Socialist and Muslim candidate Zohran Mamdani was the great winner of the Democratic Party’s primaries for New York City Hall after defeating former governor Andrew Cuomo, who until a few days ago was the clear favorite in the internal dispute.
With 90% of the votes calculated, Mamdani has 43% of Democratic support, followed by Cuomo, with 36%, while third was the city’s controller, Brad Lander, with 11%. The latter already endorsed Mamdani’s candidacy, with the message that “we will send Cuomo back to the suburbs.”
Although Mamdani fell short of the 50% that would guarantee the election according to primary rules, Cuomo seems to have thrown the towel after stating that “this is his night, he deserves it, he won.”
Mamdani, 33, a state legislator with a short political career, represents the leftist wing of the Democrats and received the support of congressmen Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Occortez. In addition, it enjoys remarkable popularity among young people, who see Cuomo as a representative of the establishment.
The primary voting system allowed the selection of five mayoral candidates in order of preference, which provided for a long vote count, lasting several days, but the difference now seems clear in favor of Zohran Mamdani.
The New York Electoral Council plans to publicize the final results within a week, next Tuesday, but the disclosure can be postponed even more depending on the counting and counting of the votes by mail, among other factors.
In previous primary democrats, two weeks passed until Eric Adams was proclaimed as the final candidate. Adams later won the mayor election. He will now compete as independent in the November elections next year.
Mamdani calls himself a “Democratic Socialist” and has a history of activating class activism, proposing the freezing of rents, improving access to public transport, increasing taxes to the richest, among other controversial issues.
The 33-year-old legislator also draws attention for his pro-Palestinian position, adopting the discourse that Israel commits “genocide” in Gaza. This position, in a moment of extreme insecurity for Jews in New York, is something that has divided voters in the city, even the Democrats.
David Axelrod, New York and chief strategist of former President Barack Obama’s campaign, highlighted The New York Times that “these opinions about Israel will probably put some national democrats in an uncomfortable position” as to support for Mamdani.
The way the Democratic Party will react to the rise of the socialist candidate is still uncertain. According to the American newspaper, business leaders can join their opponents in November General Elections or try to use Super PACS (Political Funding Committees) to deter Zohran Mamdani.
