Diana Moreno’s Assembly win marks first electoral victory for Mamdani as mayor

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America racked up their first victory of the 2026 cycle on Tuesday night, as Diana Moreno handily won the special election to represent Mamdani’s old Assembly district in western Queens.

Moreno, who ran on both the Democratic and Working Families Party lines, won 74% of the vote, according to election night results from the New York City Board of Elections while her independent challengers Rana Abdelhamid and Mary Jobaida won just 17% and 8% of the vote, respectively.

“Welcome to the People’s Republic of Astoria!” Diana Moreno said at her election night party Tuesday, referencing the neighborhood’s socialist leanings. Mamdani introduced her at the event at Ecuadorian restaurant Barzola as “a fellow member of the Democratic Socialists of America.”

“What makes us special is not who we are as individuals, it’s what we’re all fighting for together,” Mamdani said. 

Moreno, who moved to Queens from Florida in 2019, was previously communications manager for the New York State Nurses Association, a labor union currently on strike against three major hospital systems.

Though there was little doubt about the outcome of the race, Moreno’s victory still demonstrates the growing clout of Mamdani and NYC-DSA. Moreno is the former co-chair of NYC-DSA’s Queens chapter and campaigned on a platform of supporting Mamdani’s agenda in Albany. After DSA endorsed her, Mamdani successfully strong armed the county Democratic party organization – usually no fan of socialists – to get behind her as well. After that, endorsements from unions and other political groups poured in.

Abdelhamid, a Muslim community organizer who is a member of DSA but much less involved in the organization than Moreno, made a valiant attempt to run an independent campaign that appealed to Astoria’s significant Muslim and Arab population. She received endorsements from the Muslim Democratic Club (Mamdani’s second political home, after DSA), prominent Muslim activist Linda Sarsour and DSA’s own Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

But that wasn’t enough to overcome Moreno’s combined support from DSA, WFP, the Queens Democratic Party and the mayor.

Mamdani has been unusually politically active for a mayor in his first month. He threw his support behind Moreno, fundraising for her and filming a video ad. Mamdani has endorsed other candidates in competitive races including Claire Valdez and Brad Lander’s congressional campaigns, and is expected to back more in the coming months. NYC-DSA is also running a crowded slate of candidates in the June primaries. 

Moreno’s race may have been a blowout, but it was almost competitive compared to New York’s other three special elections. 

On Manhattan’s West Side, Erik Bottcher won 92% of the vote against nominal Republican opposition in the race for the state Senate seat previously held by Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal. On the east side of Manhattan, Keith Powers won 82% of the vote to win election to the Assembly, taking over the seat previously held by New York City Council Member Harvey Epstein. And in Buffalo, Democratic nominee (and chair of the local Democratic party) Jeremy Zellner won 60% of the vote, according to election night results. The seat was previously held by Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan.