Paul Hosford: Zohran Mamdani and Catherine Connolly both won by offering hope to voters

Ireland's presidency and New York's mayoralty are very different. But the people newly elected to those roles share striking parallels, having run positive campaigns with a vision for the future

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani speaking in the borough of Queens the day after his election victory over Andrew Cuomo who ran as an independent after Mamdani defeated him in the Democratic Party primary. Picture: Heather Khalifa/AP

Amid the jubilant scenes as 34-year-old Ugandan immigrant Zohran Mamdani sealed a most unlikely victory to become the mayor of New York City, there was something of a strange sight in RTÉ’s package.

As the broadcaster’s US correspondent Sean Whelan interviewed a pair of Mamdani supporters, one said that it was “the high point of democratic socialism in the US” before the other interjected, “and we were so excited about your new president, as well”.