Mamdani can be the way forward for the city, and the nation

David Mirtz is a co-chair of the NYC Working Families Party

Some elections prove to be turning points in politics. For the Democratic Party in New York,  Assemblyman Zorhan Mamdani's decisive mayoral primary win over the well-connected and well-financed Andrew Cuomo could prove to be one. On track to win the general election in November, Mamdani, 33, would be one of NYC's youngest and certainly the first Democratic Socialist and first Muslim to lead the city. How Democratic Party leaders respond to his win and the wins of other progressive candidates across the state is what will have lasting implications for politics in New York State, perhaps the nation.

Mamdani’s campaign tapped into the energy and enthusiasm of young and new voters, a cohort typically disengaged from mainstream politics. They didn’t just show up to vote, they showed up to campaign, and when you're up against big money and the name recognition of an Andrew Cuomo, you need an army of volunteers. 

He received a lift from the growing community of South Asian voters, and a broad cross-section of regular primary voters moved by the “Don't Rank Cuomo” campaign, which reminded voters of the ex-governor’s record in Albany. Mamdani also benefited from the Working Families Party’s “Rank the Slate” of mayoral candidates, which helped voters focus on defeating a common enemy, not just electing their preferred candidate. 

In addition, Comptroller Brad Lander’s candidacy showed a level of selflessness that helped Jewish and other voters reject the weaponized antisemitism charges launched at Mamdani. Finally, the Cuomo campaign proved spectacularly inept. Shocking, given the fact that Cuomo ran trying to showcase his managerial skills.

Thrown off guard by Mamdani’s win, leading New York Democrats, who routinely would have immediately endorsed the primary winner, retreated to worn-out talking points that may appease some of their big money donors, but are out of step with New York’s political reality. 

Few reasonable people consider Israel's response to the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023 that has left almost 60,000 Palestinians dead as proportional or just. If anything it has left Israel isolated and Jewish people more vulnerable to antisemitism. Mamdani’s views on the conflict in Gaza may not be in step with those who demand unconditional support of the Israeli government, but they are in step with the views of most New Yorkers.

Despite what Fox News says, there is nothing remotely radical about Mamdani’s affordability agenda. It only suggests that the wealthiest can and should contribute more to making the city a better place for everyone and that the government should be laser-focused on improving the lives of everyday New Yorkers by actually making the city affordable and livable. Voters have consistently shown it is their top priority. 

If New York Democrats don’t make real efforts to deliver on these basic concerns, they will continue to lose voters, especially young voters. No quieting of progressive voices will prevent it and being anti-Trump will not shield them from voter frustration. For all who value fairness, democracy and rule of law, translating this significant victory into a coalition that can win the general election and effectively govern in the face of an authoritarian regime in Washington is the central challenge. 

A successful Mamdani administration will help, not hurt the Democratic Party. Ironically, anti-Trump conservative David Brooks articulated the kind of broad unity that is needed when he called for a “civic uprising” in his April 17, New York Times op-ed. “It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising.…The only way he [Trump] is going to be stopped is if he’s confronted by some movement that possesses rival power.” 

People may differ on what a “fairer society” might exactly look like and “civic uprising” might be strong words for some Democratic leaders, but it does convey the sense of urgency demanded from our political leaders and what it’s going to take to get through this dark period in U.S. history. 

New York’s Democratic Party leaders can play an important part in leading a movement that can stop Trump and move us toward a fairer society by embracing the hundreds of thousands of their own primary voters in New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse and numerous other races across the state that voted for Working Families Party-endorsed candidates, Zohran Mamdani among them.

Working together, that energy and momentum can help flip Congress in 2026. It can help shape a state government that addresses the needs of ordinary people, not the egos and whims of billionaires or the paranoid fantasies of right-wing xenophobes. It can make the state of New York an example of what government and policies designed to lift up working families can accomplish. Or they can pretend that those voters don’t matter and take the path of Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams and their billionaire friends.