5On November 5, Facebook user Irma Khakhutaishvili, who has repeatedly shared disinformation in the past, published posts about the New York City mayoral election from two different accounts (1; 2). According to the posts, there were only two mayoral candidates, both representing the Democratic Party. Khakhutaishvili claimed that the voter turnout was just 29%.
The circulating claims are false. In reality, the New York City mayoral election was contested by candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as representatives of other political parties and independent candidates. More than two million voters participated in the election, which is around 39% of all registered voters, not 29%.
The New York City mayoral election was held on November 4, 2025. The ballot listed seven candidates. The winner was Zohran Mamdani of the Democratic Party. The Republican Party was represented by Curtis Sliwa, while Andrew Cuomo, former governor of New York State, ran as an independent candidate after losing to Mamdani in the primary. These three candidates were regarded as the main contenders for the mayoralty.
However, representatives of several other parties also ran for the election; for example, Irene Estrada from the Conservative Party. The ballot also included the name of former New York City mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the race in September. Due to time constraints, his name could not be removed from the printed ballots.
Accordingly, the Facebook claim that only two Democratic Party candidates ran for the mayoral election is false.
More than two million voters participated in the election – a turnout level unseen since the 1969 election. The total number of votes cast in the seven NYC mayoral elections in this century is as follows:
Given that there are 5.1 million registered voters in New York City, the voter turnout was around 39%, not 29% as claimed in the circulated posts. Other sources also report similar figures.
The purpose of this disinformation spread on Facebook was to create the impression that the New York mayoral race lacked real competition and the voters had no genuine choice.
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