A Democratic battle over the future of the party intensified after Zohran Mamdami’s stunning upset in the New York City mayoral primary. Progressives argue Mamdani’s win is a sign of where the party needs to go if it wants to build winning coalitions that propel it to victory in next year’s midterms and beyond.

Zohran Mamdani’s dramatic, strong showing in New York’s Democratic mayoral primary, in which he forced a concession from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, amounts to a massive shot in the arm for progressives and other Democrats who have been imploring their party’s elder statesmen to step aside for a new generation of leaders.