Zohran Mamdani victory in NYC mayoral primary is ‘political earthquake’ for the Democratic Party

Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory over three-term ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday’s mayoral primary is a “political earthquake” that will pressure the national Democratic Party to move further left, political analysts told The Post.

Dems who got trounced by President Trump and the GOP last year will have to pay more attention to the views of progressive, younger voters who propelled Mamdani’s candidacy — as well as struggling working class voters — as they prepare for midterm congressional elections, strategists, pollsters and union leaders said.

“It’s an important moment in political history,” said Basil Smikle, a former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party and senior aide to then-Sen. Hillary Clinton.

“He toppled a big name. It’s an amazing feat,” Smikle said.

Cuomo conceded to Mamdani Tuesday night, after trailing by roughly 70,000 votes — or 43% to 36% — with 96% of the precincts reported.

“Mamdani’s victory provides a moment for progressives and younger voters to shape the future of the Democratic Party. There is no doubt,” Smikle said.

Mamdani, 33, a two-term Queens assemblyman, replicated on a citywide scale what fellow socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accomplished in one congressional district when she toppled former Congressman Joe Crowley in the 2018 Democratic primary, with a new coalition that included younger voters.

“It’s a political earthquake,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.

“An unknown defeating Andrew Cuomo is a changing of the guard. More Democratic voters are younger and their views have to be taken into account.”

Smikle said the support that Mamdani assembled also reminded him of the multi-racial coalition that David Dinkins drew together to get elected New York City’s first black mayor in 1989.

Others mentioned former President Barack Obama’s ascendancy to the White House, defeating Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary in 2008.

“The results of this primary are epic,” said Transport Workers Union president John Samuelsen, one of the few labor leaders to pay Mamdani any mind, while most others backed Cuomo.

Mamdani’s economic populist proposals to make life more affordable — by soaking the rich with higher taxes to pay for freebies — resonated with blue collar voters, including bus and subway workers he represents, Samuelsen said.

He applauded Mamdani’s plan to provide free bus fares — which critics panned as impractical — and showed up to speak at one of the candidate’s rallies during the final stretch of the campaign.

“Mamdani ran as an economic populist. It was a campaign about affordability,” Samuelsen said.

“The typical worker is socially moderate and an economic populist,” he said. “Democrats have not pushed an economic program for working people and that’s why they lost to Trump. They abandoned working people. Mamdani reconnected with them.”

Cuomo is just the latest scandal-scarred candidate to fail in a comeback bid after resigning as governor in 2021 while facing sexual misconduct accusations he denies.

Others defeated in comeback bids include former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner, who lost Tuesday night in a race for City Council.

Democratic sources said Mamdani and his campaign outhustled Cuomo, despite $25 million funneled into a pro-Cuomo Fix The City Super Pac that pummeled the assemblyman with TV ads and scores of labor unions that backed him.

Mamdani’s campaign volunteers seemed to be everywhere on primary day, far more present than the Cuomo campaign.

“The unions that backed Cuomo, like the Carpenters, do not have many members that vote in New York City and they did not mount a serious ‘Get Out The Vote’ effort,” said John Mollenkopf, director CUNY’s Center for Urban Research, who teaches political science.

“The independent expenditure efforts on his behalf were scare-mongering and not very convincing. I think they turned off as many voters to Cuomo as they added to his tally,” Mollenkopf said.

“The Working Families Party and related cross-endorsements, especially that of (City Comptroller) Brad Lander, were crucial for Mamdani’s lead,” he said. “It was built on young voters’ disaffection with the Democratic Party establishment.”

One Democratic Party source said a Mamdani victory will cause headaches for other party incumbents.

Fellow democratic socialists may feel emboldened to challenge Democratic incumbents for Congress, the source said, particularly mentioning Reps. Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler.

“What does Gov. Kathy Hochul do? Does she endorse Mamdani as the Democratic nominee? What does Chuck Schumer do?” the source asked, referring to the Senate minority leader from New York.

In 2021, Hochul stayed neutral in Buffalo’s mayoral race when then-incumbent Byron Brown lost to democratic socialist India Walton in the party’s primary. Brown then won re-election in a landslide as a write-in candidate.

The source wondered whether Hochul would back incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is running in the November general election as an independent.

But Hochul, the de-facto head of the state Democratic Party who is up for re-election next year, put out a statement Tuesday night congratulating Mamdani and seemed open to supporting him.

“Today, voters made their voices heard, demanding a more affordable, more livable New York City. I hear them loud and clear,” she said.

“Zohran Mamdani built a formidable grassroots coalition, and I look forward to speaking with him in the days ahead about his ideas on how to ensure a safe, affordable, and livable New York City.”

Still, Mamdani’s leftist vision on public safety and strident opposition to Israel may not play as well in the general election as in the primary.

Adams, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, could benefit from Mamdani’s primary victory over Cuomo.

The mayor, who is saddled by his own corruption scandals despite federal charges being dropped, can run as the more moderate, law and order and fiscally responsible candidate, citing a drop in crime and an improved post-COVID-19 pandemic economy.

Sliwa can make the same argument.

Lawyer Jim Walden also is running as an independent.

Cuomo also could run on an independent “Fight & Deliver” ballot line, but many supporters may now switch to Mamdani, as he’s the Democratic nominee.

The vibe inside Adams’ camp was “very good” on Tuesday night, sources told The Post.

“This is it. The fight for New York’s future begins tonight,” his campaign account posted on X, imploring supporters to “Join us—knock doors, make calls, chip in.”

Sliwa, meanwhile, immediately painted Mamdani as far from the mainstream.

“Zohran Mamdani is too extreme for a city already on edge. This race is not over,” he said.