Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist and a Muslim, just won the New York City Democratic Gubernatorial Primary in ranked choice voting.
NPR reported, “Zohran Mamdani is poised to become the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, after leading in the city’s ranked-choice primary on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old state assemblymember and democratic socialist was virtually unknown when he jumped into the crowded primary field last fall. But he had recently skyrocketed in the polls, fueled by in-person interactions, viral videos and policy proposals that appear to have resonated especially among younger and first-time primary voters.
“I think everyone is stunned and shocked by the unexpected nature of his victory,” says Patrick Egan, a professor of politics and public policy at New York University. “And I think one of the other notable things about that victory is that he won with a really progressive, liberal left-wing platform of the kind that we probably haven’t ever seen in New York.”
In his article for The Guardian on June 27, Bernie Sanders said:
The lesson of Mamdani’s campaign is that it is not good enough just to be critical of Trump and his destructive policies. We have to bring forth a positive vision and an analysis of why things are the way they are. It is not good enough to maintain a status quo that is failing most Americans. At a time when hope is in increasingly short supply, people must have the sense that if we work together, if we have the courage to take on powerful special interests, we can create a better world – a world of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.
The lesson of Mamdani’s campaign is that it is not good enough just to be critical of Trump and his destructive policies. We have to bring forth a positive vision and an analysis of why things are the way they are.
Will the current Democratic party leadership learn the lessons of the Mamdani campaign? Probably not. Too many of them would rather be the captains on a sinking Titanic, rather than change course.
Then again, it doesn’t matter what they think. The establishment threw everything they had against Mamdani – millions in Super Pac money, endorsements from “important people”, a hostile media – and they still lost.
The future of the Democratic party will not be determined by its current leadership. It will be decided by the working class of this country.
In The Nation, Waleed Shahid, proclaimed in his title, “Zohran Mamdani’s Win Could Change Everything” and CNN stated, “Mamdani delivers a political earthquake.”
Just before the election, Stephen Colbert conducted an extended, uncut interview with two of the leading mayoral candidates in the New York City Democratic primary: New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. Lander is Jewish, Mandani is Muslim. They endorsed each other! Find out why in Colbert’s interview:
