New York City has just elected its next Mayor, set to replace Mayor Eric Adams, who has been in City Hall since 2022. The city’s Mayor-elect is Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old New York State Assemblyman with the biggest grassroots campaign in the city’s history, made up of over 90,000 volunteers.
His campaign was also supported by popular figures of the American Left, including Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortéz. While initially being disregarded, with early polls showing Mamdani with 1% of Democratic voters, his victory in the Democratic Primary as the Democratic party’s nominee shocked many, especially after beating Andrew Cuomo, who most experts believed was going to be the one to replace Adams as Mayor, due to his experience as New York State Governor.
However, this did not stop Cuomo from continuing his campaign, instead choosing to run as an independent party, to prevent Mamdani from becoming Mayor. Both Cuomo, and the Republican Party nominee, Curtis Sliwa conceded on the evening of November 4th, officially marking the end of their respective campaigns.
People like policy
Since the ‘MAGA’ era began, the Democrat’s platform has been based on standing against President Trump and the Republican party. Although Mamdani’s messaging heavily criticised Andrew Cuomo and his billionaire supporters who also supported Trump’s presidential campaign, the core of his campaign was affordability. His platform had real policy proposals which looked to improve the lives of New Yorkers.
Mamdani’s presence on social media explained his plans to freeze rent, expand the bus service of the city in addition to making them free for everyone, providing a public grocery store alternative, and advocating for free childcare for all. He aims to pay for everything he seeks to offer through reorganization of the NYC budget and raising the corporate tax rate to 11.5%, the same as New Jersey’s, and a 2% tax increase on those with an income higher than 1 million dollars.
The latter of which caught the attention of many wealthy New Yorkers, who became determined to keep Mamdani away from the mayorship. Millionaires have donated millions of dollars to PACs (Political Action Committees) who were Pro-Cuomo and Anti-Mamdani, namely, PACs such as For Our City, Fix The City, and Defend NYC.
Among those who donated to these PACs were former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, casino mogul Steve Wynn, Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings, entrepreneur Joe Gebbia, and oil baron John Hess.
In response to their donations to keep him out of office Mamdani stated,
“They’re spending more money than I would even tax them.”
Trump’s stance
President Trump has also made his opposition to Mamdani incredibly clear, calling him a communist after he threatened to cut federal funds to New York if he won the election.
He urged New Yorkers to vote for Andrew Cuomo on the eve of the election, and following Zohran’s victory speech on Tuesday night, he cryptically posted on Truth social “…AND SO IT BEGINS.” On Wednesday morning, on his first public appearance following the poor performance of the GOP in midterm elections across the United States, Trump said he seeks to discuss the election results across the nation with Republican lawmakers, but he did not make any mention of Mamdani despite making his opposition to Mamdani quite evident.
Mamdani’s campaign has also highlighted how his mayorship will include protections for the rights for all New Yorkers. Whether they be immigrants, members of the LGBTQ+ community, or simply members of the working class. Mamdani has reassured that although they are still under a Trump administration which threatens reproductive rights, the security of immigrants, and trans rights, he will work hard to protect them.
His campaign has emphasized how his goal is to turn New York into a ‘Sanctuary City.’ Especially with the threat of ICE, Mamdani told the New York Times that he is looking forward to following the example of Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, in working with the state’s Attorney General to prevent the National guard from entering the city. New York’s Attorney General Letitia James has rallied and campaigned for Mamdani, and is committed to fulfilling that promise alongside him.
The Future of New York City and the Democratic Party
The success of Mamdani’s campaign demonstrates how effective political communication that caters to improving the working class can be. Despite attacks on Mamdani’s muslim faith, his position as a democratic-socialist, or his race, his campaign has been a triumph for New York, and for the working class around the world because of one simple thing: good policy.
Loss after loss, The Democratic party does not seem to learn that being the alternative to Trump is not enough to win elections and gain popularity. Mamdani’s mayoral victory demonstrates just that. It’s not only about fighting against those who seek to regress the country, rather fighting to progress the country.
In his victory speech, Mamdani told his supporters,
“The future is in our hands. My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty.”
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