Zohran Mamdani seals remarkable victory

Zoran Mamdani, the newly elected mayor of New York City, is remarkable in many ways. He will be the city's youngest mayor since 1892, the first Muslim mayor and the first mayor born in Africa.

He entered the race last year with virtually no recognition, little money and no institutional party support.

That alone makes his victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Silva remarkable.

But more than that, he represents the type of politician that many on the left in the Democratic Party have been looking for for years.

He is young and charismatic, and has a natural, generational sense of comfort with social media.

His ethnicity reflects the diversity of the party base. He did not shy away from political action and proudly supported left-wing causes such as free child care, expanded public transportation, and government intervention in free market systems.

Mamdani also demonstrated a laser-like ability to focus on core economic issues that were a priority for working-class voters who had recently drifted away from the Democratic Party, but he did not abandon the cultural principles of the left.

But critics warn that such a candidate cannot be elected across large swathes of America, and Republicans are happy to label the self-described democratic socialist as the far left face of the Democratic Party. However, he emerged victorious on Tuesday night in New York.

By running against and defeating Cuomo, the former governor of New York who is himself the son of a governor, he defeated an entrenched Democratic establishment that many on the left see as woefully out of touch with their party and their nation.

Because of this, Mamdani's campaign for mayor has received enormous media attention, perhaps more than a municipal election deserves, even in America's largest city.

It also means his successes (and failures) as mayor will be scrutinized.

Twelve years ago, Democrat Bill de Blasio won the mayoral race on a platform of addressing economic and social inequality in New York City. Like Mamdani, the American left had high hopes that his administration would become a national example of good liberal governance.

De Blasio, however, left office eight years later, widely unpopular and with a mixed record as he struggled with the limits of his mayoral authority to implement new policies.

Mamdani will have to contend with the same restrictions and the same expectations.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat, has already said she opposes the tax increases needed to finance Muddami's ambitious program.

And even with sufficient funding, Mamdani will not be able to implement programs unilaterally.

He has acted as a harsh critic of the corporate and business elite who call New York home and have turned Manhattan into the financial capital of the world. However, to govern effectively, he may have to make some form of peace with these interests – a process he has already begun in recent weeks.

He also condemned Israel's behavior during the Gaza war and vowed to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a war criminal if he entered New York. This promise may be tested at some point during his presidency.

However, these are all problems for a later date. For now, Mamdani will have to begin the task of establishing himself on the public stage before his opponents do.

Although his campaign has gained national attention, for much of America he is still a blank slate.

A recent CBS poll found that 46% of the American public were following the New York City mayoral election “not at all closely.” This presents both an opportunity and a challenge for Mamdani and the American left.

Conservatives, starting with US President Donald Trump, will try to portray the newly elected mayor as a socialist threat whose policies and priorities will bring destruction to America's largest city and pose a danger if supported by the nation at large.

They will amplify every error and highlight every negative economic indicator or crime statistic.

Trump, with personal ties to New York, would likely welcome a political fight with Mamdani, and he has plenty of ways to make life difficult for the new mayor.

Mamdani will also be under pressure to defeat Democratic leaders such as New York Senator and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has never endorsed his campaign.

However, the opportunity for Mamdani is that he is not burdened by his past, which his political opponents unsuccessfully tried to use against him during the election campaign.

When he is inaugurated in January, he will have a chance to build his political reputation from scratch. And if Trump is truly at odds with him, he will only give Mamdani a wider platform to work with.

His political talent and ability have allowed him to come this far, and this is no small achievement. But this is nothing compared to the trials that await him in the coming years.

New Yorkers like to think their city is the center of the universe, but the mayoral race wasn't the only election race on Tuesday. In fact, in all likelihood, it wasn't even Tuesday's best indicator of current electoral sentiment.

Both New Jersey and Virginia (states where Democrat Kamala Harris narrowly ran against Trump in last year's presidential election) held gubernatorial elections. And in both cases, Democrats won by more comfortable margins.

Of the two, the New Jersey contest was closer. Still, the results suggest Trump's inroads into the state last year among working-class and minority voters would not have survived without the president's name on the ballot.

In contrast to Mamdani, Democrats Miki Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger ran centrist, establishment-backed campaigns with more modest policy prescriptions. However, all three focused on issues of affordability and cost of living. Exit polls again showed that the economy was the topic that mattered most to voters.

With Democrats on the left and center winning Tuesday, it may be difficult for those looking to gain some insight into what policies and candidates Democrats should put forward to ensure future electoral success.

However, last week Mamdani said there was plenty of room for a variety of viewpoints in the party.

“I think it needs to be a party that really allows Americans to see themselves in it and not just be a mirror image of just a few people in politics,” he said.

“To me, what unites us all is who we fight to serve, and that is working people.”

That view will be put to the test next year when Democrats across the country head to the polls to choose their candidates for the midterm congressional elections. Tensions are sure to rise and traditional fault lines may re-emerge.

For one night, however, the Democrats are one big happy party.