New Yorkers are heading to the voting polls this weekend to cast their early votes for a variety of official seats. But the one office everyone has their eye on is the mayor's race.
NY1’s full coverage, including FAQs, candidate interviews and key dates, is available here.
Here's everything that happened in the mayor's race this week.
This Week's Election Stories
1. Poll shows Cuomo remains at the top of mayor's race ahead of primary day
A new Marist University poll shows former Gov. Andrew Cuomo remains a frontrunner in the Democratic primary for mayor, but the contest tightened between him and Zohran Mamdani.
According to the poll released Wednesday, Cuomo is the first-choice candidate of nearly four in 10 likely Democratic primary voters, including those who are undecided. Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman, placed second, with more than a quarter of the vote.
The gap between Cuomo and Mamdani narrowed compared with another Marist poll in May that showed Cuomo beating Mamdani as voters’ first choice by 19 points in the fifth-round of ranked-choice voting. The gap between the two candidates is now down to 11 points, the new poll shows.
Read more from NY1's Deanna Garcia here.
2. City Comptroller Brad Lander released after arrest at immigration court
City comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was released from detention after being arrested at immigration court in Lower Manhattan Tuesday.
At a press conference after his release, Gov. Kathy Hochul said the charges against the comptroller were dropped. Video captured by NY1 shows officers detaining Lander at 26 Federal Plaza.,
Lander spoke with NY1's Courtney Gross about his arrest a day after it happened.
Read more from Spectrum News Staff here.
3. Candidates cast ballots, NYPD opens probe after threats against Mamdani
Several Democratic candidates for mayor hit the polls Thursday to cast their ballots ahead of primary day Tuesday. It comes as the final days of the campaign heat up, with the NYPD now investigating threats against Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.
The NYPD told NY1 it opened a Hate Crimes Task Force investigation after Mamdani reported four voicemails over several days, making anti-Muslim statements.
Early voting totals from the city Board of Elections already show record turnout compared to 2021.
Read more from NY1's Bernadette Hogan here.
4. Mayoral winner likely won't be clear until July 1
Things looked good for Eric Adams on primary night four years ago, when he enjoyed an 11-point lead in the race for mayor.
But under the city’s ranked-choice voting system, second, third, fourth and fifth choices matter, too. And when the full ranked-choice tabulation was run a week later, Adams was nearly edged out by Kathryn Garcia, who finished just 7,200 votes behind.
Election officials will wait until July 1 to run the ranked-choice tabulation, allowing all mail-in and absentee ballots to be included. Officials must also physically collect data from roughly 3,000 voting machines before running the results.
Read more from NY1's Bobby Cuza here.
5. Cuomo slams ICE, discusses rift with Adams in exclusive interview
Working to win over voters one week ahead of the Democratic primary for mayor, Andrew Cuomo toured Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights and Fort George Tuesday afternoon along with Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
After the Upper Manhattan campaign tour, Cuomo spoke exclusively with NY1 about his plan to vote early, his relationship with Mayor Eric Adams and cross endorsements.
Read more from NY1's Ayana Harry here.
6. Voters and candidates adjust to ranked-choice voting
It would have once been unthinkable: two leading candidates for mayor, Brad Lander and Zohran Mamdani, holding a joint news conference and making a joint campaign video barely a week out from Election Day.
“Zohran, you’ve done a remarkable job building a historic, grassroots campaign,” Lander said in the video released last week announcing their cross-endorsement. “Brad, you’ve been a principled, progressive leader in our city for years,” Mamdani replied.
Ranked-choice voting, it seems, has scrambled the logic of campaigns both for candidates and for voters, who can now rank as many as five candidates in order of preference.
Read more from NY1's Bobby Cuza here.
7. Bernie Sanders endorses Mamdani in the mayoral race
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday, giving the progressive New York City mayoral candidate a boost as he challenges establishment forces in the 2025 Democratic primary.
Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman, welcomed the endorsement with praise for the Vermont senator's influence on his political vision.
Sanders, in a post on X, framed Mamdani as the best choice for mayor amid a perilous political moment.
Read more from NY1's Patrick Adcroft and Bernadette Hogan here.
8. Mamdani responds to antisemitism accusations, Maya Wiley endorsement
Mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani got emotional on the campaign trail Wednesday when addressing accusations of antisemitism and threats he says he has received during the campaign.
His stance on Israel and participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations has attracted heat from rivals throughout the campaign. But responding to accusations of antisemitism, Mamdani said he too has been the target of hateful attacks.
Meanwhile, the 33-year-old democratic socialist welcomed an endorsement from a former Mayor Bill de Blasio aide, 2021 Democratic mayoral hopeful Maya Wiley.
Read more from NY1's Bernadette Hogan here.
9. Mamdani, Blake cross-endorse in mayoral primary
Mayoral Democratic hopefuls Zohran Mamdani and Michael Blake cross-endorsed one another Monday morning at an event in the Bronx.
The joint announcement marked Mamdani’s second cross-endorsement in just a few days. Last week, the Queens assemblyman joined forces with City Comptroller Brad Lander, urging voters to use ranked-choice voting strategically in an effort to ice out former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Mamdani is asking voters who support Lander or Blake to rank him as their second choice, ensuring that if either Blake or Lander are eliminated, those ballots will benefit him.
Read more from NY1's Erica Brosnan and Bernadette Hogan here.