Zellnor Myrie: Campaigns and Elections
Zellnor Myrie has run for elected office five times: Four successful campaigns for the New York State Senate and one unsuccessful bid for Mayor of New York City in 2025. His electoral career began as part of a progressive insurgency within the Democratic Party and expanded to a citywide run that tested his ability to translate a strong legislative record into broader political support.
2018 State Senate Primary and General Election
Myrie's entry into electoral politics came in 2018, when he challenged incumbent State Senator Jesse Hamilton in the Democratic primary for the 20th Senate District . Hamilton was a member of the Independent Democratic Conference, a breakaway caucus of Democratic state senators who had formed a power-sharing arrangement with Senate Republicans, effectively helping the GOP maintain control of the chamber despite a Democratic majority among members .
Myrie's challenge was part of a coordinated effort by progressive Democrats and party leaders to defeat IDC members. Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris recruited Myrie as a candidate, and the campaign attracted endorsements from Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and Mayor Bill de Blasio . Myrie defeated Hamilton in the September 2018 Democratic primary with approximately 54 percent of the vote .
Hamilton did not concede the seat after the primary and remained on the November ballot under the Independence Party and Women's Equality Party lines . Myrie defeated him again in the general election, capturing over 92 percent of the vote . He also ran on the Working Families Party line .
2020 State Senate General Election
Myrie won reelection in November 2020, defeating Libertarian Party candidate Tucker Coburn in the general election . The Democratic and Working Families Party primaries were uncontested . The election took place during a period of heightened attention on Myrie following his pepper-spraying at the George Floyd protest earlier that year.
2022 State Senate General Election
Myrie ran unopposed for the Democratic and Working Families Party nominations in 2022 and won the general election without a contested race . By this point in his career, he had established himself as a prominent figure in the Senate through his leadership on voting rights and the Clean Slate Act.
2024 State Senate General Election
Myrie won reelection in November 2024 without a contested Democratic primary . His general election victory coincided with his transition from chairing the Elections Committee to chairing the Codes Committee.
2025 Mayoral Campaign
Myrie first signaled interest in running for mayor through a speech at the February 2024 SOMOS Weekend caucus, where he delivered remarks that were widely interpreted as a mayoral stump speech while officially maintaining he was running for reelection to the Senate . On May 9, 2024, he formally announced the creation of an exploratory committee to assess a potential mayoral run . He officially launched his campaign on December 3, 2024 .
Platform and Positioning
Myrie's mayoral platform centered on three core pillars: Housing, public safety, and education. On housing, he proposed increasing the city's supply by 700,000 homes by relaxing zoning restrictions in neighborhoods that had historically blocked development, a position that aligned him with the YIMBY movement . Congressman Dan Goldman described Myrie as having the most progressive housing policy of any mayoral candidate .
On education, Myrie proposed a universal afterschool guarantee, expanded hours for 3-K and Pre-K, and universal summer youth employment . He also released a policy document titled Black Agenda for NYC, which addressed the racial wealth gap, Black maternal health, and small business investment .
Myrie positioned himself as a pragmatic progressive, declining to be pinned to ideological labels and instead emphasizing affordability and livability as his primary concerns . In the primary field, he ran to the right of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani but to the left of candidates such as former Governor Andrew Cuomo .
Fundraising and Polling
Myrie's campaign faced significant challenges with name recognition and fundraising. An Emerson College/PIX11/The Hill poll showed him at 4.8 percent support among likely Democratic voters . A late-April 2025 Race to the White House poll placed him at just one percent . His supporters argued that his legislative record should speak for itself, while observers noted the difficulty of converting Albany achievements into citywide voter awareness .
Endorsements
Myrie's most prominent endorsement came from Congressman Dan Goldman in February 2025 . He also received backing from the New York Daily News editorial board, which ranked him as their top choice . Attorney General Letitia James co-endorsed Myrie alongside three other candidates . The Working Families Party ranked him fourth on its recommended ballot, behind Mamdani, Lander, and Adrienne Adams .
Primary Results
Myrie placed sixth in the first round of the June 24, 2025, Democratic primary and was eliminated during the ranked-choice tabulation process . Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic nomination and went on to win the November 2025 general election . After his elimination, Myrie endorsed Mamdani for the general election .
Electoral Context and Significance
Myrie's electoral career is rooted in the 2018 anti-IDC insurgency, one of the most consequential intra-party upheavals in recent New York political history. The wave of progressive primary victories that year, including Myrie's, contributed to the establishment of a durable Democratic supermajority in the State Senate and enabled a burst of progressive legislation in 2019 that included bail reform, rent protections, and reproductive rights expansions 31. His 2025 mayoral bid, while unsuccessful, demonstrated the challenges facing state legislators seeking to translate legislative accomplishment into citywide electoral viability in a field dominated by candidates with greater name recognition and larger war chests.