None of it worked. The months of smears. The months of sabotage from the Democratic establishment. The absurd accusations of antisemitism. The even more absurd insinuations that Zohran Mamdani is a secret Islamic fundamentalist plotting to impose Sharia law on the Big Apple.

Voters saw through all of it. They were persuaded by his message of turning the page on billionaire-backed policies and making New York City more affordable for the working class. And they handed him a decisive victory.

This momentous victory wouldn’t have happened if Bernie Sanders hadn’t laid the groundwork during his two historic runs for president, giving birth to the revitalized, millennial-led democratic socialist movement out of which Zohran comes. Bernie, too, began his political career as a local mayor, and he seems to see much of himself in Mamdani.