Socialist pulls off shock in race for New York mayor

Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist and state lawmaker, is on track to win the Democratic primary for New York City’s next mayor, marking a major upheaval of the city’s political landscape with all eyes on the future of the fractured party.

- Alex Woodward

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo – widely considered among pundits to be the frontrunner against a field of progressive candidates who urged supporters to keep him off their ballots – called Mr Mamdani to concede on Tuesday night after more than a million Democratic voters cast their ballots for the next chief executive of the largest city in the United States.

“Tonight was not our night,” Mr Cuomo said in remarks to supporters. “Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won.”

Mr Mamdani’s campaign – fuelled by a groundswell of grassroots support that stretched across the boroughs – had “inspired them and moved them and got them to come out and vote,” Mr Cuomo said, adding: “He really ran a highly impactful campaign.”

Mr Mamdani received 43.5 per cent of first-place votes in the city’s ranked-choice voting system to Cuomo’s 36.3 per cent, according to early results from the New York City Board of Elections on election night.

The board will continue tallying votes from ranked-choice ballots, which allow New Yorkers to pick up to five candidates in order of preference, with votes for lower-ranked candidates added to top choices in subsequent counts. The system is designed to avoid a run-off election by having voters rank their top five candidates for citywide races.