How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party

Victory is not guaranteed, but Zohran Mamdani's upstart campaign for New York City mayor has already shocked the Democratic Party establishment. A win in Tuesday's primary election could "signal a seismic shift" in American politics.

Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, could "inspire like-minded lefties to challenge establishment figures" while the Democratic Party "grapples with its national 2024 losses," said Politico. And winning the keys to Gracie Mansion would give a tax-the-rich leftist a "bully pulpit in the economic capital of the world's largest economy." Before that can happen, he must defeat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, once the presumed frontrunner in the race. It is a battle between "old-guard moderates" and "younger, energetic candidates" that could be the first step to "redefining the Democratic Party," said Axios. Mamdani's victory "would deal a major blow to the establishment."

Simple progressive platform

Mamdani's candidacy is "bigger than New York," said Somdeep Sen at Al Jazeera. That's not just because he is the first Muslim contender with a chance to win the mayor's office in America's biggest city, but because of an "unapologetically progressive platform" that has proposed freezing rents for rent-stabilized apartments, creating "publicly-owned grocery stores" and making bus fare free. Mamdani's rise in the polls demonstrates that an "anti-corporate, anti-Trump, community-powered campaign" can resonate with voters.

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The "Western left" could learn from Mamdani, said Owen Jones at The Guardian. Cuomo has been hobbled by "chronic liabilities" after resigning the governorship amid a sexual harassment scandal, but Mamdani has proven that "messaging, medium and movement" are the key to success. A simple platform of "fast and free buses, freeze the rents, free childcare" delivered via "slick videos" on TikTok and spread by grassroots campaigners in city districts "traditionally ignored by Democratic machine politicians" has given him a chance to win.

When the 'status quo fails'

Mamdani is offering New York City voters "Moscow on the Hudson," said Jason L. Riley at The Wall Street Journal. His proposals would "steer the nation's largest city in a disastrous direction" and hobble Democrats "trying to win back millions of blue-collar voters" who have shifted to the GOP in recent years. Proposals like doubling the city's hourly minimum wage to $30 make him the sort of "left-wing elite" who wins the support of "smaller, younger factions of the base while alienating others."

While Democrats see the mayoral race as a "bellwether" for the party's national prospects, the real story is about "collapse of the local party," said Harry Siegel at MSNBC. A strong party would have avoided pitting Cuomo, a candidate "purged from office just a few years ago," against a socialist like Mamdani using the Democratic Party primary as "his electoral vehicle." The lesson is that "populists break through when the status quo fails."

Mamdani's ascendance shows "voters get fed up" when older Democrats do not pass the torch to a new generation, Mara Gay said at The New York Times. His candidacy challenges the "dinosaur wing of the Democratic Party," said strategist Lis Smith. Will that effort succeed? The results of the primary vote "might not be known for at least a week," said Axios.