When progressive young New York State Assemblyman and Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani mounted a mayoral campaign in the nation’s largest city, Sunrise Movement, a youth-led environmental organization, was quick to endorse him. Despite not typically endorsing local candidates on their national chapter, Mamdani was so appealing that both their national and New York City hubs backed the assemblyman.
“Zohran himself is a proud Democratic Socialist…regardless of what term you ascribe to, the fact of the matter is that [Mamdani’s] policies and what he’s speaking to is something that the broad majority of the electorate wants,” said Sunrise Movement New York City’s Lead of Elected Partnerships, Michael Magazine.
Sunrise is among a handful of organizations that have endorsed Mamdani, including the Democratic Socialists of America, Working Families Party of New York, New York State Nurses Association and others.
Beyond endorsements, Mamdani’s campaign boasts over 90,000 volunteers.
As Mamdani maintains a double-digit lead over opponents former Governor Andrew Cuomo and founder of crime-prevention organization Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa, New Yorkers are gearing up for a historic night, as the city seeks to elect its first Muslim mayor, bookending a grassroots campaign that drew national attention and invited broad discourse about the Democratic Socialist movement and its place in the party.
Mamdani’s probable victory comes alongside a shift among Democratic voters, where the party is expressing receptiveness toward socialist ideals in response to President Donald Trump’s policies.
The Democratic electorate is also moving leftward, with voters harboring increasingly negative views of capitalism.
As politicians on the left coalesce around the candidate, many applaud his bold agenda and focus on affordability.
“Zohran talked about how expensive it is to live in New York City, and he came up with ways to fix that,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told Medill News Service.
At the same time, various conservatives and some moderate Democrats caution that Mamdani’s campaign skews too far to the left and critique the growing cohort of Democrats who identify with Mamdani and his Democratic Socialist movement.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) critiqued the growing receptiveness to socialism within the Democratic Party. Lawler even introduced the “Mamdani Act,” legislation that would “evaluate the downstream effects” of government-run grocery stores.
“It’s clear just how far from the mainstream their party has drifted. The question now is whether the adults in the room will step up before New York becomes completely unrecognizable,” Lawler said in a statement to Medill News Service.
SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIALISM
Democratic socialism in America has not long been a dominant trend. The DSA, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding the movement, was founded in 1982 after the merging of two 1970s-era socialist groups in response to Reagan-era policies that they deemed too far to the right.
The DSA holds a membership of around 51,000 as of October 2024, united around the goal of harnessing the power of working people to govern society. In its constitution, it purports to “reject an economic order based on private profit, alienated labor, gross inequalities of wealth and power.”
Mamdani is a member of the New York City Chapter of the DSA, which has been a longtime supporter of the assemblyman, stretching back to his time in the state legislature. For some voters and politicians, the “Democratic Socialist” label has been an albatross, which Cuomo and Sliwa have tried to hang on him.
Among Mamdani’s proposals is free bus service, freezing rent for tenants, raising taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents and increasing the tax rate for top-earning companies. Mamdani also seeks to dramatically expand access to child care and reduce grocery prices by spearheading city-owned supermarkets in each of the five boroughs.
Micah Uetricht, a Mamdani volunteer, member of the DSA and the co-author of “Bigger than Bernie: How We Go From the Sanders Campaign to Democratic Socialism,” said that Mamdani’s emphasis on affordability distinguished him from previous New York City mayoral candidates.
“In an unaffordable city, everyone who lives here knows that it is a genuine struggle to survive here, and that it shouldn’t be, and that it doesn’t have to be. [Mamdani] zeroed in on that, a feeling that millions of New Yorkers have, and he made that the centerpiece of his campaign,” he said.
Early on, Mamdani’s campaign capitalized on leveraging social media to spread his message. He participated in various attention-grabbing expeditions, like walking from one end of Manhattan to the other, participating in the Coney Island ocean plunge on New Year’s Day and shepherding heart-shaped balloons across the city for Valentine’s Day while singing a parody of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”
Another aspect of his popularity in the primary stemmed from the public disapproval of his primary opponents: Eric Adams, the incumbent mayor whose term was marked by corruption scandals, and Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 after sexual harassment allegations. Adams pulled out of the race in late September after trailing Cuomo and Mamdani.
Mamdani’s decisive primary win on July 1 – 56% to Cuomo’s 44% – sparked conversations about the Democratic Socialist movement, with the DSA itself stating on June 27: “In New York City, socialism has won.”
According to a Gallup poll conducted in September, 66% of Democrats hold a positive view of socialism, compared to 50% in 2010. Meanwhile, Democrats’ approval of capitalism rests at 42%, down from 51% in 2010. More broadly, the bipartisan approval of capitalism has fallen to 54% from 60% in 2021, the lowest Gallup approval rating on record.
Fordham University Professor Emeritus of Political Science Bruce Berg said that the concept of a Democratic Socialist mayor is not foreign in a city like New York. He said that progressive candidates have consistently found success in the city, pointing to former mayor Bill de Blasio’s rise to office in November 2013.
“For any person to call themselves a socialist may be crazy to someone in Kansas…New York has had a socialist Democratic left for quite some time. And while the label itself may be new, what the label represents in the city is not new,” he said.
“The socialist left has been much more present in New York City than it has been nationally,” he added.
Lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) are outspoken voices in the socialist movement in Congress. Both Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have rallied and campaigned publicly for Mamdani.
“I think that there is massive dissatisfaction with an uber-capitalist system today, in which we have more income and wealth inequality than we’ve ever had, when 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, while the billionaire class has never had it so good,” Sanders told Medill News Service.
SUPPORT AMONG DEMOCRATS
Mamdani’s rise has forced members of the Democratic establishment to either support the candidate or dodge questions about why they haven’t yet. In September, New York Governor Kathy Hochul endorsed Mamdani while opposing raising taxes on the wealthy, one of his key positions.
Still, Uetricht said that politicians are motivated to align with popular candidates for their own political gain.
“You don’t have to be socialist to read the writing on the wall in New York City politics at this moment, which is that Zohran Mamdani is wildly popular and if you’re an average politician, you want to be associated with that wild popularity,” he said.
Sen. Warren is an early backer of the candidate, having endorsed him in June and campaigned with him in August.
“Universal child care, access to grocery stores, making city government work better…he showed how it would matter, all the way down to a $2 difference in your falafel. That’s a powerful message from someone who’s running for office and tells the whole world who he’ll be fighting for,” she said.
Mamdani’s goal to make buses free was also appealing to Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), who said the policy was an actionable plan.
“The ferry service going to Staten Island is free, and it has proven to be very effective for the residents of Staten Island, so free and fast buses, I think, is something that could be accomplished budgetarily,” he told Medill News Service.
Despite Mamdani’s young age and lack of governing experience outside of the state Assembly, many House Democrats are swayed by his progressive agenda.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told Medill News Service that Mamdani is ready to seek a strong cabinet.
“I think he’s somebody who has not just the charisma to run a major city—that’s great—but I think it’s really the willingness to go and understand what the team is that he needs to build around him,” she said.
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said that Mamdani’s vision for the city motivated her to endorse him, echoing that she is confident he will surround himself with capable advisers.
“I think that [Mamdani’s] passion and his desire to serve is the important thing…I think that he’ll have enough strength and wisdom around him for him to consult with to make sure that he’s navigating the leadership of the city of New York appropriately,” she told Medill News Service.
After weeks of speculation, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Mamdani for mayor on Oct. 24, deepening his bench of high-profile endorsements.
In a press release, he said that there would be “areas of principled disagreement.” “Yet the stakes are essential,” he continued, expressing concern about the economic toll the Trump administration has taken, along with frustrations around the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud.
A TARGET FOR MODERATES, CONSERVATIVES
In June, President Trump posted to Truth Social that Mamdani was a “communist lunatic” after ranked choice voting results favored him to win the primary. Trump and Republicans like House Speaker Mike Johnson have continuously criticized Mamdani, pointing to him as an example of perceived extremism on the left.
Outgoing Mayor Adams has also pounced on Mamdani’s socialist leanings, warning New Yorkers that his win could erode Democratic norms.
“New York can’t be Europe, folks,” Adams said while endorsing Cuomo in October.
Johnson also critiqued Mamdani’s Democratic socialist leanings.
“He has called to, quote, ‘seize the means of production’ because he is a Marxist,” Johnson said in a late October press conference on the government shutdown. During the shutdown, the Speaker has repeatedly denounced what he referred to as a “Marxist claim in the Democratic Party.”
Moderates like Rep. Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.) said Mamdani is too far to the left, tweeting a criticism of Mamdani and the Democratic socialist movement in June.
She echoed that message in September when Hochul endorsed Mamdani.
“I’ve made my position clear from the start: socialist Zohran Mamdani is absolutely wrong for NY and I completely disagree with the Governor’s endorsement of this candidate,” she tweeted.
Critics also point to Mamdani’s pro-Palestinian leanings and anti-Zionist statements as evidence that the assemblyman will not be a strong representative for the city’s large Jewish population.
Rep. Gillen said Mamdani has “demonstrated a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable antisemitic comments which stoke hate at a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing,” said Gillen.
Despite campaign outreach to the Jewish community, Mamdani has consistently maintained that he opposes Zionism, a movement advocating for a Jewish homeland in Israel. This has alienated him from movements like the American Jewish Committee, who condemn his position on the term “globalize the intifada.” While Mamdani eventually told business leaders in July that he would “discourage” the term, which many interpret to be language calling for violence toward Jews, Mamdani had previously offered evasive answers to whether or not he would condemn the phrase.
Adams shared Gillen’s concerns about Mamdani’s ambitious policy agenda, criticizing his plan to freeze rent for tenants.
“When you lie and state that you can freeze rent, you can’t freeze rent in NYCHA [New York City Housing Authority]. You can’t freeze rent in Mitchell Lama. You can’t freeze rent in market rate housing…we’re fighting against a snake of a salesman that has sold us a bill of goods,” he said
Despite these criticisms, Mamdani remains wildly popular with New York voters as he rides a large wave of support into Election Day. According to an Oct. 25 poll from Emerson College, Mamdani is polling at 50%, compared to Cuomo’s 25% and Sliwa’s 21% ahead of Election Day.
