Democrats Looked for Lessons in New York City’s Mayoral Upset

Briefing|Democrats Looked for Lessons in New York City’s Mayoral Upset

Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist who only recently emerged from obscurity, is now all but certain to be the Democratic mayoral nominee to lead the nation’s largest city. He appears to have cruised to a surprisingly comfortable victory by energizing young and progressive New Yorkers with promises to address affordability.

The election results are not yet final, but Mamdani’s main rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, conceded. Now, attention has begun to turn to November’s general election and to the impact a far-left Democratic mayoral nominee could have on midterm races across the country.

In an interview today with my colleague Emma Fitzsimmons, Mamdani said he co-opted some of the talking points that President Trump used to secure re-election, including a focus on grocery prices. Here are five things to know about Mamdani.

Top New York Democrats like Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries congratulated Mamdani, but stopped short of outright endorsements. Other party leaders urged Cuomo to end his campaign rather than running as a third-party candidate in the general election.

Nationally, some party members pushed back against Mamdani’s democratic socialism and harsh criticism of Israel. He vowed to work to win over Jewish and Black voters who supported Cuomo, and he received an endorsement from Representative Jerrold Nadler, one of the city’s most prominent Jewish leaders.

Republicans sought to use Mamdani’s ascent to bludgeon national Democrats as extreme leftists. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Mamdani’s voice was “grating” and called him a “Communist Lunatic.”