MAMDANI WINS!!!—Now the Hard Work Begins

On November 4, New York City voters delivered a resounding YES vote to elect Zohran Mamdani as mayor of the largest US city. The final results (yet to be certified) gave Mamdani 50.4% of the vote to Andrew Cuomo’s 41.6% and 7.1% for Republican Curtis Sliwa.

To a great extent, the election was over after Mamdani smashed the Democratic Party establishment by trouncing disgraced New York ex-Gov. Cuomo in the June 24 primary: Mamdani 56% to Cuomo 43%

Mamdani’s primary campaign benefited from “Ranked Choice Voting,” which enables candidates to endorse one another in a coalition to eliminate a candidate perceived as a danger to their shared values. In the June primary, five candidates, led by Mamdani, united to defeat the corrupt Cuomo. In particular, the cross endorsement of Mamdani by NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, who is prominent in the Jewish community, helped to deflect attacks accusing Mamdani of anti-Semitism.

The 34-year-old Mamdani projected confidence, discipline, and a sense of humor. When he called for a rent freeze in January, he welcomed the New Year on a Coney Island beach by plunging into the freezing ocean. Mamdani was fully clothed in his signature blue suit and tie! Videos of this stunt went viral. Since then, he has produced hundreds of short, punchy social media posts throughout the primary and final election push.

A winning candidate that calls out our broken, rigged economic system (just like Bernie Sanders) sets the stage for more “paycheck populists” in the 2026 congressional midterms.

The most compelling aspect of Mamdani’s campaign has been his platform's bold specificity. Unlike most candidates who talk in platitudes about values, integrity, and what they are against. Mamdani has put forward very specific policy goals:

• Increase the Minimum Wage to $30 by 2030
• Freeze the Rents
• No Cost Childcare
• Free buses
• City Owned Grocery Stores

Make the Rich Pay!

Mamdani’s platform has been attacked by the elites as fiscally impossible. He has proposed paying for the increased costs of services by raising the corporate tax rate, and levying a 2% tax on the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers; those earning above $1 million per year annually.

While Mamdani’s proposals clearly resonated with New York voters, winning elections takes more than a specific program: It requires a strong organization and cadres out in the field knocking on doors. In Mamdani's case, he had 45,000 volunteers in the primary, with grassroots enthusiasm expanding for the final election to 87,000 volunteers. It’s the largest grassroots campaign in New York City's history. At the core of Mamdani’s support are members of the New York’s Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) chapter. Mamdani has been an active member of the chapter and won his election to the New York Assembly with support from the group.

The labor movement with a few exceptions played it safe in the June primary and supported the traditional Democrat, Cuomo. But Mamdani’s smashing victory caused a quick pivot among NYC’s most powerful labor organizations—Teachers, municipal employees, Teamsters, and service workers. Mamdani’s campaign now lists 22 union endorsements.

As Mamdani’s election began to appear very tenable, the attacks magnified. President Donald Trump and the billionaires have been running a full range of attack ads accusing Mamdani of anti-Semitism for his unflagging support for Gaza and bashing him as naïve and inexperienced because of his populist and “unreasonable socialist” program.

With Mamdani’s victory comes the challenges of governing and delivering on his ambitious platform. While it’s unlikely that New York’s billionaires will all relocate to Texas to avoid higher taxes, it’s very likely that there will be strong political resistance among traditional elected Democrats in New York’s state government, which has purview over NYC taxation and spending decisions. That is why Mamdani has made it clear that the army of campaign volunteers cannot be demobilized. They must remain ready to attack any locally elected state representatives who try to thwart Mamdani’s agenda in the state legislature.

Viva Mamdani! Viva New York

Mamdani’s win stands as an example in the midst of the rising anti-worker, anti-people authoritarianism of New York native Donald Trump. While New Yorkers are generally considered very liberal, the fact that Mamdani’s message of taxing billionaires to make life affordable for the 99% reverberated so well with New York’s struggling working class is an important lesson for other aspiring Democrats. A winning candidate that calls out our broken, rigged economic system (just like Bernie Sanders) sets the stage for more “paycheck populists” in the 2026 congressional midterms.

A second lesson for Democrats is that the mayor of the second-largest Jewish metropolitan area in the world (after Tel Aviv) is an outspoken critic of genocide and a practicing Muslim progressive!

Finally, this election creates an opportunity for unions in NYC to grow. Will Mamdani’s explicit endorsement of labor translate to using his municipal power to reinforce union power? Will New Yorkers see T-shirts inscribed with “Mayor Mamdani Wants You to Join a Union!”? Especially challenging will be if his policies could help bring justice to the enormous number of misclassified workers in the “gig” economy.

Mamdani will have a four-year term as mayor. Every Republican and corporate Democrat will do everything possible to ensure he fails to discredit his socialist platform. Any success he achieves as mayor will be due to the strength of the movement that prevailed in the primary and continued to grow for his election in November. If that movement stays mobilized, continues to grow, and delivers for New York’s working class, it will be an inspiring political model that our labor movement should support and attempt to replicate in other US metropolitan areas.

This piece originally appeared in the Stansbury Forum blog.