NEW YORK: Young selfdeclared socialist Zohran Mamdani was on the cusp of stunning victory on Wednesday in New York City`s Democratic mayoral primary pummelling his scandalscarred rival in a race seen as a fight for the future of the Democratic Party.

Results were not yet final.

But Mamdani, 33, who would becomethe city`sfirstMuslim mayor if he wins the eventual election, had such a commanding lead that his biggest rival, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, conceded defeat overnight.

Mamdani`s success was seen as a rebuke to Democratic centrists who backed the powerful Cuomo, as the party flails nationally in search of a way to counterRepublican President Donald Trump`s hard-right movement.

Mamdani was behind Cuomo in polls until near theend, surging on a message of lower rents, free daycare and other populist ideas in the notoriously expensive US city.`Tonight we made history, he said in a victory speech to supporters. New Yorkers `have stood up for a city they can afford`.

Cuomo, a 67-year-old political veteran vying to come back from a sexual harassment scandal, told supporters, `Tonight was not our night. I called him, I congratulated him,` he said.

Mamdani had taken 43pc of the vote with 95pc of ballots counted, according to city officials. Cuomo was at around 36pc and appeared to have no chance to catch his rival. However, the contest is ranked-choice, with voters asked to select five candidates in order of preference.

When no candidate wins 50pc of the vote outright, election officials start thetime consuming process of eliminating the lowest-ranking candidates.

Currently a New York state assemblyman representing the Queens borough, Mamdani`s eye-catching policy proposals include freezing rent for many New Yorkers, free bus service, and universal childcare. In a city where a three-bedroom apartment may cost $6,000 a month, his message struck a chord.

Voter Eamon Harkin, 48, said prices were his `number one issue.

But Sheryl Stein was sceptical. `I like youth,` she said.

But Mamdani having `no experience and no proven trackrecordtorunthelargest city in this country and one of the largest in the world is pretty scary`.-AFP