Photograph Source: Metropolitan Transportation Authority – CC BY 2.0

In a remarkable upset, progressive State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary. Early polls showed Mamdani starting his campaign with around 1% support.

Just six weeks before the June 24 election, his support was only at 11%, while Cuomo led with 49%. Three separate polls, conducted by Yale/YouGov, Marist College, and the Manhattan Institute within two weeks of the election, still showed Cuomo ahead by 12 points or more.

Mamdani won the primary as the clear leader with 56. % of the votes, totaling 545,334 votes. His campaign claimed that this was “the most votes any Democratic primary candidate has received in 36 years.” Cuomo received 44%, or 428,530 votes.

Although NYC is the largest city in the U.S., this election was not on a national stage. Jared Leopold, a Democratic strategist, summarized it well: “Communicating in a Democratic primary in New York City is very different from communicating in a swing district in Iowa.” For example, the white population makes up 31% in NYC, but 58% nationwide.

Nevertheless, a quick look at his initial support and his victory sharply contrasts with Vice President Kamala Harris’s initial support and loss. In roughly the same amount of time before Election Day for both Harris and Mamdani, Harris was 2% behind Donald Trump according to a New York Times/Siena College poll, and Mamdani was 38% behind Cuomo.

Mamdani won despite performing poorly with low-income voters, losing the majority of Black voters and criticizing Israel while showing sympathy for the Gaza Palestinians. All three conditions should have led to a Democratic candidate losing.

How was Mamdani able to quickly build a populist supporter base to defeat a two-term former Governor in less than two months? Perhaps most surprisingly, he declared himself a Democratic Socialist, a label criticized daily by the MAGA media and rejected by mainstream Democrats.

Mamdani’s election victory revives calls within the Democratic Party for it to be more explicit in promoting government policies that provide social benefits, which attract younger voters. Other Democrats worry that his win will only lead candidates to reject moderation, potentially alienating more conservative older voters.

Whatever strategy candidates choose, there are five lessons that the Democratic Party can learn from the Mamdani campaign.

First: don’t assume an economic argument resonates with all low-income voters.

In his election night victory speech, Mamdani said, “I will fight for a city that works for you, that is affordable for you.” New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez congratulated him for his “dedication to an affordable … New York City, where working families can have a shot.”

Mamdani presented his election message as making New York affordable for residents. A reasonable assumption would be that a large majority of low-income households—those 32% of residents earning less than $50,000—would vote for Mamdani based on their economic needs. Surveys showed that 25% of them cannot afford essentials like housing, food, and healthcare.

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