Just after 11 p.m. under the ornamental ceiling of the newly refurbished Paramount Theater in downtown Brooklyn, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani walked onto a blue-curtained stage before hundreds of cheering supporters with a smile of victory across his face.

Less than a half hour after the 34-year-old assemblyman’s supporters had filed into the ballroom as polls closed across the city, their candidate was already being declared the winner. In the end, it wasn't particularly close.

Many in the room considered it inevitable they’d be celebrating Mamdani’s victory on November 4 ever since he’d won a surprise victory in the Democratic primary in June in this heavily-Democratic city. However, from staff to journalists and volunteers, few expected he would emerge victorious so fa

See Full Page