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How did New Yorkers rank their mayoral candidates? The data is in.
By
Joe Hong
and
Brigid Bergin
Published Jul 24, 2025
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CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images
By
Joe Hong
and
Brigid Bergin
Published Jul 24, 2025
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How convincing was the campaign to ditch former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo? Were voters swayed by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander’s last-minute cross endorsement of state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani?
New data from the New York City Board of Elections on how voters ranked candidates on their ballots last month offers some insight into these questions and others after the board certified the Democratic mayoral primary results Tuesday.
This was the second citywide election with ranked-choice voting, where voters could choose up to five candidates in order of preference. Here are five key takeaways Gothamist extracted from the certified results to learn how voters are using the ranked-choice system.
Nearly 50% of voters filled out all five slots of their ballot
Just over 1.11 million voters cast ballots in the Democratic primary. Of those, just under half — 48% — filled out all five slots for multiple candidates. That’s a slight increase from 2021, when only 46% of voters filled out all five slots, according to NYC Votes.
“Candidates worked together, built broad coalitions and expanded their outreach beyond their immediate base — and the voters benefited,” Susan Lerner, head of the nonprofit Common Cause New York and a proponent of ranked-choice voting, said. “That’s a huge victory for everyone."
No-Cuomo voters made up 70% of fully completed ballots
The effort to educate voters on how ranked-choice voting works came with a new political twist in this year’s primary. A progressive anti-Cuomo coalition created an acronym to urge people to "DREAM," or “Don't Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor.” The campaign created signs, videos and talking points instructing voters to fill out all five slots on their ballot and leave out Cuomo.
Did it work? The data shows that 376,418 voters, or more than 70% of those who filled out all five slots, left Cuomo off their ballot.
“As Andrew Cuomo, Eric Adams and their billionaire backers continue their efforts to subvert the democratic process and buy out the general election, let these results remind them that they are no match for New Yorkers, who will make sure the next stage of the DREAM will haunt their nightmares even further,” said Charlie Heller, a spokesperson for the coalition.
Not everyone was persuaded. Despite the vast stylistic and policy differences between Cuomo and Mamdani, the ultimate victor, nearly 8% of the 469,018 voters who ranked Mamdani first also ranked Cuomo somewhere on their ballots.
Many voters appear to have listened to Brad Lander
Lander’s decision to cross-endorse Mamdani was considered a pivotal moment in the primary campaign. When the two joined forces, the city comptroller was in the midst of his most successful week on the trail, winning the news cycle after his arrest at immigration court and a well-received debate performance.
Of the 120,544 people who ranked Lander as their first choice, 40% made Mamdani their second choice. Since Lander placed third overall and was not eliminated until then, he continued to acquire more votes with each passing round.
Did Mamdani voters reciprocate by ranking Lander second? Among 469,018 ballots that ranked Mamdani first, 308,683 ranked Lander second.
By comparison, state Sen. Jessica Ramos’ endorsement of Cuomo helped him pick up 16% of her voters overall, translating into 711 more votes for the former governor.
How the rest of the vote split between the final two candidates
As the ranked-choice tabulations eliminated candidates, their ballots were transferred to the remaining candidates. In each round, the remaining candidates acquire more votes. Here are the candidates in the order they were eliminated and how their votes split between Mamdani and Cuomo as the final contenders.
- State Sen. Jessica Ramos: 578 went to Mamdani, 711 went to Cuomo
- Former state Assemblymember Michael Blake: 1,010 went to Mamdani, 589 went to Cuomo
- State Sen. Zellnor Myrie: 1,873 went to Mamdani, 1,325 went to Cuomo
- Former City Comptroller Scott Stringer: 2,109 went to Mamdani, 5,060 went to Cuomo
- City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams: 11,660 went to Mamdani, 12,868 went to Cuomo
- City Comptroller Brad Lander: 85,383 went to Mamdani, 31,553 went to Cuomo
Tagged
Politics
Zohran Mamdani
andrew cuomo
elections
new york city
Joe Hong
Joe Hong is the investigative data reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered K-12 education for several newsrooms across California. His reporting has led to local reforms in juvenile justice system as well as a state law requiring universal screening for dyslexia. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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