Candidates are likely to succeed in elections when they are willing to listen to and deliberate with voters from all backgrounds, says a Newcastle University academic. NEWCASTLE, England: Zohran Mamdani , a 34-year-old democratic socialist, has been elected as New York City’s mayor . He became the first New York mayoral candidate to win more than 1 million votes since 1969, and looks set to secure over 50 per cent of the total vote. With almost all of the votes counted, independent candidate