By Alan Jones, NYC
The victory of Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic Party mayoral primaries in New York City on June 24th was a huge political earthquake. Mamdani, a 33-year-old, self-described democratic socialist defeated his nearest competitor, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, by a resounding 12 points. Zohran’s victory in NYC reflects a mounting resistance against Trump’s policies as well as the growing crisis of the Democratic Party establishment.
A left-wing campaigner who participated in the protests against Israeli policies in Gaza, Zohran Mamdani won against all odds. Zohran is the son of Muslim immigrant parents originally from Uganda and India and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Mamdani won by speaking and campaigning for the rights of working people and denouncing the current Democratic mayor of New York, Eric Adams, for implementing policies that favor the wealthy and corporations.
The victory came on the heels of the continuing mass resistance that has erupted among immigrants, unions and working people in Los Angeles against the rising authoritarian and militaristic tactics of immigration enforcement by ICE and the nearly five million who participated in the mass protests on April 5 and on “No Kings” Day, June 14 across the country.
These events reflect the growing upheaval and opposition to the far right, reactionary policies of President Trump but also a rebuff of the policies of the other party of the US oligarchy, the Democratic Party. Trump reacted to Zohran’s astonishing victory by calling him a “lunatic communist” and threatening to arrest and deport him or to cut federal funding for NYC.
Can’t afford capitalism
Zohran’s radical electoral platform had an electric effect among young people and workers who can no longer afford to live in the city. Tens of thousands volunteered on the streets in an unprecedented grass roots effort to defeat the main opposition to Zohran who sought to serve the rich, Wall Street and real estate oligarchs that are running the city.
Mamadani won by campaigning as an open socialist on the question of “affordability” in the US’s largest and richest city. His platform included freezing rents on 1 million rent-stabilized apartments; free bus fares; free, universal child care, “city-owned grocery stores”; a higher minimum wage ($30/hour by 2030); an increase of taxes on the super-rich and higher corporate taxes and the construction of 200,000 affordable public housing units over 10 years. Alongside these demands, Zohran has been a staunch supporter for workers on strike, immigrants and the LGBTQI+ community.
Furthermore, Mamadani has taken a firm stance against the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine, winning massive sympathy among young people during the pro-Gaza protests movements, which included his arrest on October 13, 2023.
Zohran’s victory in NYC and the continuing explosive protests in Los Angeles are an indication of the pent up anger of millions of workers and young people who live in the most unequal city in the U.S with 25% under the poverty line. Rents are astronomical and prices of basic needs are escalating.
Mamdani’s victory was a complete shock to the Democratic establishment that has ruled the city for decades. In February, Zohran registered about 1% of the vote among likely voters. By June 24, Zohran’s support had reached 43% of the vote, surpassing the big-business establishment-backed candidate Andrew Cuomo, who garnered 36%.
Reflecting the crisis of the current Democratic establishment, Cuomo had been forced to resign in 2021 as governor after allegations of sexual assault, but still enjoys the support of Wall Street, real estate big business and the AIPAC lobby is pouring millions in his coffers. The current mayor Adams, who was elected as a Democrat (and currently a “friend” of Trump) has chosen to run as an independent after he and his administration were mired by scandals and allegations of corruption.
Cuomo, Adams, and a full panoply of the Democratic establishment and their media allies sought to discredit Zohran’s campaign with vicious allegations that he is a “radical anti-Semite” (in a city with a Jewish population of 1.2 million), a “threat to US security” etc. But like pouring oil to the fire, the publicity and attacks further fueled the mass mobilization of 50,000 volunteers who made more than 1.5 million door-to-door visits and raised $8 million for his campaign—virtually the same amount that real estate, Wall Street firms and lobbies contributed to Cuomo.
The preferential vote count ended with Zohran winning 545,334 votes or 56% of the total over Cuomo’s 428,530 or 44% which in a city where registered Democratic party voters outnumber Republicans 6-1 historically should secure the victory of whoever won the primary.
The election further showed a deepening split among major unions which historically are aligned to the Democratic party conservative political establishment with a number of unions and union oppositions endorsing Zohran.
‘The Empire Strikes Back’ In the Empire State
As soon as the elections were over, the NYC and national media started a major campaign to defeat, demoralize or destroy this youth political revolt in the most important city of US imperialism and prevent it from developing any further. Trump was at the forefront with threats against what he called “a communist lunatic” and threatened to cut off federal funding to New York if he “doesn’t behave.” Republican leaders have proposed stripping him of his citizenship and deporting him.
The Trumpist attacks are complemented by attacks coming from Democrats and former Democrats. Cuomo and Adams are both running as “independents”, who are in reality candidates of the Wall Street billionaires, the Democratic Party establishment, and Israel’s AIPAC lobby. Together they are preparing to mobilize hundreds of millions of dollars to slander and attack Zohran.
Other attacks are less open or obvious. Senator Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are withholding “support” for Zohran unless he abandons his program and becomes a “realist” i.e. a servant of the capitalist oligarchy like they are.
Those who hear the siren call of this path of “realism” should be reminded where it led Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC) and Bernie Sanders, two of the most prominent firebrands of the left of the last period: AOC ended up cozying up to the corrupt Nancy Pelosi, defending Joe Biden’s war mongering, the inflationary attacks against working people and ultimately covering for Kamala Harris’ policies of arming Israel’s genocidal ethnic cleansing, while lying that Harris was working “tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.” Sanders failed to build a genuine independent alternative by his adherence to the Biden administration and the Democratic Party despite its clear failure to represent the interests of working people. Sadly, Sanders and AOC are currently using their popularity to bring people back to the electoral fold of the discredited and impotent Democratic party.
The only way for Zohran to avoid co-optation and surrender is to rely on the active mobilization and organization of the hundreds of thousands of young people and workers who support him to fight for a left wing program that refuses to serve the interests of the financial oligarchy and capitalism.
In fact, it is precisely the real – and quite modest – demands that Zohran fights for that can open the door for a far larger offensive to be organized against the greedy capitalist ruling elites of New York and become a beacon all around the country, if he unwaveringly pursues them.
For starters, Mamdani, as mayor, would have the option of ending the costly property abatements for large commercial buildings as well as the scandalous refusal to impose even a tiny sales tax on Wall Street transactions which would transfer according to some estimates $15 to $20 billion a year to NY State coffers and which could be used for housing, education and healthcare. Even ideas such as launching a city-owned, non-profit, municipal bank to challenge the stranglehold of big banks over mortgages and fees would be an immense relief for millions of New Yorkers.
Raising taxes on the super-rich (an immensely popular demand according to all polls!) is an essential step necessary to begin to change the current abysmal situation facing workers and the poor in NYC. However, the financial oligarchy will not voluntarily accept a program of social justice and as long as the big banks and the capitalists remain in control they will continue to serve the interests of profit – not meet the needs of working people.
Build the movement
For the Zohran campaign and those on the left who want to see it succeed there is no other way but to continue an intransigent, relentless mobilization of the hundreds of thousands of young people and workers who support the campaign and fight for a socialist program that serves the interests of workers, not the profits of capitalism.
It is important that Mamdani resists the endearing embrace of the media and of the Democratic establishment to retreat on key issues. For example, it is important to continue to explain that NYPD’s violent, racist and repressive actions are not due to alleged “lack of training” but reflect institutional police racism and violence in defense of property and against democratic rights.
The pressures to water down even the limited program of reforms Mamdani proposes will be immense. Many on the liberal left will start mumbling that his program is “unrealistic” and “better get a little rather than nothing”, etc. In reality, it is much more unrealistic to expect the oligarchy (or the Democratic party which, by the way, has collapsed at the polls to 29% from around 49% two years ago) to reform itself, to do what is right, etc. It is the same false ideas that led Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to squander the opportunity to build a genuine left alternative based on the working class and the oppressed in the US against the two ruling class parties, effectively supporting the Biden administration, which only served to pave the way for more wars, inflation, ethnic cleansing against Palestinians and …Trump.
While the Democratic Party (which is controlled lock-stock-and-barrel by the ruling class) and the NGO “progressives” insist on moderation, and to wait patiently for elections to challenge Trumpism, Trump continues a relentless war on immigrants and the working class. The Supreme Court has just approved laws that may soon allow the revocation of citizenship for children of immigrants born in the U.S. The emergence of far right authoritarianism can be seen by the announcement of virtual concentration camps like “Alcatraz Detention Center,” obscene military parades and the appearance of the National Guard and military in major cities of the US.
It is clear that the Zohran campaign will continue to battle through the November election, with the support of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. While winning the primary was an astonishing political earthquake in itself, we should all be reminded what happened to India Walton (a progressive candidate) in 2021, who won the Democratic primary for Mayor of Buffalo, NY by five percentage points, only to see her pro-corporate incumbent opponent, Byron Brown, defeat her as a write-in candidate at the general election, by a margin of 59 to 40%.
The Walton-Brown race should serve as a sharp reminder that the Democratic Party (like the Republicans) is a tool of big business interests. The arrayed forces of corporate media, big real estate, Wall Street, and Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo (on his “Fight and Deliver” back-up ballot line) will increase their vicious attacks, probably raising levels of hysteria we have not seen since the Cold War.
The Role of the Left
The Zohran Mamdani campaign represents an historic opportunity for rebuilding a working-class, socialist left in NYC. The only way to revitalize and rebuild fighting unions and socialist politics is not just in elections but as an ongoing active organization of working people. The recent announcement by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana in Britain that they are leaving the pro-capitalist Labor Party to launch a new socialist party is an important development that we in the USA should note.
The 50,000 volunteers for Mamdani and the millions likely to vote for this incredible campaign represent an historic opportunity for sinking real roots into many of NYC’s 300 neighborhoods, building active union campaigns, and linking a radical, socialist program challenging the rule of Wall Street and the billionaire class to candidates tied to the labor and social movements for state and federal office next year.
Convening urgently a citywide conference of the active Zohran for Mayor campaign, local, democratically-organised committees of Zohran volunteers, endorsing union delegates, tenant and immigrant rights advocates, socialists, as well as the growing New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) would help orient and build the fightback whichever way this unfolds. DSA’s New York City chapter and unions that endorsed Mamdani could play an important role. This conference could help to strengthen the links, coordination, and capacity between an ongoing Zohran for Mayor campaign and the emergent campaigns of left-wing unions, workers, students, and community organizations. It would also begin the process of developing accountability, real grassroots organizing and socialist candidates to potentially run for office next year in the districts Zohran’s campaign has activated. Implicit in such an approach is that Mamdani breaks with the pro-big business and anti-worker Democratic Party. These efforts would help rebuild real working class power, a fighting labor movement and lay the basis for ongoing active organization – a mass, democratic, worker-centered new socialist party, a force needed to challenge the capitalist dictatorship that runs New York City.
