Election results: Zohran Mamdani wins NYC mayor, Mikie Sherrill wins NJ governor

Shortly after Zohran Mamdani won the primary in June, Trump took to social media to call the 33-year-old "a 100% Communist Lunatic." Trump and other Republicans have continued to refer to Mamdani as a "communist" throughout the election cycle.

Mamdani has emphasized that he is not a communist, including in October on ABC's "The View," where he told co-hosts that he was a democratic socialist.

Democratic socialism is a political movement that calls for the establishment of a decentralized socialist economic system within a democratically run political system. It differs from socialism, which is sometimes associated with communism and does not necessarily include a democratic form of governance.

Because of that, socialism is often used to describe the political and economic system of countries such as Cuba and Venezuela, and the term can politically alienate some voters due to its association with these countries.

However, a recent Gallup poll found that attitudes toward socialism may be changing among left-leaning Americans, with 66% of Democrats now having a positive view of socialism, up from 50% in 2010.

Read more about how Zohran Mamdani rose to power as a democratic socialist here.

Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani's projected victory as New York City's first Muslim and South Asian mayor marks a historic moment, that could galvanize those communities, some voters and experts tell ABC News.

"It is going to make a big difference for our people -- South Indians, Muslims, people who are immigrants like me. They will also think there's a place for them in this country," Asif Mahmood, a Democratic bundler who helped fundraise for Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris and ran for Congress himself, told ABC News ahead of Election Day.

Some Democratic strategists have pointed out that South Asian and Arab Muslims in the U.S., many of whom immigrated post-1965, have historically not been invested in politics. Asian-Americans in general have also been underrepresented in polling and research, even in recent election years, ABC News previously reported.

But Mamdani's catapult into the national spotlight could help turn the tide, with members of those communities mobilizing in large numbers on his behalf throughout his campaign.

In fact, South Asian voter turnout in the 2025 NYC primary election increased by about 40% compared to the 2021 primary, according to data from research firm L2 provided to ABC News.

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Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey is going another round in his attempted political comeback, more than two decades after he resigned from office.

McGreevey will take on James Solomon in a Dec. 2 runoff election in the race for mayor of Jersey City. McGreevey and Solomon were the top two vote getters in Tuesday's election but neither received more than 50% of the vote, forcing a runoff.

McGreevey is running for office for the first time since resigning as governor in 2004. He quit after saying he'd had an extramarital affair with a man he'd installed as a state homeland security official.

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani addressed President Donald Trump directly during this victory speech.

"Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up," Mamdani said.

Mamdani has been a high-profile target of Trump -- who has branded the Democratic Socialist as a "communist" and vowed political retribution.

Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, vowed to protect immigrants, saying, "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by immigrants."

"So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us," he said to applause.

During Mamdani's speech, Trump -- who threatened to slash federal funding to New York City if Mamdani won -- posted on social media, "...AND SO IT BEGINS!"