Andrew Cuomo Snubs Zohran Mamdani in Defeat – Refuses to Make Concession Call

(Photo by Laura Brett/Sipa USA(Sipa via AP Images) (Photo by Lev Radin/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

Defeated New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo stood on stage late Tuesday and urged New Yorkers to “unite for New York City” but, ahead of his speech, he did not call the victor, Zohran Mamdani, to concede.

Cuomo bypassed the ritual concession call to his Democratic rival, Mamdani’s press secretary told Politico journalist Jeff Coltin Wednesday, adding that “yes, they checked both of his phones.”

It was a small but telling coda to a wild election night.

Mamdani, the Democratic socialist state assemblyman who won the New York mayoralty in a near 10-point blowout, leaned directly into the symbolism. In his victory speech, he told supporters that New York had broken a pattern and claimed to have “toppled” the Cuomo “political dynasty.”

“I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life, but let tonight be the final time I utter his name as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few,” he said. “New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford, and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that.”

Cuomo’s concession speech in Midtown at his own event ended in an uncomfortable moment as he scolded his own supporters for jeering and booing at the one point as he mentioned Mamdani’s name in congratulations.

“That is not right, and that is not us,” he insisted. “We will unite for New York City because we love New York City,” before then warning Mamdani had made “promises that we know cannot be met.”

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