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Nexus X HumectressIn New York City and elsewhere.
I was first introduced to Zohran Mamdani at the 2023 Democratic Socialists of America National Convention. Sitting in the crowd of delegates, I listened to his keynote speech on how American imperialism (specifically in Palestine) was inseparable from kitchen table, working-class issues. The idea wasn’t novel, but Mamdani packaged it expertly, creating an inspiring pitch tailored to resonate with the median voter. Although I left the convention enthused about Zohran Mamdani’s future, I never once thought he was capable of what he pulled off on Tuesday night during the New York City Democratic mayoral primary. Overcoming even the most optimistic expectations, the state assemblyman toppled the Cuomo dynasty with a resounding mandate that has far-reaching implications for American politics.
In the days leading up to the election, those ideologically and physically close to the Democratic Party establishment doused the yet-to-be-lit fire, stating that, if Mamdani were to win, the young leftist’s victory would be an abnormality. The intent of the naysayers was clear as day. They wanted to preempt the results and assure elected Democrats that, if Mamdani’s socialist platform prevailed, it shouldn’t impact their political calculations and they should continue running on milquetoast centrism (because that’s worked so well for them recently). Writing in The Atlantic, Annie Lowrey argued that New York City’s ranked-choice voting was undemocratic, implying a Zohran win would be illegitimate. (Lowrey previously supported ranked choice voting. Take from that what you will.)1 Slow Boring writers
and
warned that a Mamdani victory shouldn’t be seen as a ‘huge factional win for left-wing Democrats’ because it would be ‘narrow.’ (It was not.)
If Mamdani wins, it’ll be heralded as a huge factional win for left-wing Democrats. But it should come with the equally huge caveat that this was a narrow victory in a deep-blue city.
Would a Mamdani type a Missouri Senate seat?
As the results rolled in, the pre-election dampening quickly turned into post-election excuses. Everything and anything was thrown at the wall to downplay the significance of Zohran Mamdani’s win. The most far-fetched justifications came from those with the strongest interests in keeping the Democratic Party from embracing the political left. Their hollow explanations included: the weather, Cuomo’s past scandals, conspiracy theories that the second most Jewish city on Earth is preparing for a pogrom, and, my personal favorite, Zohran’s use of Instagram filters.
To understand why these claims are wrong, we must clarify one point. Zohran Mamdani didn’t just defeat Andrew Cuomo. He destroyed him — and every other candidate in the field. This wasn’t a one-versus-one election in which a fortunate Democratic Socialist eked out a slim victory over a scandal-plagued opponent. Quite the opposite. It was a high-turnout, eleven-way contest in which Zohran Mamdani bested a robust field of candidates representing the Democratic Party’s various factions and interests. There was the left-curious progressive (Brad Lander), an Abundance liberal (Zellnor Myrie), a particularly unhinged Zionist (Whitney Tilson), and a handful of other candidates emblematic of the modern Democratic Party. Last and certainly the least among them was the Democratic establishment incarnate, Andrew Cuomo. The most optimistic polls had Zohran winning slightly after several rounds of ranked-choice voting. But as Mamdani won more votes in the first round of ranked-choice voting (432,305) than current Mayor Eric Adams did in eight rounds (404,513) during the 2021 election, Andrew Cuomo was forced to concede hours after the polls closed. Mamdani’s victory was nothing short of legendary.
Trying to discard Zohran Mamdani’s victory as the product of lucky circumstances, such as the heat, Cuomo’s poor public image, or being an ‘off-year election’ (which every NYC mayoral election is), misses the point that these factors weren’t exclusively beneficial to the Mamdani campaign. These factors played out evenly for all candidates not named Andrew Cuomo. The 100-degree heat certainly depleted older voters, who likely would have gone to Cuomo. But the weather, timing, and Cuomo’s ‘scandals’ (a polite word for sex crimes and senicide) equally benefitted the non-socialist candidates, such as Brad Lander, who was endorsed by Abundance co-author Ezra Klein,2 and Zellnor Myrie, who was the preferred candidate of the
writers mentioned above.3 Those candidates lost to the socialist by 32.1 and 42.5 points, respectively.
High heat and Cuomo’s toxicity didn’t benefit the Zohran Mamdani Campaign — They benefited the candidate with the message and policies voters liked the most. Evidently, that was Mamdani, who ran on reducing the cost of living, anti-Zionism, and standing up to Donald Trump. This was the highest turnout NYC mayoral primary since 1989, so it’s not like this was a peculiar election determined by a few unpredictable same-day developments.4 And for the record, Yglesias’ claim that New York’s Red Wave (a cool red wave, not the Republican type) was due to its ‘off-year’ scheduling is military-grade cope. All New York City Mayoral elections are held the year after a presidential election. As for attributing Zohran’s victory to his team’s video production choices, in the words of Mark Twain, ‘Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.’
Impressive as it is, the Mamdani’s autocrat-level vote totals are only half the story. The socialists’ mandate was achieved in the face of the largest anti-left coalition since the one that opposed Bernie Sanders in 2020. The national Democratic Party came out in force against Zohran, with former President Bill Clinton and former head of the Congressional Black Caucus Jim Clyburn endorsing Cuomo, who is a longtime party insider himself. Billionaires, real estate interests, Zionists, and even Door Dash gave Andrew Cuomo’s Super PAC over $25 million, a staggering advantage over Mamdani’s small-donor budget of $8 million.5 The media, both local and elite, did everything in their power to paint him as Schrödinger’s Minority: both a Jew-hating jihadist and a lazy free loader. The New York Times stated that Mamdani, a thrice-elected New York State Assemblyman, lacked the ‘experience’ to be mayor before suggesting voters pick hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson, who’s never held elected office.6 During the first debate, the moderators asked candidates where they’d travel first as mayor, then stopped the answers to press Mamdani on whether ‘Israel has a right to exist.’ The question was posed to no other contenders.
Despite overcoming a no-holds-barred slander campaign, some critics insist that socialists like Mamdani couldn’t win anywhere except liberal bastions like New York City. Putting aside that most of the naysayers have a financial and egotistical interest in keeping the Democratic party from turning left, these critics greatly misunderstand what occurred last Tuesday.
Mamdani didn’t win because he’s a socialist. He won because he proposed solutions to New Yorkers’ problems. High rent? Let’s freeze it. Stuck in a food desert? I’ll open public grocery stores. Scared to go out at night? Mayor Mamdani’s public safety program aims to address crime at its source. Yes, Texas is unlikely to elect a Brown, Muslim socialist, but the strategy of directly addressing peoples’ material needs with common sense solutions, regardless of if they threaten capital, has legs far outside deep-blue districts. Many detractors approach this incorrectly, thinking, ‘Socialism is far left, and most areas aren’t far left. So it’s not electorally viable.’ But this is not how most apolitical Americans think about politics. When a candidate approaches them, they don’t think ‘far left or far right.’ The ask, ‘What are you going to do for me?’ Zohran, and other socialists, have immediate answers: easier unionization, rent caps, and free buses, which, as this election shows, are preferred over corporate-stamped policies like, ‘We’ll lower your bosses taxes so he can invest more’ or ‘We’re looking at building codes with the hopes more private development will decrease your rent three years from now.’ Even the centrist establishment knows this. When Democratic data scientist David Shor took the stage at WelcomeFest (Centrist Comic Con), his data showed Kamala Harris’ most effective campaign ad used populist messaging: “The cost of rent, groceries, and utilities is too high. So here’s what we’re going to do about it . . . Crack down on landlords who are charging too much . . . lower your food and grocery bills by going after price gougers.” Of course, Harris’ corporate donors didn’t like it, so the ad was rarely aired. But as Shor’s own data shows, even when the messenger is not a known leftist, employing left-adjacent language generates positive results — a tactic that absolutely could, and should, be implemented nationally.
Of course, Zohran is not the first politician to make promises. But he is one of the few who believe in what he says. The Democratic Party has dropped $20 million7 into a fool’s errand to find the ‘liberal Joe Rogan,’ never realizing that Rogan commands an audience because he’s sincere. Sure, his thoughts are dumb, but he believes them. After a lifetime of powerful people lying to their faces, Americans turn to figures they think aren’t trying to pull one over on them. Mamdani built trust with voters by showing them he was genuine. Unlike the corporate Democrats put forth in most areas, people felt he was earnest, authentic, and actually wanted to implement the policies he spoke of. Plus, he refused to be kowtowed by bogus claims of anti-semitism, showing voters he was both genuine in his belief in the Palestinian struggle and wasn’t going to surrender his convictions just because The New York Times Editorial Board yelled at him. This is a stark contrast to many nationally elected Democrats, who are ditching immigrants, trans kids, unions, and anyone else that will get them a +.001% boost in the polls. The state assemblyman showed voters he stood for what he believed in — a rare trait among the political class — and they elected him because of it.
Zohran Mamdani’s authenticity and courage manifested into what appears to be the key ingredient to winning modern elections: enthusiasm. For the second big election in a year, well-funded centrist Democrats have lost to more enthusiastic opponents. Kamala Harris out-raised Trump $997 million to $388,8 and Cuomo spent $87 per vote compared to Mamdani’s $19.9 Both larger spenders lost to their more enthusiastic opponent. Enthusiasm also creates first-time voters, as evidenced by the fact that over 25% of Tuesday’s early voters were participating in a Democratic primary for the first time.10 As it’s far easier to bring a neutral person into your camp than it is to convert an opponent’s supporter, activating politically-disinterested Americans is key to winning modern elections.
Big money backers are far from obsolete in the politician’s arsenal. But they’re certainly losing effectiveness compared to the populist-driven volunteer armies ready to knock doors and tell everyone they know how to vote. For example, Zohran Mamdani’s had 50,000 volunteers who knocked on over a million doors. Comparatively, Andrew Cuomo’s volunteers voted for Zohran.
While some may argue that a corporate Democrat can replicate earnestness and enthusiasm, I don’t believe they can. If so, where is it? Ten other Democrats ran against Mamdani, all to his right. Except for Brad Lander, who deserves a lot of credit for boosting Zohran once his own chances were obsolete, none came close to a fraction of the excitement generated by the Democratic Socialist. Though almost all of them had bigger platforms when the race began, Zohran flew while they fell. That leaves a single explanation for the source of the enthusiasm and momentum (‘Zohmentum’11 if you will) that rocketed Zohran Mamdani above the rest: policy.
Outside of abortion, there’s no centrist policy that invigorates the American electorate. And why would there be? 99% of what DNC-approved politicians advocate for has been run through so many corporate donors and focus groups, it’s closer to Fortune 500 marketing copy than a genuine thought. AIPAC can pay Martin Scorsese to direct Ritchie Torres’ Instagram Reels, but if the cinematic audio and dramatic camera angles urge viewers to Stand With Israel, all they’ve accomplished is making a $2 million ‘How do you do, fellow kids?’ meme. Point me to one aspect of WelcomeFest that will excite young people to register their grandparents to vote. There isn’t one. If there were, then Kamala Harris would be the President of the United States.
Of course, I don’t want to count my chickens before they’re elected New York City Mayor. Both Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams are running in the general. Though chances are slim, there’s always the possibility a well-funded anti-socialist coalition could deter Zohran’s path to Gracie Mansion. That said, Cuomo is already bleeding supporters, and Eric Adams is a mess. He’s comically corrupt, his policies have increased living costs,12 and he’s an open collaborator to ICE raids, something New Yorkers despise.
Regardless of how the November general election goes, one thing is sure. Mamdani’s commanding victory is a strong sign that Americans, particularly Democratic voters, are more inclined to place their future in the hands of the socialist left than leave it in the wrinkled, quaking grasp of the geriatric Democratic establishment. While it’s not like DSA is going to replace the Democratic Party anytime soon, the strong preference for left-wing economics over corporate centrism is clear — in deep-blue cities and red states.13 As expected, those inclined to the status quo are claiming they can’t hear America’s progressive interest, plugging their ears with pathetic cope and screaming Turner Diaries-level racism to drown out the resounding voice of Democratic voters.14 However, as the New York City mayoral primary results show, establishment forces are becoming weaker with each day, leaving them vulnerable against the rising power of the political left — both within the Democratic Party and without.
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In Solidarity — Joe
“New York City can do better than Andrew Cuomo,” Slow Boring, Mar 19th, 2025
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Attack the System
Categories: Electoralism/Democratism, Left and Right
