Socialist Zohran Mamdani‘s shock victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary may portend a big political future for Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman from Queens. Or, based on political history, likely not.

The mayoral election managed to grab the nation’s attention, with Mamdani, a self-declared socialist, coming out on top. Ranked choice voting tabulations show that Mamdani took 56% of the vote against 44% for Cuomo, who was New York‘s governor for a decade-plus before resigning in August 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal. Mamdani won the June 24 Democratic primary by an edge of 44% to 36% over Cuomo, once a dominant and feared force in New York politics.