Mamdani’s victory is a rebuke to the failed strategies of the Democratic party | Moira Donegan

The Democratic party appears listless and unprincipled, unwilling to fight because they do not believe in anything. Zohran Mamdani is the opposite of this

Reports of the death of the Democratic party seem to have been greatly exaggerated. On Tuesday night, Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old political novice who won New Yorkers over with an affable demeanor that seemed to take infectious joy in the people of the city and a relentlessly focused message of affordability, swept to the mayoralty of the US's largest city with a commanding lead.

In so doing, Mamdani defeated what has been, since 2010's Citizen's United decision unleashing unlimited money into American political campaigns, one of the most indefatigable forces in electoral politics: the preferences of billionaires. And it wasn't close - Mamdani trounced his billionaire-backed opponent by nearly nine points.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist