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Zohran Mamdani, the left democrat dreaded by Wall Street, is on the right track to win the primary mayor of the party for New York, sending shock waves through American politics.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist who called for higher taxes on rich American support and assaulted in Israel in Gaza, amazed Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York State, in the primary Democratic race on Tuesday.
His success Tuesday will land with a deaf noise at Wall Street and among the billionaire donors who supported his rival – and trigger a new fight of soul research among the Democrats in search of a leader to face Donald Trump.
New York is looking towards Democrats, and Mamdani’s victory gives the 33 -year -old a major advantage in the elections later this year to replace Eric Adams as mayor of the city – one of the most powerful positions in American domestic policy.
Cuomo conceded the late defeat Tuesday in a competition widely considered as a referendum on the future of the party.
“Tonight was not our night, tonight, it was the night of the Mamdani assembly,” Cuomo told supporters during a post-electoral party, adding that he had called Mamdani to congratulate him.
If confirmed, the result will arouse a new debate among the Democrats still in shock from Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the presidential election last year.
Following this defeat, the party was struck between a progressive wing illustrated by New York MP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and moderates such as the American senator from Pennsylvania John Fetterman, who congratulated Trump.
The unofficial results Tuesday evening showed that Mamdani with an advance of 7 points on Cuomo, with more than 90% of the counted vote.
The final result will depend on the statement of the city’s classified choice system, which allows people to collect up to five candidates in order of preference. The winner will be officially declared on July 1, at the earliest, after all the other votes of the candidates have been reassigned.
Mamdani has led his campaign on a commitment to make life more affordable for New Yorkers, whose cost of living has skyrocketed from the Covid-19 pandemic. If it is elected, he says that he will increase taxes on the rich to finance free buses and childcare services, as well as grocery stores belonging to the city.
The progressive candidate has exploited a wave of support among young voters – an electoral strategy that studied by the Democrats nationwide while they are trying to reconquer young voters who supported Trump in November.
Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the New York American Congress who operated a similar voter base, congratulated Mamdani on Tuesday evening, saying in an article on social networks: “billionaires and lobbyists have paid millions against you and our public funding system. And you won.”
“We have the message, we have the team and we feel very, very well in the rest of the night,” said Andrew Epstein, director of communications for Mamdani’s campaign, during the candidate’s electoral evening in Queens.
Cuomo, an element of New York State policy for more than four decades, has long been considered the favorite. But the Centrist found himself fighting an increasingly serious challenge of the upstart Mamdani, who has a huge audience on social networks.
After having resigned as governor four years ago in the midst of charges of sexual harassment, which he denies, Cuomo entered the mayor’s race in March.
Cuomo is committed to restoring the attraction of the Democratic Party among the voters of the working class, promising to hire more police officers, improve security in the metro and remove administrative formalities to build more affordable housing.
His campaign was built on the thesis that the Democratic Party had been “diverted” and that “no longer fought for workers”.
The Cuomo campaign has benefited from a large fundraising advantage compared to competitors in the last weeks of the race, supported by large contributions from former mayor Michael Bloomberg and the billionaire of H interedth.
Combined and external fundraising groups have spent more than $ 20 million. Mamdani’s campaign relied on small contributions, with more than 21,000 donors, of which around 75% gave less than $ 100.
Eric Adams, the outgoing mayor, will present himself in the general elections of November as an independence. Its approval rating is only 20% after being charged last year for corruption and fraud in a case which was then rejected.
