NYC Mayor’s Race Upended As Business-Unfriendly Former Rapper Socialist Tops Cuomo

A major poll before primary day in New York City shows Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani pulling ahead of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the race to become the city’s next mayor. 

According to Emerson College / Pix11 / The Hill, Mamdani – a socialist and former rapper who went by “Mr. Cardamom,” has a 52% edge over Cuomo’s 48% among early voters and likely voters. 

The survey allowed voters to rank up to five candidates in order of preference. The ranked-choice voting simulation over eight rounds ends with Mamdani at 52% and Cuomo at 48%. 

“Over five months, Mamdani’s support has surged from 1% to 32%, while Cuomo finishes near where he began,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. “In the ranked-choice simulation, Mamdani gains 18 points compared to Cuomo’s 12, putting him ahead in the final round for the first time in an Emerson poll.”

Meanwhile Polymarket has then neck and neck…

It looks like socialism is surging in NYC.

If Mamdani wins the primary, New York could have a republican mayor again pic.twitter.com/pr3d7fcGy8

— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) June 23, 2025

As journalist Collin Rugg notes, Mamdani “is accused of voicing his love for leaders of a nonprofit convicted of funneling $12 million to Hamas.”

“This is him saying he loves, that is his own words, he loves the Holy Land Five, who are convicted, funders of Hamas. It’s disgusting and despicable,” said Cuomo – reacting to one of Mamdani’s songs.

NEW: Former rapper and socialist New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has pulled ahead of Andrew Cuomo in the city’s primary, according to a new poll.

Mamdani, 33, has pulled ahead of Cuomo in a new Emerson poll, leading him 52% to 48%.

Mamdani is accused of voicing his… pic.twitter.com/bMmwDV0AnI

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 23, 2025

Billionaires to Bail?

As The Free Press noted last week, New York business owners plan to flee both the city and the state if Mamdani wins…

“We may consider closing our supermarkets and selling the business,” said 76-year-old billionaire John Catsimatidis of Gristedes Supermarkets, adding “We have other businesses. Thank God, we have other businesses.”

He also suggested that his real estate conglomerate – Red Apple Group, may move to New Jersey too.

“There’s the possibility we’d move our corporate offices to New Jersey. Why not?” he said. “Then you’d have four years of peace.”

As The Free Press notes further;

Their fear isn’t just higher taxes or stricter regulations—it’s that a democratic socialist with a history of railing against Wall Street could bring an adversarial ethos into City Hall, targeting the very class that powers the city’s economy.

Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge-fund manager, predicted that if Mamdani enters Gracie Mansion the exodus that began during Covid would spike again.

“This would absolutely be a tipping point for a lot of companies and individuals,” he said, adding that most of his peers would flee to the same place: Florida, where he said the wealthy are “welcomed as opposed to viewed as the enemy.”

He explained that business is a “confidence game,” and under a Mayor Mamdani, “You’re going to have a massive loss of confidence in doing business in New York.”