Zohran Mamdani’s stunning election victory to become the new mayor of New York City is perhaps the least shocking surprise in a period of unpredictable voting in the US.
Polling numbers for Zohran (the man’s so personable, I’m just going to go ahead and first-name him — anyone following his brilliant social media campaign could easily persuade themselves he’s their pal) have consistently and clearly put him in the lead since the summer. The only question was, would his win over independent, Trump-endorsed, former Democratic governor of the state of New York Andrew Cuomo, and the official Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa (second names from now on for these two) be convincing enough to give him a mandate to support his radical set of campaign promises?
Having secured more than 50 per cent of the vote, the answer is resoundingly yes, and New York now has a socialist mayor who intends to tax the rich, freeze rents, raise the minimum wage to $30 (about £23), provide free childcare and buses, and create city-owned supermarkets, all with an aim of making America’s biggest city an affordable place to live for working-class people.
Zohran’s win may have become an evens bet in recent months, but a year ago, with the young New York assembly member polling one per cent, it seemed anything but likely. Doggedly, in the face of resurgent Trumpism, Zohran pushed the message of affordability – if the rich are taxed, life can be made easier for workers, and that people deserve to be able to afford to live in the city in which they work.
He absolutely hasn’t, however, disappeared issues of race, gender and sexuality while campaigning on bread and butter questions.
On the last weekend before the election, Zohran was received rapturously at gay bars across Brooklyn – Cuomo, meanwhile was being awkwardly chanted for by his daughter at an event called ‘Cool Girls for Capitalism’. Really. Zohran has repeatedly thanked the ‘aunties’ who’ve formed the backbone of his campaign – the first generation immigrant women who’ve allowed his campaign access to communities previously difficult for mainstream Democrats to reach. He’s boldly spoken up for the 13 women who’ve accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, when Cuomo has used defamation threats to silence them. He’s never backed away from condemning the genocide in Gaza, and America’s complicity in it.
Most effectively, it’s his rhetoric on his own experience as a Muslim and a migrant which has cemented the view of Zohran as a politician who will not hide or compromise his principles. His hugely impactful campaign branding leans into his background, inspired by the sing of immigrant-owned bodegas and Bollywood film posters.
When his opponents resorted to Islamophobia — Cuomo laughed and seemed to agree when a radio host claimed Mamdani would ‘support another 9/11’, and his team released then deleted a racist twitter ad, and a Republican New York congresswoman called him the ‘jihadist candidate’ — Zohran released a moving video in which he explained why he had not taken the advice of a well-meaning elder to keep the fact that he’s Muslim secret, saying “I was to speak to every child that grows up in New York marked as ‘other’… No more.”
The Democratic Socialists of America candidate’s campaign has been a truly mass event. Since his win in the primary, the number of volunteers out knocking doors almost doubled from 50,000 to 90,000 people. His victory speech outlines an intention to keep those people active, engaged, and crucially, listened to, and that’s key to making this outstanding victory one which lasts.
As Zohran told his supporters on the night of his historic triumph for the left, “This is not only how we stop Trump, it’s how we stop the next one.”
Jo Harvie
Jo Harvie is a socialist of long standing who has lived abroad for several years before returning to Scotland and re-connecting with Socialists for Independence.