Zohran Mamdani’s upset over Andrew Cuomo in NYC’s mayoral primary has cracked the Democratic machine’s decades-long grip, proving grassroots organizing can muscle out billionaire financing and establishment smear campaigns.
“Son, they shook, 'Cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks, Scared to death, scared to look, they shook, 'Cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks.” - Mobb Deep
There’s a tremor developing in New York City, and it’s shaking the foundation of the Democrat Party establishment as well as New York City’s Democrat Party machine that’s held a firm grip on the outcomes of elections in the City for decades. A 33-year-old, Democratic Socialist, Zohran Mamdani, a State Assemblymember representing the 36th District located in Queens , has defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo and other candidates in the Democrat Party primary for Mayor of New York City.- Cuomo called Mamdani to concede the nomination at roughly 10:40 PM EST. Mamdani is now poised to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor and the youngest since Hugh John Grant, who was inaugurated at age 30 in 1889.
The fact that Mamdani defeated a veteran candidate with massive name recognition, whose father, Mario Cuomo, also served as New York’s governor, and a popular one for most of his tenure, in itself is a profound achievement. But the story is not just about Mamdani’s meteoric rise that has captured the attention of New Yorkers, the entire nation, and, most likely, the entire world. The story is the fact that Mamdani has demonstrably circumvented the inertia thrown at him by the Democrat Party establishment and its cadre of corporatist billionaires, real estate lobbyists, zionist hatchetmen, and centrist acolytes.
Democrats tried everything to defeat Mamdani - from false and feckless accusations of antisemitism, to characterizing him as a supporter of terrorism due to his solidarity with the Palestinian people, and a $25 million Super Pac backing Cuomo that resorted to contemptible Islamophobia in a failed effort to beguile New Yorkers. And in doing so, the Democrat Party once again exposed itself as an unmoored political party that now must contend with the fact that a Muslim immigrant who ran on a truly populist platform - including free and fast public transit, a rent freeze, free childcare, climate justice, and raising the minimum wage to $30/hour - that centered poor and working class New Yorkers will now likely lead the largest city in the United States and one of the financial capitals of the world.
The hypocrisy of the Democrat Party was also exposed during the mayoral race as just two years ago they pushed the scandal ridden Cuomo out of the governor’s office, potentially fearing that he would have mounted a challenge to President Biden in 2024, and then conjured a toxic panoply of party establishment leaders to back him ranging from Michael Bloomberg, to Congressman James Clyburn, and former president Bill Clinton. In overcoming this effort, Mamdani may very well have also delivered a major blow to the idea held by far too many Democrats and their consultant class that the U.S. polity is not amenable to left-leaning policies such as Medicare for All, family-sustaining wages, and fair taxation of the ultra-wealthy.
The question is whether the Democrats will take lessons from yesterday’s outcome or resist it by throwing money and their centrist kitchen sink at Mamdani during the general election in November. Will the party actually back Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an Independent, as they did against India Walton in 2022 when she won the Democratic primary for Mayor of Buffalo and then lost in the general election to a write-in candidate backed by the State party establishment? Cuomo will also be on the ballot on the Fight and Deliver party line, a Cuomo creation meant to keep him on the ballot regardless of the primary outcome. Mamdani and his team will have to remain vigilant and take nothing for granted when it comes to a Democrat party that has perpetually shown they would rather lose to the GOP than lose to the Left.
Regardless of what the Democrats choose to do in New York moving forward, it’s clear that Mamdani, in doing something that Bernie Sanders was unable to in 2016 and 2020, has demonstrated that big grassroots power can indeed defeat big money. And this will have Democrat party bosses across the country shaking in their boots, for as the old saying goes about New York City, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”
No Compromise
No Retreat
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright is an international climate and environmental liberation advocate, a racial justice practitioner, and a writer and policy expert residing in the United States with his family and their mischievous cat, “Evil” Ernie. He is a proud and active member of the Black Alliance for Peace and the Movement for Black Lives. His radio program, “Full Spectrum with Anthony Rogers-Wright,” airs on the Mighty WPFW network every Tuesday at 6:00 PM EST.
Alec Karakatsanis is an attorney with a long history of work as a public defender.
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