NEW YORK — Zohran Mamdani has claimed victory over a wounded, but still formidable former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary.

Now he faces an equally tough task: Defeating Mayor Eric Adams and a Republican opponent — and maybe even Cuomo again — in the general election, while fending off critics who argue the 33-year-old democratic socialist is too far to the left.

While the results have yet to be finalized, Mamdani had a commanding lead that will be exceedingly difficult for Cuomo to overcome when the vote count resumes July 1 in New York City’s ranked choice voting system.

Mamdani’s likely win was a political lightning bolt — partly because of the stunning upset of New York’s once all-powerful former governor, but also for the signals it sent about what kind of leader Democrats are gravitating toward following the party’s bruising loss to Republican President Donald Trump last year.

But Mamdani still has a ways to go.

— The Associated Press