgia's Public Service Commission.
Johnson reserved his harshest comments for New York's mayor-elect.
"Zohran Mamdani is without a doubt the biggest win for socialism in the history of the country, and it is the biggest loss for the American people," he says.
Newly elected Democrat Mikie Sherrill – who won the New Jersey governor race – has been speaking to CBS, the BBC's US partner.
She started her campaign by "listening to people", focusing on the key things that are making it "harder for them to succeed", she says.
Sherrill also spoke about rooting her Democratic campaign in "working class people" and "in our black and Latino communities" who depend on "good governance", "great education for kids" and "great jobs".
When asked about working with Donald Trump, Sherrill says she is "always happy to work with anyone who is going to deliver for the people of New Jersey". Trump previously told New Jersey residents that voting for Sherrill would "destroy your life".
Sherrill hopes to see "great resources" from the president in the coming months including the 2026 Fifa World Cup, which will be played at venues across the US.
Natalie Sherman
Reporting from the US Supreme Court
As Democrats are celebrating electoral wins in the US, President Donald Trump is hoping to rack up some good news for his agenda.
The US Supreme Court this morning will hear arguments challenging the legality of some of Trump’s most controversial tariffs – including sweeping global tariffs that he first announced in April.
The case, which was brought by a group of small businesses and states, is one of the most hotly anticipated legal battles of the year, threatening to upend the president’ approach to trade and international diplomacy.
It presents the court with the first major test of the Trump administration’s push to expand presidential power, asking the justices to decide whether an emergency declaration gives a president the authority to determine tariffs and taxes – responsibilities that the Constitution, America’s founding legal document, assigns to Congress.
Billions of dollars in tariff payments are on the line. Legal analysts say it’s not clear how the nine justices, three of whom were appointed by Trump, will rule.
We'll bring you updates and analysis of how the arguments play out and which way the justices could be swaying, so stick with us.
This video can not be played
Watch: How a Supreme Court case could upend Trump’s tariffs
As we've been reporting, Mamdani's savvy use of social media was a part of his successful bid to become mayor.
We've taken a look back at some of the most memorable moments from his "chronically online" campaign.
Gen Z scavenger hunt
Back in August, the aspiring mayor put on a scavenger hunt around New York landmarks, parking himself at the final clue to hand out prizes.
His TikTok video announcing the hunt drew over two million views, and US media reported thousands of attendees.
Gay bar crawl in Brooklyn
To mark Halloween weekend, Mamdani visited six gay bars across Brooklyn.
Footage of the crawl, posted on his TikTok account, shows Mamdani meeting supporters in the queues, addressing crowds on stage and even getting behind the decks.
The TikTok has almost 700,000 views.
PinkPantheress concert
A week ago, Mamdani made a surprise appearance in the front row at a Brooklyn concert for pop star PinkPantheress, with the words "our time has come, vote Nov 4" written on his hands.
Footage of the moment shared by Billboard racked up over 300,000 views on Instagram.
A resurfaced rap video
While not made as part of his mayoral campaign, a resurfaced music video of Mamdani drove some big numbers on social media.
Posted on YouTube six years ago under his musician moniker Mr Cardamom, the rap video features Mamdani – wearing just an apron – rapping about his Nani, or grandmother.
It has almost 800,000 views.
So we know the results of Tuesday's elections, but what exactly influenced voters?
An exit poll by the BBC's US partner CBS News, external, which asked voters a range of questions apart from how they voted, sheds light on some of the issues.
The Trump factor
Among the questions asked in the poll was this: Was Trump a factor in your vote?
According to the poll, the Trump factor was most influential in California, where a redistricting proposal was on the ballot.
There, 59% of voters answered yes. That figure was 54% in Virginia, 43% in New Jersey, and 40% in the New York mayoral race.
New York race
The poll also sheds some light on the make-up of Mamdani's coalition. He won 78% of voters under 30, and 77% of liberal voters.
More than half of those surveyed who said they were renters or college graduates also voted for him.
New Jersey and Virginia
The poll also indicates the economy was a major issue for voters casting their ballots for governor in New Jersey and Virginia.
In Virginia, voters who said the economy was most important voted for Abigail Spanberger over Winsome Earle-Sears by more than 20 points.
In his first interview since being elected, Zohran Mamdani tells ABC that his victory gives him a mandate to pursue an "ambitious affordability agenda", aiming to transform "the most expensive city" in the US into "one that's affordable".
Asked if he can do that without putting up taxes, he says he will need to raise them for the "top 1% of New Yorkers".
Mamdani plans to introduce a flat tax of 2% for New Yorkers who make more than $1m (£770,000) per year. He also plans to raise the corporate tax rate in New York to 11.5%, matching the top end of New Jersey's range. He says this will raise around $9bn.
Asked if this will drive job creators out of the city, Mamdani says workers are already leaving due to the high cost of childcare, making it hard for businesses to retain talent.
Before the election, US President Donald Trump threatened to cut federal funding to the city if Mamdani won.
Mamdani says he is prepared to stand up to the president if he decides to harm New York City.
"His threats are inevitable," Mamdani says.
If the Democrats get into power "it's going to be a very bad situation", Trump says.
Trump tells the senators that "if we do what I'm saying" the Democrats will never attain power, because he'll pass lots of legislation "that is good for the country".
With this, the public part of his speech at the breakfast with senators ends.
Trump continues to talk about the current US government shutdown, calling it one which is "disastrous Democrat-created".
He points out that the shutdown, which began on 1 October, is now the longest in American history.
Continuing to attribute blame, he says "Democrat radicals" in the Senate have shown "zero interest" in reopening government.
In the breakfast with senators, President Trump calls last night's election "an interesting evening".
"Last night it was, you know, not expected to be a victory," he says.
He says the election was "very democratic", and it wasn't "good for Republicans".
"But we had, an interesting evening and we learned a lot," he says.
"And we're going to talk about that and I'll say a few remarks, and then after that, I'll ask the press to leave."
The president says that, according to the pollsters, the government shutdown was a big negative factor for the Republicans – and that his own name not being on the ballot was "the biggest factor".
Donald Trump is speaking now at a breakfast with senators, talking about the election yesterday.
We’ll bring you the key lines soon – stick with us.
Lola Schroer
Culture reporter
A notable feature of Zohran Mamdani’s campaign was his use of music, both online and on the dancefloor.
Mamdani, who previously released rap music under the name Mr Cardamom, leaned into his musical past during the final weeks before election day.
Clips of him dancing and rapping in clubs around New York circulated widely on TikTok and Instagram, particularly as younger New Yorkers began sharing them during what some users nicknamed “Halloweekend.”
In one viral video, Mamdani was seen singing along to Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us. In others, he appeared in a Brooklyn club performing, word-for-word, to the Jamaican dancehall track Gyal You a Party Animal by Charly Black, as well as joining a crowd sing-along to New York anthem Empire State of Mind by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z.
The music carried through to election night. Mamdani closed his victory speech with Dhoom Machale, a Bollywood anthem, as his family joined him on stage, a moment that seemed to be a celebratory nod to his heritage.
His live musical appearances turning into viral online moments appear to have helped him connect with younger voters and project a less formal style of political campaigning, one where you might – quite literally – find yourself dancing with the mayor.
For the first time in a very long while, the Democrats are celebrating.
But with suggestions that some party grandees are not entirely behind Zohran Mamdani, the question now is whether the party will try and harness the movement he has put together, says our North America editor Sarah Smith.
You can listen to Sarah's quick take on what lies ahead for Mamdani below.
For a deeper dive on the New York mayoral election – and several other key races overnight – listen to the new episode of Americast over on BBC Sounds.
This video can not be played
There were scenes of celebration in New York overnight with people cheering, clapping and chanting: "Zohran, Zohran, Zohran!"
One man tells Reuters news agency he has been in New York for 13 years, and this is the first mayor he is excited to see run the city.
Mamdani's clear campaign messages resonated with him. "I loved his points tonight; I loved that he really stayed on three of them," he says.
"We're going to make the city affordable, we're going to have free buses, we're going to have free childcare."
A woman of around Mamdani's age adds that it's "refreshing" to have a younger mayor, and someone prepared to "stand up to the system and the president".
Another man says: "As an Albanian-American born in this country as a Muslim, it’s satisfying to see someone my age with the same beliefs as me – who wants to make a more affordable NYC."
Trump on Mamdani:
Mamdani on Trump:
It's the morning after the (election) night before on America's east coast, where the Democrats have swept the first major elections of Donald Trump's second term.
Catching up on all the action? Here's what you need to know:
Stay with us for further updates, reaction and analysis from our teams in London, New York and around the world.
This video can not be played
Mamdani tells Trump: 'I know you're watching, turn the volume up'
By Aisha Sembhi
Zohran Mamdani's campaign and this mayoral race was an event that drew the attention of tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Yesterday, in a post on his social media platform X, Musk called the election a “scam” because some candidates' names appeared on the ballot paper twice.
But this is common practice in New York state elections, as part of a system called fusion voting where multiple parties can endorse a single candidate and list them on the ballot.
This was the case during last year’s presidential election, where ballots from several New York counties had frontrunners Donald Trump and Kamala Harris appearing twice.
As you can see in this sample ballot from Madison County below, Trump was listed under both the Republican and Conservative parties and Harris was endorsed by the Democratic and Working Families parties.
Andrew Cuomo, who lost his mayoral bid to Mamdani last night, appeared on four lines in his successful 2018 run for governor of New York.
Musk also pointed out that Cuomo’s name was listed last on yesterday’s ballot as evidence of the “scam”, but this is because he ran as an independent candidate after losing the Democratic nomination to Mamdani.
Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.