Austin, Texas - Ahead of Zohran Mamdani's mayoral election win, Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened to levy tariffs on people moving from New York City to the Lone Star State.

"After the polls close tomorrow night, I will impose a 100% tariff on anyone moving to Texas from NYC," Abbott posted on X on Monday.

The threat came as Mamdani was on the precipice of winning a historic election to lead the nation's largest city.

The 34-year-old state assembly member and self-described democratic socialist defeated independent challenger and former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo as well as distant third-place Republican contender Curtis Sliwa.

Mamdani's meteoric rise has sparked panicked reactions among the rich and powerful. President Donald Trump, who backed Cuomo in the race, threatened to withhold federal funding to New York City if the Democratic nominee won.

The Texas governor – a staunch supporter of Trump – did not specify how his threatened tariffs would work. The Constitution reserves the power to impose tariffs for the federal government, not the states.

Mamdani went on the win the general election on Tuesday in what Senator Bernie Sanders has called "one of the great political upsets in modern American history."

"Join me for a moment of silence for NYC. Thoughts & prayers," Abbott wrote in a separate post on Tuesday night.

New Yorkers and people around the country have celebrated Mamdani's victory as a rebuke of both the far-right MAGA movement and establishment Democratic politics.