Some mainstream Democrats struggle with Zohran Mamdani's surprise win

At just 33 years old, Zohran Mamdani is not only poised to become the next mayor of New York City but has emerged as a potent national figure. That's thanks in large part to the unabashed progressivism and massive grassroots support that contributed to his surprise victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the NYC Democratic mayoral primary race this past week. As Mamdani prepares for a bruising general election against incumbent Eric Adams and possibly an unbowed Cuomo, opinions vary on Mamdani's future in the Democratic Party.

'Serious setback' for the party's 'more pragmatic wing'

As a state Assembly member with a "history of controversial comments about Israel and policing," Mamdani is seen by some Democratic insiders as "politically toxic" to their broader effort to "attract votes in less progressive places nationwide," Axios said. Mamdani's political positions have already been used as "fodder" by Republicans targeting Democrats in New York "and beyond," said The Hill.

Mamdani's win is a "gift" to Donald Trump and Republicans, Jon Reinish, a New York-based Democratic strategist, said to The Hill. Mamdani's policies "only translate and only are a thing in the most liberal districts in a primary." For the party's "more pragmatic wing," Mamdani's win represents a "serious setback" in a project to "broaden Democrats' appeal" and move past the progressive agenda they claim "alienated would-be voters in recent elections," The Associated Press said.

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Mamdani's platform is "ideologically extreme, but structurally unsound," freshman Rep. Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.) said in an interview with Time. But while others in the party have fretted over Mamdani's impact on the Democrats at large, Gillen downplayed his position as "hardly a mandate or some grand proclamation about where Democrats are."

'Powerful reproach' to the Democratic Party

While many Democratic insiders "publicly embraced" the enthusiasm Mamdani was able to generate among younger voters, they've also taken pains to avoid "associating too closely" with his more progressive policies, CNN said. Halfhearted embrace notwithstanding, Mamdani's victory is a "clear inflection point in the roiling debate" over how Democrats must reinvent the party in the wake of their 2024 drubbing, The Nation said. His campaign against Cuomo was a "distilled version" of the "same ideological and generational battle now convulsing the national Democratic Party" — a victory that was a "powerful reproach" to some mainstream Democrats.

If Mamdani wins the general election, the lessons for Democrats will be "less about ideology" and "more about tactics," said The Atlantic: "having energy, communicating clearly and frequently and focusing on personal economic issues." Mamdani's strength, said Teen Vogue, has been his ability to speak to "constituencies who either felt burned or simply ignored by Democratic centrist campaign strategies."

Inherent in Mamdani's rise is a broader message for Democrats, said Sen. Bernie Sanders, himself no stranger to hyperbolic examinations of his relationship to the Democratic Party base, at The Guardian: "Address the real economic and moral issues that face the majority of our people, take on the greed and power of the oligarchy and fight for an agenda that can improve life for working families."

Conversely, failure to learn from Mamdani's successes could have detrimental effects on Democrats, said longtime party consultant Lis Smith at The New York Times. If the party can't "adapt" and "change" away from their 2024 electoral failures, Smith said, then "establishment Democrats are going to continue to lose to people like Mamdani because they're not offering the change that voters want."