The mood at City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander’s election night party remained calm as returns poured in for the NYC Democratic mayoral primary, with the NYC Comptroller coming in a distant third place to Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo.
Lander supporters trickled in as the party went on, switching between chatting over the music and tuning into news coverage of the race. Robert Callahan, a volunteer for Lander’s campaign, has worked for the comptroller for three years and said he feels proud of the campaign the team has run.
“I think that he’d be a fabulous mayor,” Callahan said.
But the mood picked up when it became clear Mamdani, whom Lander cross-endorsed as part of a ranked-choice voting strategy, had built a big lead on Cuomo and appeared on the path to winning the Democratic nomination for mayor.
Callahan praised ranked-choice voting for its ability to build coalitions and “people power to make movements happen.”
“I am thrilled that we have a coalition that is all working together to build a movement that is for the people,” he said. “If Zohran wins tonight, it is because the left coalesced around a strategy and worked together to make a mayorship happen,” Callahan said.
Shocking news during Lander’s speech
Lander’s speech at his campaign’s election night party, which revolved around thanking his family, staff, and supporters, was cut short at 10:25 p.m., when he was briefly pulled aside and informed that Cuomo had conceded the race.
Amid deafening cheers, the comptroller removed his sports coat, hugged his family, and pivoted his remarks to the future.
“We still have a general election to win. We have work to do we’ve got affordable housing to build,” Lander said. “We have our immigrant neighbors to protect. We have a generation of young people to inspire. We have a democracy to protect and strengthen.”
Lander had discussed earlier in his remarks his detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 17, which took place while he was attempting to escort an individual out of his immigration hearing to the exit of 26 Federal Plaza.
“We will not stop fighting for [New York], we won’t stop fighting for it. So let’s celebrate everything that we’ve accomplished tonight and wake up tomorrow morning more determined than ever,” Lander said.
As for Cuomo, whom Lander often criticized during the campaign, the comptroller told the crowd, “Andrew Cuomo is the past. He is not the present or the future of the city. Good f—ing riddance.”
