Socialist Zohran Mamdani upsets Andrew Cuomo in Democratic primary election for NYC mayor race



New York state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for the mayoral election in New York City on Tuesday night.

Despite being behind in almost every poll, Mamdani beat former New York governor and second-place nominee Andrew Cuomo by around seven points. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander came in third.

Mamdani's election platform included endorsing "LGBTQIA+ protections," "city-owned grocery stores," and "Trump-proofing" New York City. Mamdani is also a Democratic Socialist and has worked on the campaigns of fellow socialists.

'In the words of Nelson Mandela ...'

Mamdani took to his X account after his victory and thanked his voters, quoting late activist and first president of South Africa Nelson Mandela.

"In the words of Nelson Mandela: it always seems impossible until it's done," Mamdani wrote. "My friends, it is done. And you are the ones who did it. I am honored to be your Democratic nominee for the Mayor of New York City," the new Democratic candidate added.

During his acceptance speech, Mamdani told supporters, "Above all, our democracy has been attacked from within ... and when we no longer believe in our democracy, it only becomes easier for people like Donald Trump to convince us of his worth."

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  Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images

 

Governor Cuomo conceded just after 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, saying Mamdani "touched young people, and inspired them, and moved them, and got them to come out and vote."

"He really ran a highly impactful campaign," Cuomo told supporters. "I applaud him sincerely for his effort."

Cuomo served as governor for more than 10 years and was leading almost every major poll by double digits coming into the primary. On Election Day, the New York Times reported that of the 10 most recent polls conducted in June, Cuomo led nine of them, with his biggest lead at +19.

One poll from Public Policy Polling had Mamdani at +5, however.

Just days before the primary, Mamdani's office told the New York Post he had received a car-bomb threat, despite not owning a car. Mamdani had allegedly received four voicemails in the last few months calling for his or his family's death, with the latest reportedly calling him a "terrorist piece of s**t."

Mamdani had blamed the right wing for a threatening message in which the caller said he was going to have the candidate "wash his European feet."

RELATED: NYC comptroller locks arms with man to prevent ICE arrest: 'Show me your warrant!'

  Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

 

New York City Comptroller Lander made his own last-minute headlines last week as well. Lander was arrested by federal agents after locking arms with a man facing deportation.

The comptroller yelled, "Show me your warrant! Show me your badge!" as agents attempted to pry him away from a man who had just left a Manhattan courtroom.

In a statement to Blaze News, Dept. of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Lander was arrested for "impeding a federal officer."

Lander had claimed he was "not obstructing" and was simply "standing right here in the hallway."

  

New York investigative reporter Oren Levy reacted to Mamdani's victory, telling Blaze News, "Mamdani's win tells you everything about where this city is heading — off a cliff."

Levy continued, "He's anti-Israel, a socialist, wants to replace cops with social workers … basically a checklist for the far-left agenda."

Mamdani recently struggled to answer questions from reporters over criticisms that he supported the phrase "globalize the intifada." After about 20 seconds trying to find his words, Mamdani told reporters that as mayor, he would do his best to eliminate anti-Semitism in New York City.

Reporter Levy has covered issues like crime and illegal immigration from the mayor's office in the past few years and predicted "more crime" and "more chaos" under a potential Mamdani rule.

"It's not over," Levy added. "November's coming. Let's see if New Yorkers wake up by then."

Mamdani still has to face off against Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder who won the Republican primary unopposed, and Mayor Eric Adams, who announced in April that he will run as an independent in November's election.

"Our city needs independent leadership that understands working people," Adams wrote on X.

Adams has been mayor of New York City since January 1, 2022.

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Another coach in the Senate? Auburn basketball's Bruce Pearl rumored as Tommy Tuberville's replacement



Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) announced he is running for governor of Alabama, soon vacating a seat and prompting a potentially competitive Republican primary.

Tuberville was a successful college football coach at Auburn, Cincinnati, and more. Now, discussions are reportedly already under way to find his replacement, with another NCAA coach rumored to be the favored candidate for a 2026 special primary.

'The compensation is a little bit different.'

According to a report from Semafor, Auburn men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has plans to run for the vacant seat and was on Capitol Hill discussing those plans last week.

The most obvious factor that could stop Pearl from running is his lucrative contract that is supposed to keep him at Auburn through 2030. According to On3, Pearl signed a contract extension in 2022 worth $6.28 million per year, totaling over $50 million.

At the same time, Tuberville told the media he does not want Pearl to run and does not think he will.

RELATED: GOP saboteurs join Democrats to derail Trump’s justice agenda

 

  Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) in his office in December 2024. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

 

"The compensation is a little bit different," Tuberville told Semafor. "I wouldn't let [Pearl] do it because he did such a good job at Auburn. We need him there."

The basketball coach has an incredibly political social media timeline; his X feed is filled with shared posts that are pro-Israel and critical of Iran.

"Enriched Uranium is for a weapon, not power," Pearl wrote. "Iran says it will not give up its ability to enrich uranium against US demands. For Iran, it is a matter of national honor and part of their identity. If Iran had it, they would use it! Dismantle it now 4peace or Israel needs to do it."

RELATED: 'This will absolutely kill college sports': Dartmouth men's basketball ends bid to become first NCAA player's union
 
 
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Pearl has been successful at Auburn since joining as head coach in 2014. He brought the basketball team its first conference championship in 19 years in 2018, with two more in 2022 and 2025. The 65-year-old is also responsible for Auburn's only two NCAA Final Four appearances: in 2019 and 2025.

In 2011, Pearl, then the head coach at the University of Tennessee, was accused of lying to the NCAA about an unofficial visit from an athlete attending a cookout at his home. Pearl was alleged to have told the athlete and his father not to mention it.

Coach Pearl did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

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Pennsylvania County Sent Voters Wrong Mail Ballots For May Primary

It is an example of the troubles that plague mail-in voting, and the control county election offices lose when they outsource their work.

Exclusive: Hundreds of conservative Texans rally behind Paxton's effort to primary Cornyn



Over 250 conservative leaders across Texas are backing Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), Blaze News first learned.

Texan leaders, lawmakers, and grassroots activists alike rallied behind Paxton as he prepares to primary Cornyn, who he says is relying too much on the establishment. Cornyn has held the Senate seat since 2002 and will be up for re-election in 2026.

'He has an excellent record fighting for Texans and their rights, which is needed now more than ever.'

"I'm incredibly grateful to have the support of over 250 conservative leaders from across our great state," Paxton told Blaze News. "While John Cornyn is relying on the Washington establishment to save him, I'm proud that my campaign is powered by the grassroots and the people of Texas."

Paxton characterized Cornyn as a career politician who has previously come into conflict with President Donald Trump's priorities.

"Our momentum grows every single day because there are millions of patriots who know what I know: It's time for a change," Paxton told Blaze News. "John Cornyn has been in Washington for over two decades, and in that time all he's done is work with Joe Biden to pass radical gun control, attack President Trump, and call the border wall 'naive.'"

"He's failed our state," Paxton continued, "and I'm running to ensure that Cornyn is replaced by a strong conservative warrior who will always stand with President Trump."

Political allies echoed Paxton, saying he is a necessary change agent for Washington, D.C.

"Paxton is the perfect person to replace the RINO that is John Cornyn," BlazeTV contributor and Paxton endorser Matthew Mardsen told Blaze News. "He has an excellent record fighting for Texans and their rights, which is needed now more than ever. The contrast can't be starker."

"For far too long, John Cornyn has sold Texans out and voted against the will of his constituents," Sara Gonzales, host of BlazeTV's "Sara Gonzales Unfiltered," told Blaze News. "He seems far more interested in funding forever wars than helping his own citizens. Frankly, he is an embarrassment to the state of Texas."

"Attorney General Paxton has a long track record of fighting for Texans, even when the battle is tough, and even when the establishment is after him," Gonzales added. "At times, he’s been the only statewide elected official willing to do what’s right. I look forward to Paxton giving Texans real representation in the United States Senate."

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David Hogg starts 'circular firing squad' in Democratic Party with this radical move



Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg is causing problems the party would rather not deal with as Democrats are still struggling with how to properly counter the fast actions of the Trump administration.

Politico reports that many Democrats in the DNC and on Capitol Hill are venting their frustration over Hogg's decision to have his personal organization carry out his mission of supporting primary opponents of Democrats in deep-blue districts. The move is highly unusual given that the DNC does not get involved in primaries in such an overt way, even if leadership is acting in a personal capacity.

Leaders We Deserve, which Hogg co-founded in 2023, announced plans this week to spend $20 million on incumbents who LWD believes are not doing enough to meet the concerns of younger voters because they have been in office for too long. Hogg has said he is not going to go after Democrats in swing districts.

'Many of them will be lies. Many of them will be contortions of the truth.'

"We, as the DNC, need to be seen as a body that can be trusted, that’s not putting its thumb on the scales,” a DNC member told Politico. "We have to be so strategic and careful with our resources right now. ... So why are we in this circular firing squad against Democrats?"

“Engaging in an aggressive, internal type of purging of incumbents that you disagree with is counterproductive to the mission of the DNC,” said Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York Democratic Party.

When Hogg ran to be a vice chair of the DNC, many raised concerns about his far-left views, worrying that those views would cement voter assessment that the Democratic Party has gone too radical. It is because of the Democratic Party's shift to the left on many issues that President Donald Trump was able to form alliances with historically liberal figures like Tulsi Gabbard and Robert Kennedy Jr.

Other Democrats point to Hogg's history as an activist as to why his decision to go after incumbents should not be a surprise.

Hogg has taken to X to defend his decision to stoke intra-party conflict. Before Politico published its story, Hogg said because of his vision, "there are likely going to be stories in the next few days and weeks about me and Leaders We Deserve that will aim to destroy my reputation in order to weaken this effort. Many of them will be lies. Many of them will be contortions of the truth because people want to maintain the status quo even though it is not working."

On Thursday, Hogg clarified that Leaders We Deserve is not only going to focus on Democrat primaries but also get more young candidates involved in congressional elections.

"Too many elected leaders in the Democratic Party are either unwilling or unable to meet the moment and are asleep at the wheel while Trump is demolishing the economy, challenging the foundations of our democracy, and creating new existential crises for our country by the day," the gun control activist said.

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Exclusive: Paxton notches key endorsement from Texas congressman in fight to unseat Cornyn



Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured the endorsement of a key member of the Texas congressional delegation in his fight to unseat longtime U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas).

On Tuesday evening, Paxton officially declared that he would primary Cornyn, who is up for re-election in 2026. "John Cornyn has been in Washington for over two decades, and he has turned his back on President Trump and the America First agenda time after time," Paxton said in a statement obtained by Blaze News.

Now, just a few hours after making that announcement, Paxton has already received the backing of Republican Congressman Troy Nehls, who represents a district just outside Houston.

"I’m proud to be fully supporting and endorsing his campaign!" Nehls said in a statement obtained exclusively by Blaze News.

"Ken Paxton is a conservative warrior who has always stood with President Trump and been a champion for the people of Texas. During Joe Biden’s disastrous presidency, Attorney General Paxton sued the Biden Administration over 100 times and secured major victories against Biden’s lawless, open borders policies," the statement continued.

Gonzales ... characterized Cornyn as a 'RINO' — short for 'Republican in name only' — and a 'coward.'

First elected in 2002, Sen. Cornyn has lately been viewed as out of step with MAGA-supporting Texans and the Republican Party more generally. Just a few months ago, BlazeTV host and proud Texas native Sara Gonzales confronted Cornyn about repeatedly voting to send American tax dollars to Ukraine. "We have our own problems to deal with," Gonzales explained.

Gonzales later characterized Cornyn as a "RINO" — short for "Republican in name only" — and a "coward."

Cornyn responded to the news of Paxton's senatorial bid by calling the Texas attorney general a "fraud" and himself a "battle-tested conservative." Cornyn also suggested that his record demonstrates his commitment to President Trump and the MAGA agenda.

"During his first term John Cornyn voted with President Trump more than 95% of current senators, securing the votes for his biggest accomplishments as his Whip," Cornyn's statement said, according to the Quorum Report.

Nehls, an Army Reserve veteran and former sheriff who currently sits on the House Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, believes Paxton would be a stronger voice for Texas than Cornyn has been.

"He’s never once backed down from a fight or wavered in his commitment to doing what’s right," Nehls said of Paxton, "and he’s exactly the type of fighter we need representing us in the U.S. Senate."

Nehls is apparently not alone. According to a poll from the New York Times, Paxton is currently crushing Cornyn by 25 points in the Republican primary battle and would likely defeat a Democrat challenger in the general election as well.

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Schumer Shocker: AOC Would Beat Senate Minority Leader by Double Digits, Poll Finds

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) is leading Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer by nearly 20 percentage points in a potential 2028 New York primary showdown, according to a new poll.

The post Schumer Shocker: AOC Would Beat Senate Minority Leader by Double Digits, Poll Finds appeared first on .

Vice President Kamala Harris Did Nothing To ‘Earn’ The Democrat Nomination

The only thing Kamala Harris has ‘earned’ over her last four years in office is the ire of the American people.

Another friendly interview, another disaster: Harris marinates in failure and hypocrisy on '60 Minutes'



Kamala Harris sat down with Bill Whitaker of "60 Minutes" this week for another largely toothless interview with a sympathetic network.

Although she was primarily served softball questions, Harris once again demonstrated why her campaign has sought to minimize her encounters with the press and public.

Inside an hour, Harris claimed to have the same kind of firearm she has tried to ban; defended her abysmal record on the border; and talked around the question of whether democracy was best served by her making a mockery of it.

Home defense for me but not for thee

"You recently surprised people when you said that you are a gun owner, and that if someone came into your house —" said Whitaker.

Harris interrupted, shaking her head and smiling: "That was not the first time I've talked about it. That's not the first time I've talked about it."

'Look, Bill, my background is in law enforcement, and, um, so there you go.'

At her well-choreographed micro-rally hosted by Oprah Winfrey in Michigan last month, Harris attempted to paint herself as a supporter of the Second Amendment with the competence to shoot a home intruder.

"I'm a gun owner, too," said Harris. "If someone breaks in my house, they're getting shot."

"Some people have been pushing a real false choice — to suggest you're either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone's guns away," Harris told Oprah. "I'm in favor of the Second Amendment, and I'm in favor of assault-weapons bans, universal background checks, red-flag laws."

After Harris' interruption, Whitaker asked, "So what kind of gun do you own, and when and why did you get it?"

Harris responded, "I have a Glock, and, um, I've had it for quite some time, and um, I mean — look, Bill, my background is in law enforcement, and, um, so there you go."

"Have you ever fired it?" Whitaker asked.

"Yes," Harris said, laughing. "Of course I have. At a shooting range. Yes. Of course I have."

Blaze News previously reported that when serving as San Francisco's district attorney, Harris sponsored Proposition H — an ordinance that banned the manufacture, distribution, sale, and transfer of handguns in San Francisco. Law-abiding citizens would have been required to surrender their weapons without receiving compensation for doing so.

Although the proposition passed, the National Rifle Association and others filed a legal challenge, holding up its enforcement long enough for a Republican-appointed judge to kill the ban in June 2006, indicating that it was "invalid as pre-empted by state law."

The future Glock owner was undeterred and continued her crusade to disarm her fellow Americans.

A year after threatening to storm the homes of law-abiding Americans for surprise gun inspections, Harris joined other leftist district attorneys in signing a 2008 amici curiae brief in the Second Amendment case D.C. v. Heller, claiming that a total handgun ban was constitutional.

According to the brief bearing Harris' name, the Second Amendment does not secure an individual right but rather a "collective" or "militia-related" right.

Defending failure

In one of the confrontational moments in the interview, Whitaker said to Harris, "You recently visited the southern border and embraced President Biden's recent crackdown on asylum-seekers. And that crackdown produced an almost immediate and dramatic decrease in the number of border crossings. If that's the right answer now, why didn't your administration take those steps in 2021?"

Harris, who failed as border czar to prevent tens of millions of illegal aliens from stealing into the United States and has been accused of covering up the rise in terrorism-linked migrants, rejected Whitaker's premise.

'But the numbers did quadruple under your ... under your watch.'

The border czar once again suggested that the solution lies with Congress — despite President Donald Trump having provided evidence to the contrary — and touted the failed "bipartisan" border bill as a panacea, even though it would have been wholly ineffective against the illegal immigration crisis.

Whitaker pushed back, noting that while the border crisis did not start with the Biden-Harris administration, she helped make it worse than ever before.

"There was an historic flood of undocumented immigrants coming across the border the first three years of your administration," said Whitaker. "As a matter of fact, arrivals quadrupled from the last year of President Trump. Was it a mistake to loosen the immigration policies as much as you did?"

Harris dodged the question, claiming, "Solutions are at hand. And from day one, literally, we have been offering solutions."

Shortly after taking power, the Biden-Harris administration halted the flow of government funds toward the construction of the border wall — which Harris previously campaigned against — and in subsequent months took additional steps to axe construction contracts. Extra to ending Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy, the Biden-Harris administration has also challenged virtually every effort by Texas and other states to stem the flow of illegal aliens into the country and to oust criminal noncitizens.

Whitaker tried one last time to see whether Harris would admit fault or regret, asking, "Was it a mistake to allow that flood to happen in the first place?"

"I think the policies that we have been proposing are about fixing a problem, not promoting a problem, OK?" said Harris.

"But the numbers did quadruple under your ... under your watch?" Whitaker struggled to say between interruptions.

Harris claimed she cut the flow of illegal immigration by half, then doubled down on her previous suggestion that "we need Congress to be able to act to actually fix the problem."

Sidestepping democracy for democracy

"Was democracy best served by sidestepping the traditional primary process?" Whitaker asked Harris, referring to what some have called a "coup."

Harris told the "60 Minutes" interviewer that she "earned" the delegates who were yanked from Biden as he was kicked to the curb.

'Everyone knows that there was no real primary this year.'

Biden was ejected from the race after his disastrous debate with Trump in late June, even though he secured a sweeping majority of the 3,933 pledged delegates available during the primary process — delegates who in most cases were elected in primaries because they had pledged to vote for Biden.

Inside 32 hours, Harris snatched up her boss' hard-won delegates because of a loophole in Rule 13J of the delegate selection rules. Not only were the Democratic primaries rendered utterly meaningless since Harris did not net a single primary vote, but she was spared from having to compete against other prospects in an open Democratic National Convention.

Referring to the 2020 election, Trump said during a September town hall, "She ran against [Biden] in the primary. She got no votes, and she was the first to leave. ... He got 14 million votes [in 2024], and they threw him out."

"It was really a coup when you think about it," continued Trump. "And the woman who came in last, the person who came in last [became the nominee]."

Even leftist publications acknowledged that Harris was "an Undemocratic Candidate."

Slate, for instance, noted that "everyone knows that there was no real primary this year. Democratic voters did not have a chance to say at the ballot box who their ideal nominee in 2024 should be. It's the first time since 1968 that delegates rather than voters decided the candidate."

Harris told Whitaker, "I am proud to have earned the support of the vast majority of delegates and to have been elected the Democratic nominee."

Extra to putting a gloss over how she came to become the Democratic candidate, Harris suggested she is now a champion for democracy.

"I am honored to have received the endorsement of leaders around this country from every background and walk of life, to fight in this election over the next month for our democracy," said the vice president.

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Trailing in Polls, Cori Bush Embraces Group That Blamed Israel for Oct. 7 Attack

Rep. Cori Bush (D., Mo.) is taking a page from colleague Jamaal Bowman's (D., N.Y.) playbook, embracing fringe allies on the Democratic Party's far-left wing as her electoral prospects dim.

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