Mark Penn Describes How NYC Primaries Were Manipulated To Benefit Mamdani

Former Clinton pollster Mark Penn appeared on Fox News Thursday to describe how the New York City primaries were manipulated to benefit Socialist Democratic New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.

With 88% of ballots counted, Mamdani was ahead with 43.5% of first-choice votes, while former Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo trailed with 36.3%. During an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle,” Penn said the timing and structural shifts in the election process have significantly benefited far-left candidates at the expense of moderate Democrats.

“This is a big problem, and there is a lot of panic, I think, in New York, generally, in terms of what can they do? How can they get someone in the general election? Remember, these primaries were played with,” Penn told host Laura Ingraham.

Penn said that only around 400,000 votes determined the outcome.

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“This used to be in September. And there would have been a runoff between Zohran and Andrew Cuomo in the old system with much higher turnout. Right now, you have a city of 8 million people, 400,000 votes one way or the other here is determining an extreme move to the left, with a voting system nobody could figure out,” Penn said.

Penn said the revised voting system confused voters and further suppressed turnout. (RELATED: Eric Adams Says Mamdani Never Passed A Bill But Now Wants To Run NYC)

“This has been played with and moved to the dead of summer when turnout is going to be low, and activists can win the day. So, we need to get our election system back. And right now I think this is a really bad turn for the Democratic Party if something isn’t figured out here before Election Day,” Penn said.

The primary election system in New York City was moved from September to June, which Penn believes led to a significant decrease in voter turnout.

If Mamdani maintains his lead, he will face Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in November as well as incumbent Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for reelection on independent ballots after skipping the Democratic primary. Unlike the primary, the general election for mayor will not utilize ranked-choice voting.

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