Andrew Cuomo will not drop out of the New York City mayoral race by the Friday deadline to remove himself from the general election ballot, CNN has learned. That leaves in place contingency plans he had established before the Democratic primary to challenge Zohran Mamdani and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams in November.

Mamdani is eight percentage points ahead of Cuomo with 95% of the first-place votes counted in the NYC Democratic mayoral primary.

Zohran Mamdani was a state lawmaker unknown even to most New York City residents when he announced his run for mayor back in October. On Tuesday evening, the 33-year-old marked his stunning political ascension when he declared victory in the Democratic primary from a Queens rooftop bar after former New York Gov.