New York primaries show Zohran Mamdani has lost none of his political magic

Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayor-turned-kingmaker, had said it was a question of electing ‘better Democrats’. Photograph: Michael M Santiago/Getty Images

A man or a movement? That was the question being asked when Zohran Mamdani gambled his political capital on Tuesday’s elections in New York.

The answer from voters was emphatic: they prefer Mamdani and his brand of democratic socialism to the Democratic party establishment and its lukewarm version of capitalism. America’s biggest city has swung even further to the left.