New York correspondent
A young left -wing candidate, Zohran Mamdani, is about to become the Democratic candidate for the mayor of New York after having given an amazing political upheaval.
On Tuesday, the 33 -year -old democratic socialist said the party’s primary victory, beating his main rival and political veteran Andrew Cuomo who was previously governor of the state.
“Tonight we have made the story,” said Mamdani in his victory speech. If he was elected, he would be the first Muslim and Indian to direct the largest city in the country.
Cuomo, 67, was trying to withdraw a return after having resigned from his duties in 2021 for a sexual harassment scandal. He congratulated his opponent for a “really intelligent and formidable campaign”.
The primary in New York, firmly liberal, is likely to determine who becomes mayor during the November elections.
The competition was considered a decisive test for the Democratic Party as he seeks to perfect his messages after electoral losses last November who saw the Republicans of President Donald Trump win the White House and the two chambers in the Congress.
Tuesday evening’s results showed Mamdani with a dominant advance, but not being below the 50% threshold necessary to win squarely.
The Cuomo concession was unexpected because the counting seems likely to continue next week as part of the classified choice system, which allowed New Yorkers to take up to five candidates in order of preference.
The loss of the former governor marks the “greatest upheaval in modern history in New York”, said Trip Yang, a political strategist, at the BBC.
“A massive victory for Zohran Mamdani who shows that when Donald Trump is president, New York Democrats want to see their leaders fight with enthusiasm and courage, and that’s what Zohran showed voters.”
In an interview with the New York Times, Cuomo said he was still examining if he would appear in the general elections in November on the independent line.
“I said he had won the primary elections,” Cuomo told the point of sale. “I said that I wanted to look at the figures and the choice of choice classified to decide what to do in the future, because I am also on an independent line.”


Cuomo was considered a moderate favorite and the establishment, known across the country after its governor during the cocovable pandemic.
Mamdani is a millennial foreigner who was quite unknown until recently.
Born in Uganda, his family moved to New York at the age of seven. He has published a campaign video entirely in Ourdou and mixed in clips of Bollywood films. In another, he speaks Spanish.
Mamdani’s strong support for the Palestinians and the criticism of Israel put him in contradiction with most of the Democratic establishment.
He became viral during his campaign for videos where he spoke to the voters of New York who switched to Trump in the November elections.
He asked what problems led them to vote for the Republican candidate and what it would take to swing the Democrat.
The Mamdani platform includes free public buses, universal daycare services, freezing rent in subsidized units and grocery stores managed by the city – all paid by new taxes on the rich.
“It is a city where one in four people lives in poverty, a city where 500,000 children fall asleep every evening,” he told the BBC at a recent event.
“And finally, it is a city that risks losing what it makes it so special.”
MP Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders, also a democratic socialist, approved Mamdani during her campaign.


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