Ashwin Prabaharan ‘26
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani of Queens secured an improbable and incredible victory on November 4th. Young, Muslim, socialist, unabashed critic of Israel. By all reasonable metrics, the Mayor’s office ought to have been a non-starter for him. Mainstream Democrats, let alone Republicans, lost their heads having to acknowledge this political infant. The fact that he defeated the lion of New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo, not once, but twice, made them all want to hurl themselves over the Tappan Zee bridge. But his victory has begun a chorus across the nation calling for progressive primaries against established Democrats, foreshadowing the emergence of a new class of fighters against the autocratic Trump agenda. It’s the young that will best the evil curmudgeons in Washington D.C. I’m not buying it.
Full disclosure, I served as deputy campaign manager to Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee in this election. I wholeheartedly believe Sliwa was the right man for a city in need, suffering from wasteful spending, declining academic scores, and a public scared of its own subways. What Mamdani’s win demonstrates is the effect of a campaign bolstered by an appeal to the youthful and struggling of the city. His plans, from free public transportation to city-run grocery stores, are not new. They have been tried, and have failed horrendously in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles. But this election wasn’t contested on the science of things, but that beaming light of hope. Mamdani was hope in all forms, hope for the college graduates looking for housing, hope for the city’s migrants praying for refuge from ICE. It wasn’t about ideas that would work, it was what sounded best, what looked best on a Guevara-esuqe poster to rally folks. The trendy Instagram and TikTok skits, the fast-paced videos, everything was designed to catch your eye and keep it on the one man who can emulate something lost in you. In many ways, Mamdani was the antithesis of the Trump 2016 campaign. Energy vs. Dismay, both a revolution against the standardbearers of American democracy. No matter the polls or the money, they both achieved unprecedented victories.
Democrats, however, would indeed be foolish to heed Mamdani’s words as the gospel of electoral strategy. In a city with an incredibly high proportion of under 30 voters, a strong liberal and progressive lean, and a multicultural blend literally unlike any other, Mamdani captured something special. That thing simply does not exist in many places in the U.S. where Democrats need to win. The heartland, the swing districts full of purple voters will become apoplectic when approached with a woefully radical agenda not at all in touch with their ways of life. Answering affordability looks different in Sioux City than it does in Brooklyn. Pledging to raise taxes and eliminate gifted and talented programs will fall on deaf ears to parents in districts where median incomes are not near $100,000. What Democrats can take away from Mamdani’s campaign is that the old can certainly fall in favor of the new. Cuomo was destined for the White House before his disgraceful fall from public service, but he had everything going for him from before the primary: the money, the polls, the name recognition. Mamdani channeled a thirst for radical change from the same electorate that voted Cuomo into office again in 2018. It truly was the Obama effect, a young, charismatic, non-traditional candidate vying for the impossible. That story never fails to excite passions and demand of us to meet that challenge, to throw our hats over the wall and march into the unknown with nothing but our hearts and a sense of solidarity.
It must also be acknowledged that Trump unwittingly aided in Mamdani’s victory. A prolonged government shutdown coupled with inflammatory rhetoric from the White House fueled the fire. Cuomo certainly needed the President’s endorsement to substantively be able to peel away Republican voters, which he did, just not enough. It was a coronation, and Democrats still haven’t figured out what to take away from the 33 year old’s journey from organizer to the mayoralty of the greatest city on Earth. Midterms are less than a year away, and though historical headwinds are in their favor, Democrats would do well to figure out what message they need to get out there, because I surely cannot tell you what it is, and I bet an actual Democrat cannot as well.
Like Sliwa on Election Night did, I wish the Mayor-elect nothing but the best of luck, “because if he does well, we do well.” Democrats, don’t fall for the fable of Mamdani, and think it through.
Featured image courtesy of ABC News
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