New York State Representative Zohran Mamdani has been projected by CNN to become the next mayor of New York City, in what anchor Jake Tapper called a "huge win."
Mamdani, a young progressive legislator long affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, was expected to make history as the first Muslim to hold the office.
He ran an extensive grassroots campaign on a platform of tackling New York City's affordability crisis, advocating both a freeze on rent and a massive promotion of new housing development.
He also pushed a number of ideas intended to help the working poor, including free bus service and city-run grocery stores in areas with few food options.
Mamdani's principal opponent in the race was former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was previously presumed the favorite to win the Democratic primary earlier this year but switched to an independent campaign after Mamdani defeated him for the nomination in an upset.
Cuomo long faced a disadvantage at consolidating the opposition to Mamdani, even with the city's ranked-choice voting system, due to the presence on the ballot of the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, a charismatic and colorful figure who founded a crime prevention nonprofit known as the Guardian Angels.
