With 2025 coming to a detailed, all eyes are on the incoming Mamdani administration and the promise of a so-called “new era” for New York Metropolis. However past the mayoral transition, 2026 is shaping as much as be a pivotal yr in metropolis and state politics — outlined by particular elections, crowded congressional races, the continued rise of younger progressives, and a high-stakes gubernatorial contest.
From Metropolis Corridor to Capitol Hill, voters will weigh in on congressional seats, State Senate and Meeting races, the comptroller’s workplace, and the governor and lieutenant governor’s races, alongside a number of particular elections that would reshape town’s political stability.
Under are a number of the greatest political tales New York News is monitoring as the brand new yr begins.
Mamdani’s new period
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani addresses supporters on the Brooklyn Paramount on Nov. 4, 2025.Picture by Dean Moses
The Queens Meeting member, first elected to public workplace in 2020, emerged victorious within the 2025 mayoral election and will likely be sworn into workplace on New Yr’s Day in a pair of ceremonies marking the beginning of his administration.
Mamdani’s first months in workplace will likely be intently watched as he begins to implement a progressive agenda whereas navigating the Metropolis Council’s dynamics and relationships in Albany.
In November, Manhattan Council Member Julie Menin introduced that she had secured sufficient help to change into the subsequent Metropolis Council speaker when the brand new session begins in January.
Menin, who’s extensively considered as a average, is predicted to take workplace simply days after Mamdani’s Jan. 1 inauguration. Whereas she doesn’t align squarely with town’s progressive wing, Menin has mentioned she hopes to collaborate with the incoming mayor on his affordability agenda, signaling a probably extra cooperative dynamic between Metropolis Corridor and the Council.
That relationship will likely be intently watched, given years of pressure between outgoing Mayor Eric Adams and Speaker Adrienne Adams, whose strained partnership has usually sophisticated negotiations over public security, housing, and town funds. Whether or not Mamdani and Menin can keep away from related conflicts might decide how shortly the brand new mayor can advance his legislative priorities on the metropolis degree.
Particular elections in Manhattan
Outgoing Manhattan Metropolis Council Member Keith Powers, who’s working for the Meeting seat previously held by new Metropolis Council Member Harvey Epstein.Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
A particular election will likely be held Feb. 3 to fill the 74th Meeting District seat vacated by Harvey Epstein, who was elected to the Metropolis Council in November.
Former Council Member Keith Powers, who was term-limited, has emerged as a robust contender after securing the Democratic county committee’s nomination. Different candidates who sought the nomination included nonprofit chief Sarah Batchu, St. Vartan Park Conservancy President Kevin O’Keefe, and Marquis Jenkins, a district chief and director of advocacy for Housing Works.
Given the district’s Democratic make-up, the celebration’s nominee is extensively anticipated to prevail.
In the meantime, Metropolis Council Member Erik Bottcher introduced this month that he’s dropping his congressional bid to as a substitute run for an open State Senate seat vacated by Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who will assume workplace as Manhattan Borough President on Jan. 1.
Hochul’s reelection bid
Gov. Kathy HochulPhoto courtesy of Gov. Hochul’s Workplace
As 2026 approaches, Gov. Kathy Hochul is gearing up for a contested reelection marketing campaign. She faces competitors from inside her personal celebration with a main problem from Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, and should stability expectations from progressive voters in New York Metropolis with broader enchantment throughout suburban and upstate areas.
In the meantime, Republican contenders have already begun to stake out their positions. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, as soon as considered as a number one GOP challenger to Hochul, abruptly ended her marketing campaign in December and introduced she may even not search reelection to her Home seat. Some observers see Stefanik’s resolution as a mirrored image of a tricky upcoming yr for Republicans and an anticipated “blue wave” of Democratic Congressional and state victories in November.
Stefanik’s resolution got here simply over a month after she formally entered the race, and he or she cited each private and strategic concerns. Stefanik’s withdrawal gave momentum to Nassau County Govt Bruce Blakeman, who shortly secured the endorsement of former President Donald Trump as he seeks each the Republican gubernatorial nomination and the governor’s seat itself.
Hochul’s marketing campaign may even should navigate its relationship with native leaders, together with Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose progressive base might each buoy and complicate her efforts to consolidate Democratic help statewide.
Congressional races to observe
Brad Lander’s congressional marketing campaign launch hit an sudden pace bump in December when his X, previously Twitter, account was briefly hijacked by hackers posting about crypto windfalls and a powder-blue Cadillac. Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Voters will look to fill no fewer than two Home seats being vacated by a pair of long-time Democratic incumbents who’ve every spent the higher a part of three a long time in these places of work. These races come as different incumbent Home Democrats in New York face a wave of challenges from the left within the wake of Mayor Mamdani’s victory in November.
U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s announcement in November that she wouldn’t search a seventeenth time period opened the door to a wide-open race in considered one of New York Metropolis’s most progressive congressional districts, which incorporates neighborhoods corresponding to Lengthy Island Metropolis, Sunnyside, Greenpoint, and Bushwick.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso has already entered the race and shortly consolidated institution help. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Metropolis Council Members Shekar Krishnan, Lincoln Restler, Crystal Hudson, Sandy Nurse, and Jennifer Gutiérrez have all endorsed Reynoso.
The Democratic Socialists of America are anticipated to appoint a candidate within the new yr. Metropolis Council Member Tiffany Cabán and Meeting Member Claire Valdez are each anticipated to hunt the DSA endorsement, in accordance with Metropolis & State, with Valdez extensively anticipated to obtain the nod. A DSA-backed candidate would seemingly draw help from figures corresponding to Mayor Mamdani and Sen. Sanders, organising a transparent ideological distinction within the race.
In the meantime, the race to interchange longtime U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler already has a crowded area working to be the brand new voice for the twelfth District that spans a lot of Manhattan from the East Aspect to the West Aspect. The crowded area consists of Meeting Member Micah Lasher, a former Nadler aide; Meeting Member Alex Bores; and Jack Schlossberg, the Kennedy household inheritor and media persona.
Within the Bronx, incumbent U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, first elected in 2020, is going through quite a few challengers within the Democratic main this June. U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, one other incumbent Democrat, can also be being primaried in June by outgoing Metropolis Comptroller and former Brooklyn Council Member Brad Lander.
New York’s election season formally begins with the June 23 main, when voters will resolve who advances to the Nov. 3 common election poll.
