Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected mayor of New York City, is notable in many ways. He will become the city's youngest mayor since 1892, its first Muslim mayor and its first mayor born in Africa.

The 34-year-old entered the race last year with next to no name recognition, little money and no institutional party support.

That alone makes his victory over former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa remarkable.

But more than that, he represents the kind of politician that many in the Democratic Party's left have been seeking for years.

He is young and charismatic, with his generation's natural comfort with social media.