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“Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old state lawmaker and self-described democratic socialist, was poised on Tuesday to win New York City's Democratic mayoral primary in a surprising upset over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo…
“Mamdani will likely be the favorite in November's general election in a city where Democrats dominate. The current mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, will also appear on the November ballot as an independent, but a series of corruption scandals and his perceived ties to Trump have weakened his standing.” Reuters
Here’s our previous coverage of the primary. The Flip Side
The left urges national Democrats to learn from Mamdani’s campaign.
“More than anything, organizing — more than 40,000 volunteers — made this happen. And that organizing can’t be separated from the socialist vision that animates it. That vision is big: a city that working-class New Yorkers could afford…
“At the same time, it’s specific: rent freezes; fast and free buses; affordable housing; a public option for groceries; and a clear commitment to public safety, investing in mental health responders… [Mamdani has] accomplished the hardest thing in American politics: convincing people that change is possible.”
Liza Featherstone, Jacobin Magazine
“Mamdani’s stand against Israel’s destruction of Gaza chimed with an electorate watching Columbia University protesters being taken off the street by men in masks. At the same time, he campaigned with a jollity which precluded the unyielding, righteous tone in which such issues are so often couched…
“The gerontocracy atop the party establishment will look at this with anxious alarm. But the message they should take away from it is threefold. Victory is possible with a candidate who is populist on economics, who is young and not a dynastic scion like Cuomo, and who is willing to passionately criticise America’s unequivocal support for Israel.”
Freddie Hayward, New Statesman
“Democrats have a curiosity problem, and it’s losing us elections. After Bernie Sanders mounted a formidable challenge to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primary, precious few Democratic leaders asked what they could learn from it. Two years later, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came out of nowhere to defeat the No. 4-ranking Democrat in the House. They again dismissed it as a fluke…
“I saw similar complacency last year while advising Ruben Gallego’s successful Senate campaign in Arizona. Although Mr. Gallego was the only Democratic candidate in the race, we struggled to get buy-in early on from the Washington Democratic establishment. It saw his blunt-spoken style as too risky for Arizona. He went on to outperform Kamala Harris by eight points.”
Rebecca Kirszner Katz, New York Times
“Some on the left have suggested that Mamdani’s victory proves Democrats do not need to moderate their party’s image to compete for national power. This argument does not make much sense. To secure a Senate majority in 2026, Democrats will need to win multiple states that backed Donald Trump over Kamala Harris by double digits…
“And even if Democrats give up on winning Senate control next year and shoot for doing so in 2028, they will still need to win in states that voted for Trump all three times he was on the ballot…
“So long as the party’s brand is toxic to the median voter in Ohio — who backed Trump every single time he’s been on the ballot — Democrats will have no prayer of passing ambitious federal legislation or confirming liberal Supreme Court justices.”
Eric Levitz, Vox
The right is critical of Mamdani, and urges New Yorkers to unite behind Eric Adams.
The right is critical of Mamdani, and urges New Yorkers to unite behind Eric Adams.
“Mamdani campaigned indefatigably, raising his name recognition at light speed by appearing on every media outlet that would have him. He stumped for votes in the streets of the city and held his first event on primary day at dawn to show New Yorkers what youthful energy in a politician looks like. He’s charismatic too, good-looking and self-possessed at the mic, and he shrewdly focused his message on relatable concerns about the cost of living…
“If you’re the sort of low-information voter who responds to vibes more than policies, and America has lots of those, Zohran was your guy. His opponent was an arrogant, corrupt, incompetent, lascivious scumbag. Andrew Cuomo may be the most unlikable politician in the United States…
“[Mandan’s] 7-point margin over Cuomo (thus far) may owe less to his policies than to the basic blocking and tackling of electioneering. Simply put, he was an excellent retail candidate running against one of the most repulsive figures in politics.”
Nick Catoggio, The Dispatch
“Mr. Mamdani’s main theme is affordability, and it resonated in a city that is increasingly unaffordable for the middle-class. The irony is that this ‘affordability crisis’ is the result of failed Democratic governance. Rent control and eviction limits have caused landlords to take tens of thousands of apartments off the market. A higher minimum wage raised the cost of food and other basics, while rich union contracts keep transportation inefficient and costly. Climate bans and mandates have raised energy costs…
“Mr. Mamdani declared himself on election night to be ‘a model for the Democratic Party,’ and among the party base he may be. He echoes all of the leftwing social policies that hurt the party in 2024, and on Israel he sounds like Columbia University demonstrators. It’s hard to believe the most Jewish city in America could elect a mayor who favors a boycott of Israel, but that is today’s Democratic Party. The populist left poses obvious problems for national Democrats who want to move the party back toward the middle.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“Eric Adams, the incumbent mayor who is running for reelection as an independent, has overseen a 22% decline in homicides, 40% decline in murders, total jobs hit a record high, and the highest number of new homes built in 60 years while supporting both city-wide zoning reform to deregulate the private sector and affordable housing spending in the public sector…
“There is decent historical precedent for Adams. John Lindsay, initially elected as NYC mayor as a Democrat in 1965, tried and failed to run for the Republican Party’s nomination in 1969. Lindsay proceeded to run as the Liberal Party’s candidate and won. NYC has exactly one way out of coming under the control of a communist. That’s by begging Cuomo to put ego aside, Republicans to eschew partisanship, and for the silent majority of the city to rally around Adams again.”
Tiana Lowe Doescher, Washington Examiner
“Mamdani's socialism has gotten a lot of attention, thanks in no small part to his aggressively charismatic social media presence. But when it comes to housing policy, everyone in New York is effectively a socialist, even the allegedly sane, centrist candidates running against Mamdani. When then-Mayor Bill de Blasio called for a rent freeze back in April 2020, a loud supporter of the idea was then-Brooklyn Borough President (and current Mayor) Eric Adams…
“The city's mayor-appointed Rent Guidelines Board obliged and voted in June 2020 to cap rent increases through October 2021 on one-year rent-stabilized leases. Coinciding with that rent freeze was New York's eviction moratorium, which in effect made paying rent optional by preventing landlords from removing delinquent tenants. The author of that eviction moratorium was then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani's main—and now defeated—Democratic primary rival.”
Christian Britschgi, Reason
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