(TNND) — A 33-year-old state lawmaker and democratic socialist is poised to win the Democratic mayoral primary.

Zohran Mamdani was largely unknown months ago, but he emerged during his campaign focused on lowering the cost of living for New Yorkers.

And he has apparently toppled former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who conceded the race after Tuesday’s primary.

Mamdani, a member of the state Assembly since 2021, worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor before that.

He was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Does this tell us anything about the future of the Democratic Party?

Is this proof that voters want more liberal or progressive candidates?

Or does this tell us more about the specific needs of New York City voters?

“The short answer is, I don't know,” said Jacob Neiheisel, a political scientist at the University at Buffalo in New York.

Neiheisel said some Democrats could see this as proof positive that they lost last fall to President Donald Trump because they weren’t sufficiently liberal.

“I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to say that Democrats are a little bit in the wilderness here. They're kind of casting about for, you know, “What are we going to be?” Neiheisel said.

But Mamdani’s apparent victory could also be strongly influenced by the idiosyncrasies of this mayoral race.

New York City is using ranked-choice voting in the primary.

Mamdani’s victory won’t be confirmed for a week or two under the system where voters get to rank up to five candidates. The results will be certified in mid-July.

Eleven candidates ran for the Democratic nomination.

That’s one curveball.

Then, there’s Cuomo’s baggage, having resigned as governor in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal.

Meanwhile, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams decided to run for reelection as an independent rather than a Democrat.

And Adams has dealt with his own scandal. A judge dismissed a corruption case against Adams a couple of months ago.

“You have two people running who don't have great names, right? They have good name recognition, but they don't have the best reputation right now, being Cuomo and Adams, with various scandals be between the two,” Neiheisel said. “And so, if you're confronted with people who are known entities that there's at least some question about, maybe you roll the dice” on Mamdani if you’re the voters.

Emerson College Polling predicted a Mamdani victory when other polls showed Cuomo coming out on top.

Emerson College tracked the race from early February to late June. During that time, Mamdani surged in support from 1% to 32%.

He went from barely registering with New York City voters to edging out a former governor.

Matt Taglia, senior director of Emerson College Polling, said Mamdani did particularly well with younger voters and college-educated voters.

“A lot of those voters hadn't made up their minds at all in February. He became a breakout candidate, obviously, over the course of a few months,” Taglia said. “And so, as they made up their minds, Mamdani really benefited from that.”

And Taglia said that Mamdani consolidated the vote from some of the other candidates who were further down the list.

Mamdani campaigned on cost-of-living issues, such as free public buses, no-cost childcare, and freezing rent increases.

Peter Loge, the director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, said Mamdani’s primary performance surprised a lot of folks.

“Every pundit in the country today is saying, ‘I told you so, here's what it means. And if you write me a big enough check, I'll make this happen for you, as well, in wherever you happen to be running,’” Loge said.

But, he added, “Elections are rarely about one thing, and they rarely mean one blanket thing.”

Loge said Mamdani connected with voters.

New York is really expensive, and he talked about solving that problem for voters “in ways that were compelling and personal and interesting,” Loge said.

Loge also said Cuomo was a deeply flawed candidate.

“Not only the old Democratic guard but was chased out of office,” Loge said.

He called that a “magical combination” that propelled a democratic socialist to the top in this race.

The general election is slated for November, where Mamdani should face a Republican candidate, Adams, and possibly even Cuomo giving it another shot as an independent.

Loge said there are some lessons from Mamdani’s primary performance that can be applied broadly for the Democratic Party, though he said it would be a mistake to assume the specific political positions that resonated in New York City would resonate everywhere.

Loge said Mamdani talked about issues that mattered to people in their everyday lives, and that should always work for candidates.

That includes focusing on local issues over national issues, he said.

Mamdani also proved the value in running interesting candidates, Loge said.

Loge said his liberal friends will see this as confirmation that Democrats need to embrace the left of the party.

He said the moderate Democrats he knows will worry about the party moving to the left and then getting “shellacked” by Trump and the Republicans, who could say they are “running against New York City and Los Angeles.”

“I don't think this means the Democratic Party at the national level needs to move further to the left,” Loge said.

Neiheisel also said Democrats shouldn’t overreact to Mamdani’s performance.

“I don't think any consultant for the national party worth their salt would look at a New York City election and say, ‘This is what we need to do everywhere.’ I hope not anyways,” he said.