Zohran Mamdani victory throws the US empire into a panic

Zohran Mamdani Speaking at a DSA 101 Meeting at the Church of the Village in NYC (Picture: Bingjiefu He)

Socialist Zohran Mamdani has won a historic victory in the New York mayoral election.

The Democrat candidate has won 50.4 percent of the vote while corrupt Andrew Cuomo won 41.6 percent. 

About 91 percent of the votes have been counted. 

Corporate crook Cuomo stood as an independent after he lost the race to be the Democratic Party candidate to Mamdani. Republican Curtis Sliwa came third on 7.1 percent.

Mamdani’s campaign to be New York City mayor has terrified the establishment and been a spark of hope for ordinary people. He has a clear message, “I don’t think that we should have billionaires.”

New York was full of Mamdani’s blue and yellow stickers and posters during the campaign. A mass rally last week drew up to 13,000 people to the Forest Hills stadium.

David-Desyree is a member of the Amazon Labor Union on Staten Island, the one unionised Amazon facility in the United States. They said, “Zohran’s message and the movement around him have lit a fire. There is a lot of energy—people are up and voting.”

Socialist activist Eric Fretz told Socialist Worker, “People didn’t think Mamdani had a chance in the Democrat primaries, but he beat the establishment Democrat candidates. People hate Donald Trump, but they are just as angry at the Democrats for not doing anything.”

Mamdani was a self-described socialist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

His campaign is a reflection of the international Palestine solidarity movement, the hatred many Americans feel about Trump, his immigration raids and the deep class divide within the US.

New York tops the world for the most billionaires. But ordinary people suffer in tiny, freezing apartments. A report in 2023 found that half of New York’s ­households cannot afford the cost of rent, food and healthcare. Mamdani talks about working class people being “pushed out of the city they built”.

He promises to freeze rent for millions of New Yorkers and build 200,000 new homes in ten years. He talks about free childcare for under five year olds and a network of low priced, city-owned grocery stores—achieved by a wealth tax on the richest 1 percent.

Mamdani’s policies are not just about economic issues. He wants to protect migrant New Yorkers and keep Immigration Customs and Enforcement—Ice—out of city facilities.

NYC DSA member Jesse Ortiz told Socialist Worker that Mamdani “has demonstrated a commitment to supporting Muslim and immigrant groups”.

“He has worked tirelessly with mosques and other community organisations throughout the city.

“I think this is particularly salient in post-9/11 NYC when Muslims, Arabs and South Asians were brutally villainised and targeted by local and national politicians, and in the current context of Trump’s opposition to immigration.”

And Mamdani rages against politicians, including the establishment Democrats, who care more about their mega rich donors than ordinary people.

The incumbent, Eric Adams, flooded the subway with cops and drove up arrests for minor crimes, such as fare evasion.

Adams endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor, who is running as an independent having lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani.

Cuomo is backed by real estate interests and the rich, such as former mayor Michael Bloomberg who has donated millions to his campaign.

David-Desyree said Cuomo’s behaviour is “atrocious”.

“He resigned in disgrace over sexual harassment and for whatever reason he is empowered to run for mayor of New York City. He’s ­bankrolled by corporations and billionaires.” Politician and former Cuomo aid Lindsey Boylan now backs Mamdani.

She told Socialist Worker, “He’s bucked the trend of what politicians say and do and started listening to people. The Democrats have lost their way.

“They think they already know what people think and feel. People are profoundly disenchanted with the Democrats.”

She added, “Mamdani has stood up for things and has political clarity even if it comes at a cost—except it hasn’t come at a cost because actually a lot of New Yorkers agree with him.”

The campaign has struck a chord in Britain. In a recent discussion about the need for a left alternative in Britain, Zarah Sultana said, “We need to make a clear set of demands. Think of Mamdani in New York, even many of us here in Britain know what his main pledges are and they resonate on a level far deeper than most political discourse.”

The Mamdani campaign is not just about clever graphic design and good communication. He has put himself clearly on the side of working class people against the rich.

It is a rebuke to the idea that politicians need to tack to the right to try to win votes from conservative voters.

Horror in the Hamptons

Mamdani, who is Muslim and was born in Uganda, has faced a torrent of personal attacks and smears.

His rivals say he will turn the metropolis into a dystopian nightmare with rampant crime and poverty. He has been accused of antisemitism. When he said his aunt faced Islamophobia after 9/11, his family’s social media was scoured for evidence.

Trump supporting congressperson Andy Ogles said on social media, “This man came to America for one reason—to turn America into an Islamic theocracy.

“I say NO to Sharia law—which is why I’ve presented an argument to have Mamdani sent back to Uganda based on information he clearly withheld.”

Ogles has called for mass deportations to prevent a future “subversive” such as Mamdani from ever settling in the US. 

Even a moderate campaign to challenge the wealth and power of the ruling class will face a barrage of attacks in the media and from other politicians.

But Mamdani has been able to point to the class interests behind the hate. A campaign video skewered the super wealthy New Yorkers who spend their summers in the exclusive Hamptons resort town, “The Hamptons is basically in group therapy about the mayoral race, in other words the plutocrats are panicking”, it said.

The campaign shows the need to confront the smears head on.

Where next for the left?

Mamdani’s campaign has mobilised a huge number of ordinary people—some 90,000 volunteers.

It is a force that could strengthen the Palestine movement, lay the basis for networks of activists who could oppose Ice raids and revitalise the trade unions.

Some will be drawing very different lessons if he wins—that electing a socialist shows the real opportunities for change are in the halls of power.

But the movement will face immense pressures. Trump has threatened to send the National Guard to the city and will want to punish New Yorkers by withdrawing funding.

From day one of Mamdani’s time in office, the rich and powerful will be out to smash him.

And there will be pressure on Mamdani to fall in behind the Democratic establishment, a pressure that will only grow once in office.

If Mamdani looks to mobilise working class people in the streets and in the workplaces, it would provide a base that has the power to beat back these pressures.

But there are no guarantees. Look at Bernie Sanders, the left wing former US presidential candidate who endorsed Mamdani, ended up lining up behind Joe Biden and the Democrat machine.

Another left wing Democrat from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), this year voted against an amendment in the House of Representatives that would have cut funds to Israel.

This is not because they lack principles, but because of the immense pull on politicians to moderate their message in an effort to win votes.

Mamdani has been accused of wanting to defund the police. But, very far from this, he plans to keep in place Adams’s police commissioner Jessica Tisch in an effort to reassure moderate Democrats.

He initially stood by his use of the pro-Palestine slogan “globalise the Intifada”, but then said he would no longer say it. He has also said he defends Israel’s right to exist.

This has rattled some anti-Zionist activists like David-Desyree. They said, “My hope is that if Zohran is elected it will help the labour movement by being an ally in the mayor’s office.”

But they added that some of the campaign’s messaging gave them pause and concern. They said, “I would rather we stood on principle and pushed our ideas to the fore and be confrontational. But I’m hanging on to hope. A lot is up in the air and a lot is to be seen.

“Ultimately the only thing that will bring us change, so we don’t have to worry about a roof over our head or putting food on the table, will be the working class movement taking the reins. It’s an extremely uphill battle.”

Some sections of the DSA want to pull the Democratic Party to the left. New York University student and DSA member Yandel Goris told Socialist Worker, “We need more people to join the Democratic Party so we can elect a new generation of leadership. Many people, myself included, feel left behind by the Democrats but people like Mamdani change things.”

At other times DSA members have supported candidates outside of the Democrats. But the question for socialists isn’t just one of which candidate to support, it’s about how to build movements that can go beyond electoral politics.

As Yandel also said, “I also believe that more people should remain engaged outside of the Democratic Party as well.” He argued that people should campaign “across a wide range of issues”.

“We need to continue working even after Mamdani wins the election. We need year-round organising.”

Building up organisation independent of the Democrats is crucial. Eric explained that, “In the US there’s been a lack of a credible electoral face of the social movements.”

The Occupy Movement of 2011 mobilised a feeling of “us vs them”. The Black Lives Matter movement changed people’s ideas about race in the US. But didn’t lead to any lasting political organisation. So people are turning to electoral movements.

Eric added, “That has contradictory effects. When you have attacks on everyone who speaks out over Palestine, if you have a mayor who is not going to be part of the repression it helps.

“But on the other hand there are figures on the left who say this is what socialism is. They say you can’t criticise him and if you do it’s ultra‑left.

“Because he is running as a Democrat candidate the same pressures are on him as on people like AOC.

“The compromises he is already starting to make are partly because he is on a Democrat ticket. He has benefited from disgust with the established Democrats. But he is making it more difficult for there to be an alternative in the long run.”

Eric added, “What happens next will depend a lot on what the left do. We can’t just wait and see what Mamdani does.”