(TNND) — Zohran Mamdani has quickly gone from a relative unknown to someone who Republicans are trying to paint as the face of the Democratic Party.

Mamdani beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary for a shot to win the job in this fall’s general election.

Mamdani is a 33-year-old state lawmaker and democratic socialist who focused on lowering the cost of living for New Yorkers in his campaign.

Mamdani vowed to give New Yorkers free public buses and no-cost childcare.

He pledged to keep their rents from increasing.

And he’s proposed opening city-owned grocery stores to offer lower-cost food.

Mamdani was endorsed by prominent liberal lawmakers Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“In many ways, Mamdani, if he ends up being elected mayor of New York City, is manna from Heaven for Republicans,” said Mark Jones, a political science fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute.

Mamdani would give Republicans a far-left figure on a big stage – the nation’s largest city and media capital – on which to focus their criticism.

Everything Republicans see as a misstep or extreme policy will get amplified, Jones said.

Mamdani gives Republicans a “boogeyman,” said Todd Belt, the Political Management program director at George Washington University.

“Republicans believe that as long as they can always tar Democrats as being extremists, that will be a win for them,” Belt said, adding that Democrats also try and paint Republicans as extremists.

“However, the question remains whether or not Mamdani is really the future of the Democratic Party, or (if) this is where the Democratic Party is going to go,” Belt added. “And that question remains to be answered, because this was a primary in a very, very liberal-oriented city within a low turnout election. So, I think it's easy to read too much into this.”

Mamdani’s message resonated with voters in New York City.

But political experts also noted to The National News Desk last week that Mamdani toppled a flawed candidate in Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal.

Meanwhile, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams decided to run for reelection as an independent rather than a Democrat.

And Adams has dealt with his own scandal. A judge dismissed a corruption case against Adams a couple of months ago.

Mamdani could face Cuomo and Adams, both running as independents, in this November’s general election, along with Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.

Jones said Mamdani showed that a populist message can resonate among voters on the left, much like it did for President Donald Trump last fall with voters on the right.

And Belt said Mamdani gave voters more “more meat on the bones” with his platform than many Democrats recently.

“The Democrats are definitely soul-searching right now,” Belt said.

He said Mamdani has sparked excitement among young progressives.

“There's a lot of people who see this as an excitement for the party, and that's what has been missing in the party for quite some time,” Belt said. “You've got a lot of older people who seem rather milquetoast in terms of their approach to challenging the current administration."

Belt said some Democrats won’t want to be tied to Mamdani with the 2026 midterms coming. Democrats know that they have a golden opportunity to take back the House and an outside shot at tipping the Senate, Belt said.

A lot of Democrats might want to play it safe, believing that all they need to do is be an alternative to Trump next year, Belt said.

“The Democrats might be running the ball and trying to run out the clock,” Belt said, using a football metaphor.

“But when it comes to the next presidential election, that's where they have to really offer a competing vision for the future and talk about what is going to make people's lives better,” Belt said.

Belt said Mamdani showed other Democrats about the value of talking about kitchen table issues, the things that affect people’s day-to-day lives.

But Belt said Democrats will need to tailor their messages, as economic concerns vary from state to state.

And he said Democrats will need to make those messages resonate with working Americans in a way that doesn’t get them slapped with the socialist label.

Jones said Mamdani is far more of a liability than an asset for the Democratic Party.

“Even if he attempts to implement even half of the policies he's been proposing as mayor of New York City, he's going to tarnish the image of the Democratic Party among moderate voters throughout the country who are looking for an alternative to Donald Trump, but not a far-left alternative,” Jones said.

And Jones said Mamdani could prove an even bigger headache for Democrats if he wins but can’t govern effectively.

Every time Mamdani talks about New York being a sanctuary city, that can hurt Democrats nationwide, Jones said.

Anything seen as antagonistic or negative towards the New York police will play poorly with voters that Democrats need nationwide, Jones said.

But Mamdani might just be a blip for Democrats, “some very minor image-related issues” that fade, if he doesn’t win this fall’s general election, Jones said.