Self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's unexpected upset in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday exhilarated progressive activists, who had banded together to prevent the more moderate former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo from triumphing.

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.

The stunning success of Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, in the race for New York City mayor has exposed the fiery divisions plaguing the Democratic Party as it struggles to repair