The newly elected Democratic socialist mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, is the portrait of an ambitious outsider overreaching in a high-stakes institutional game.

Anonymous sources from Mamdani’s transition team admitted to Politico that he’s struggling to navigate the treacherous waters of local power politics. His tenure as mayor and his ability to reshape the city in his own image could depend on a single city council race. It was the first test of Mamdani’s newfound political power in the wake of his massive mayoral victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and he failed.