Andrew Cuomo’s scandal-plagued political career came crashing down Tuesday night when voters overwhelmingly ranked him below a 33-year-old socialist who wants to abolish the police and set up city-run grocery stores.

Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani surged to the front in the first round of New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, grabbing about 44 percent of the vote. Cuomo, who was forced to resign as governor in 2021 over sexual harassment allegations, landed in second place with just 36 percent.

He called Mamdani to concede late Tuesday night but did not say whether he would continue on the ballot under the Fight And Deliver Party, which he created for this race.

“Tonight was not our night,” Cuomo admitted. “Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night.”

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a progressive firebrand who recently got arrested at an anti-ICE protest, came in third with 11 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, current Mayor Eric Adams — who skipped the Democratic primary to run as an independent — joked to reporters that he voted in the primary “for himself, all five times.”

Mamdani’s strong lead came as a surprise after polls showed him neck-and-neck with Cuomo heading into election day. An Emerson College poll on Monday had Cuomo leading 35 percent to 32 percent in first-choice votes, but showed Mamdani pulling ahead after several rounds. A Marist poll the week before showed Cuomo leading both early and after ranked choice rounds.

The election kicked off the final stretch of a chaotic primary battle between 11 candidates. New York City uses ranked choice voting, where voters pick up to five candidates and rank them in order. A winner is only declared when one candidate secures over 50 percent of the first-choice vote.

If no one clears that bar, last-place candidates are eliminated one by one and votes are recalculated. In the 2021 race, it took two weeks and eight rounds for Adams to clinch the nomination. With Mamdani’s early lead, results could come sooner. The New York City Board of Elections is expected to announce a final count within a week.

No matter the outcome, Cuomo, Mamdani, and Adams are all expected to appear on the November ballot. They’ll be joined by Republican Curtis Sliwa, the radio host, and independent Jim Walden, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Cuomo, still dogged by the sexual harassment scandal and his disastrous handling of COVID, became an early target for progressives. Mamdani urged supporters to back rival progressive Adrienne Adams. Last month, Mamdani and Lander cross-endorsed each other, encouraging voters not to rank Cuomo at all.

Keeping that promise, Lander told supporters Tuesday night, “With our help, Zohran Mamdani will be the Democratic nominee,” and according to the New York Times, led a “goodbye Cuomo” chant at his campaign party.