The 2025 New York City mayor’s race is centered on a small group of major candidates: Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, and Eric Adams (who suspended his reelection bid but remains on the ballot).

Quick Scoop: Who’s Running for NYC Mayor?

Here’s the main field voters are watching in the 2025 NYC mayoral election.

  • Zohran Mamdani (Democrat) – A 33‑year‑old democratic socialist Assembly member from Astoria, Queens, and the Democratic nominee for mayor. He won the Democratic primary in a historic upset over former Governor Andrew Cuomo and is now considered the front‑runner in the general election. Mamdani is campaigning on freezing rents, making buses and child care free, launching a Department of Community Safety, and building public supermarkets.
  • Andrew Cuomo (Independent) – Former New York governor running as an independent after previously serving roughly a decade as governor, where he backed marriage equality, paid family leave, and major infrastructure projects like the Second Avenue Subway and revamped airports. He has framed his bid around the idea that the city is “in crisis” and that his experience uniquely qualifies him to stabilize it.
  • Curtis Sliwa (Republican) – The Guardian Angels founder, radio host, and perennial candidate, running as the main Republican contender. Known for his red beret and law‑and‑order focus, he argues that crime and quality‑of‑life concerns are still not being taken seriously and has refused calls to drop out to make it a two‑way race between Mamdani and Cuomo.
  • Eric Adams (Independent, outgoing mayor) – Adams ended his bid for reelection in late September 2025 after months of scandal and a now‑dropped federal corruption case, but his name technically remains on the ballot because he suspended his campaign rather than formally withdrawing. Polling shows him with low support compared with the top three candidates.
  • Minor candidates – Additional lesser‑known contenders are on the ballot on smaller party lines, including Irene Estrada (Conservative Party) and Joseph Hernandez (Quality of Life Party), but they have not raised significant money or polled among the leading candidates.

Current State of the Race

  • A Quinnipiac poll from October 2025 showed Zohran Mamdani leading with about 45% among likely voters, followed by Andrew Cuomo around the low‑20s, Curtis Sliwa in the mid‑teens, and Eric Adams in the low‑teens.
  • With Adams out and Mamdani securing big endorsements (Gov. Kathy Hochul, major unions, and progressive figures like Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez and Letitia James), many observers describe Mamdani as the candidate to beat heading into the November 2025 general election.

If you’re asking “who is running for NYC mayor” in early 2026, this 2025 field is the most recent full election line‑up, with Mamdani, Cuomo, and Sliwa as the key names most people are referring to.

TL;DR: The big names running in the latest NYC mayoral race are Zohran Mamdani (Democrat/front‑runner), Andrew Cuomo (Independent), Curtis Sliwa (Republican), with Eric Adams still on the ballot but not actively campaigning, plus a few minor party candidates.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.