Zohran Mamdani and a Small Victory for the People

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist

05 Nov 2025

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New Yorkers experienced some democracy with Zohran Mamdani's victory in the mayor's race and are inspiring voters across the country to believe that change is possible. But the outcome is a challenge to the Democratic Party establishment and its donor class, who will not give up power easily in New York City or elsewhere.

The word democracy is thrown around rather loosely, and is largely misused by the scoundrels who want everything except governance by the people. There are many definitions of that word but its essence is the idea that the people will have their wants and needs met by the political system. Voting is one way to bring about democracy, but the system has become more and more corrupt over time, with billionaires making and breaking candidates and deciding who will or won’t be on a ballot before voters have any say in the process at all.

New York City voters gave themselves a little democracy by electing New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani as their next mayor. Mamdani is young, 34-years old, has served only three terms in the Assembly, and was largely unknown to the public until he ran in the Democratic Party mayoral primary in 2025. He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and as such is on the left wing of the democrats and therein lies an important tale.

Former governor Andrew Cuomo was also a candidate in the primary. He resigned as governor in 2021 after growing and credible allegations of sexual harassment lead to a loss of political support and a possible expulsion from office. Cuomo was also responsible for requiring nursing homes to admit patients who tested positive for COVID-19, which led to an estimated 15,000 deaths which were covered up by his administration and which also gave immunity to those institutions where so many elderly people lost their lives. Cuomo was known for being vindictive and self-serving, so unconcerned about the welfare of New York State that he gave the 2020 census such a low priority that a congressional seat was lost.

Cuomo believed that name recognition and more importantly, the backing of billionaire donors, would suffice even if his scandals were not erased from public memory. He had good reason to be confident because money does rule politics in the United States. The candidate with a bigger campaign war chest is usually the winner and Cuomo was not unrealistic in thinking that he would emerge triumphant. But he came in second in the primary to Mamdani and continued his campaign as an independent.

Mamdani had prodigious fundraising of his own and he had a message which resonated with voters. He ran on the issue of “affordability.” New York City has become largely unaffordable to working people, and in particular to Black people with 200,000 leaving since the year 2000. The price of housing is the primary cause of the exodus as even those neighborhoods which gave Black workers the possibility of home ownership are rapidly being gentrified. Living wage work is scarce and all of the promises of “middle class” life for U.S. workers are now illusory.

While corporate media and the Democratic Party establishment dismissed his ideas about city-run grocery stores, voters who are constrained by the rising cost of food or who live in food deserts, were supportive. Mamdani also proposes freezing rents for rent stabilized apartments and making public buses free.

These plans, which addressed pressing needs, were dismissed as being outlandish and impossible even though they have been a reality in the recent past. Former mayor Bill de Blasio enacted three rent freezes during his two terms in office. Buses were free during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Mamdani was painted as a Muslim socialist or a communist who would also bring Sharia Law to New York, voters were well aware that the City of New York could possibly do for them again what it had done previously.

Mamdani stuck to the most basic political truism. He talked about what the people want. The Democratic Party establishment specializes in telling their voters just the opposite, that what they want is impossible and unrealistic. They even cast blame on their own voters for their electoral failures, constantly warning that acceding to the demands of the rank and file will bring republicans to office. The issues in question may be raising the minimum wage or instituting a national system of free health care but the answer is always a resounding “No!” That position not only put Donald Trump and the Republican Party back in control in Washington but has brought the democrats to an ignominious low point in public approval. Their ratings are below those of the Republicans, even during Donald Trump’s orchestrated shutdown of the government. No matter. They make clear that Mamdani’s slightly leftish reformism should not be on the political agenda in New York or anywhere else.

The Washington Post editorial board dramatically opined, “Zohran Mamdani’s Success is a Warning” with an editorial full of laughable fear mongering. “Supporters of free markets have failed to articulately make their case in New York, and Mamdani’s success is a warning to business-friendly Democrats that they’ll have to do better.” New York City will still be the capital of capitalism. Mamdani cannot do away with “free markets” and has not said that he would even try.

Mamdani succeeded because “free markets” have made it harder to secure food, housing and jobs. The only surprise is that he circumvented the party fat cats whose money kept Cuomo in the running, which is why corporate media like the Washington Post are opposed to him. His success could change Democratic Party politics and make it harder to dispose of candidates who want to bring about even some of the reformist change which is anathema to the establishment.

As Cuomo went to the polls in what he obviously knew to be a losing effort he spoke as a sore loser of the “failures” of socialism which Mamdani is not even proposing. "I think if the far-left socialists were to win, I think long-term, it would be very detrimental to the future of the Democratic Party. This country is not a socialist country. This city is not a socialist city. The state is not a socialist state. Socialism has never worked anywhere on the globe.”

New Yorkers should be so lucky as to actually have socialism and in any case Cuomo’s red baiting didn’t work because the people are in need and the duopoly is no longer seen as being legitimate. It was somewhat comical to see Trump give a back handed compliment endorsement to Cuomo. “I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other, but if it’s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you.” Cuomo, who is many things but not a fool, immediately rejected the endorsement, knowing quite well that a seal of approval from Trump would seal his fate with many late deciding New York City voters.

Although it would be a mistake to think that New Yorkers are outliers and different from other Democratic Party voters across the country. Mamdani has shown that change is an electoral winner for people who are constantly told that they must not even think of making political demands. The establishment is well aware of that fact which is why the Washington Post felt compelled to weigh-in on a New York City race.

Mamdani’s victory does pose challenges to the left. The billionaires who spent money to defeat him will not take their marbles and go home. They will attempt to influence him just as they would any other mayor. Mamdani himself has shown weakness, such as when he called the presidents of Venezuela and Cuba “dictators” while downplaying the deadly results of U.S. sanctions against their countries. Zionists attacked him for his principled stance against Israeli apartheid and genocide which he has softened under their pressure. He says that Israel has a right to exist, “As a state with equal rights,” which is wishful liberal thinking that contradicts the tenets of zionism itself. His statement on October 7 made reference to a “genocidal war” but led with a denunciation of Hamas. That kind of liberalism is highly problematic and it would be a mistake for the left to refrain from critique should he take their support for granted.

The excitement generated by the Mamdani campaign is not due only to his shrewd strategy and his personal charisma. People were excited at the prospect of finally being listened to and to having a mayor who beat the billionaires whose control is beating them up. When given a chance to vote for someone who took their needs seriously they said, “Yes,” and they are being heard far beyond the five boroughs of New York City. He may well change politics around the country, and that is why his enemies are afraid.

Margaret Kimberley is the author of Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents. You can support her work on Patreon and also find it on Twitter, Bluesky, and Telegram platforms. She can be reached via email at margaret.kimberley@blackagendareport.com.