Zohran Mamdani may have won New York City’s mayoral election on Nov. 4, but it was not for a lack of trying on the part of … his city’s athletes?
After every mayoral election, New York publishes the recipients of write-in votes—often a motley crew of celebrities and politicans past and present. This election’s field was no exception.
Here, per Spencer Gustafson of WPIX-TV and Gary Phillips of the , are the athletes who received at least one write-in vote to become mayor of New York in Jan. 2026. The list includes the living and the dead, as well as representatives of three different sports.
ATHLETE
POSITION
TEAM/ORGANIZATION
NOTES
Pete Alonso
First baseman
New York Mets
Five-time All-Star
Carmelo Anthony
Forward
New York Knicks from 2011 to ’17
Six-time All-Star with Knicks
Saquon Barkley
Running back
New York Giants from 2018 to ’23
Two-time Pro Bowler with Giants
Jalen Brunson
Guard
New York Knicks
Two-time All-Star with Knicks
Jaxson Dart
Quarterback
New York Giants
1,556 passing yards in 10 games this season
Walt Frazier
Guard
New York Knicks from 1968 to ’77
Seven-time All-Star with Knicks
Lou Gehrig
First baseman
New York Yankees
Two-time American League MVP; died in 1941
Aaron Glenn
Coach
New York Jets
3-9 in 12 games this season
Josh Hart
Shooting guard and small forward
New York Knicks
11.8 points per game in 19 games this season
Derek Jeter
Shortstop
New York Yankees
14-time All-Star
Aaron Judge
Right fielder and designated hitter
New York Yankees
Three-time American League MVP
Sandy Koufax
Pitcher
Brooklyn Dodgers from 1955 to ’57
1963 National League MVP with Los Angeles Dodgers
Rob Manfred
Commissioner
Major League Baseball
Commissioner since 2015
Cam Schlittler
Pitcher
New York Yankees
4–3 with 2.96 ERA in 14 starts this season
Cam Skattebo
Running back
New York Giants
410 yards in eight games this season
Tom Thibodeau
Coach
New York Knicks from 2021 to ’25
2021 NBA Coach of the Year with Knicks
The list can be grouped with relative neatness into four brackets—the modern baseball figures (Alonso, Judge, Manfred, etc.), the faces of the Knicks’ 2020s renaissance (Brunson, Hart, Thibodeau, etc.), the football rookies (Dart, Skattebo, etc.), and the past greats (Anthony, Gehrig, etc.).
Mariners fans still grimacing at Judge’s MVP win over catcher Cal Raleigh must now ask themselves: would they trust the Big Dumper to run Seattle?