Left turn in NY: Cuomo concedes victory to socialist Mamdani in Democratic mayoral primaries

The leftward shift in the New York mayoral race is one step closer after former Empire State Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded victory to the young socialist and Muslim candidate Zohran Mamdani. Cuomo, who came to the race as a favorite in the polls, was finally defeated by the late surge of Mamdami—a candidate with a far more radical profile.

With 95% of the votes counted, Mamdani, 33, took 43% of the vote, compared with 36% for the veteran politician of the old Democratic guard, backed by figures such as Hillary Clinton.

"Tonight we made history"

"Tonight we made history," Mamdami celebrated before his supporters. "We won because New Yorkers stood up for a city they can afford, a city where they can do more than suffer," the 33-year-old politician said.

"Today is his day. He deserves it. He won."

At more than twice his age, 67, Cuomo started months ago as a favorite in his return to politics after resigning four years ago as governor over a dozen sexual harassment allegations. "Today is his day. He deserves it. He won," he told supporters, acknowledging his rival's victory.

However, the final results will not be known for a few days due to a complicated vote attribution system in which voters had to choose five candidates in order of preference.

As none has achieved 50%, the recount will be continued to tally the votes of the next ranked candidates until designating a victor who will represent the party in the November elections.

"It is the most alarming evidence of how far to the left the Democratic Party has gone."

Republicans have been quick to react to Mamdani's victory. For Ed Cox, chairman of the Republican Party in New York, "it is the most alarming proof of how far to the left the Democratic Party has gone and how out of touch with reality it is."

The election had been seen as an ideological battle between the new and the old generation of the Democratic Party, badly bruised after Kamala Harris' loss to Donald Trump in the presidential election.

Cuomo highlighted his experience in dealing with a city "in crisis" and with the Republican administration very hostile to pro-welcoming policies in this city of 8.5 million people built with waves of migrants.

"Progressive and Muslim"

Born in Uganda with Indian origins, Mamdani represents the "socialist" wing of the party led by figures such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed him. Mamdani, a member of the New York state assembly for the popular borough of Queens and a self-proclaimed "progressive and Muslim," starred in a viral campaign on social media.

He sparked the enthusiasm of an army of young volunteers to amplify his promises against the rising cost of living, which include free buses, daycare and a freeze on regulated rents.

Fighting NY's high cost of living is key

Housing is precisely one of the issues of most concern, especially for young people. The rent for a three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan is well over $6,000 a month.

"The first thing at stake is to make New York affordable," Eamon Harkin, a 48-year-old DJ who voted in Brooklyn summed up Tuesday in remarks picked up by AFP.

"The city is too expensive. Working and middle class people can't afford to live here," he said as he sweated profusely on the hottest day the city has seen in more than a decade. "For me it's the number one problem."

"A 33-year-old with no experience running the biggest city in the country is pretty scary."

New York is home to one of the largest concentrations of millionaires in the world, but about a quarter of its population lives in poverty, according to a recent report by the Robin Hood Association and Columbia University.

The Mamdani proposal "is too extreme," said Sheryl Stein, a quinquagenarian who works in marketing and registered as a Democrat to vote for Cuomo. "I love youth, but to see a 33-year-old with no experience running the biggest city in the country and one of the biggest in the world is pretty scary," she told AFP.