Newly released data from the New York City Board of Elections reveals that more than 70% of voters who completed all five ranked-choice slots in the Democratic mayoral primary did not include former Governor Andrew Cuomo on their ballots. The numbers reflect the apparent impact of a progressive coalition campaign that urged voters to bypass Cuomo entirely.
The “Don’t Rank Cuomo” initiative, which grew out of the D.R.E.A.M. campaign — short for “Don’t Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor” — encouraged voters to use all available slots but exclude Cuomo and Mayor Eric Adams. Materials distributed by the campaign, including signs and videos, promoted this message across the city. In total, 376,418 voters followed that approach, omitting Cuomo from their fully completed ballots.
Despite this, a small portion of voters still listed Cuomo. Approximately 8% of the 469,018 voters who ranked Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani as their top choice also placed Cuomo elsewhere on their ballots. Mamdani, who had consistently polled just behind Cuomo before the election, ultimately secured the nomination through the ranked-choice voting process.
The election marked New York City’s second citywide use of ranked-choice voting. Nearly 1.11 million ballots were cast, with just under half of voters ranking five candidates.
The three candidates who will be on the ballot for the November general election include Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, Republican Candidate Curtis Sliwa, and Socialist Zohran Mamdani.
