New York City Democrats chose 33-year-old Muslim socialist Zohran Mamdani as their mayoral candidate in Tuesday's elections, stunning his opponent, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

"Tonight was not our night," Cuomo, a political veteran who was vying to come back from a sexual harassment scandal, told supporters at an election night party.

"I called him, I congratulated him... he won."

In what appears to be the left-leaning city's rebuke of the Democratic party's veteran moderates -- and New York's rarely claimed native son, Republican US President Donald Trump -- Mamdani led with 43 percent of the vote with 95 percent of ballots counted, city officials reported.

The party's primary contest featured almost a dozen candidates seeking to become mayor of the biggest US city, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one.

Voters cast ballots during a smothering heatwave before polls closed at 9:00 pm (0100 GMT Wednesday), but results may take time to finalize.

The contest is ranked-choice, with voters asked to select five candidates in order of preference, and neither Cuomo nor Mamdani claimed the required majority Tuesday.

If no........

© International Business Times