Although the polls had predicted it for weeks, that did not diminish the significance of the victoria de Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayoral elections. After being vilified by Trump and the political class, who hurled all kinds of racist insults at him and raised millions of dollars to sabotage his campaign, His overwhelming victory represents a resounding defeat not only for Trump, but also for the leadership of the Democratic Party.which millions perceive as soft on the extreme right and contrary to the interests of the working class and the oppressed.
The enormous enthusiasm for Mamdani and the electoral results this Tuesday in other states such as New Jersey, Virginia and Georgia are, first of all, a reaction against Trump. It is no secret that both Trump and the Democrats have very low popularity ratings. Although there is a general consensus that both parties are corrupt, this Tuesday’s elections were a clear alarm signal for a Emboldened Trump, who openly supported Mamdani’s opponent, former Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomowho ran as an independent candidate after losing the Democratic Party elections against Mamdani himself, and has repeatedly threatened to take action against a potential “communist” running the City Council of America’s largest city.. Part of Mamdani’s popularity, as one of the new figures betting on revitalizing the Democratic Party and finding an electoral solution to stop Trump’s authoritarian advance, lies in the fact that he openly challenges Trump instead of trying to imitate him; Mamdani won on a promise to protect immigrant, working-class and transgender New Yorkers instead of abandoning them to their fate.
New Yorkers turned out to vote in historic numbers to challenge Trump, but this alone does not explain Mamdani’s resounding victory. His triumph must be understood in light of the powerful social force that fueled his campaign and political rise. More than 104,000 volunteers campaigned door to door for Mamdani. Many of them were organized by the Democratic Socialists of Americawho launched their candidacy to compete within the Democratic Party, but many other volunteers did so on their own or based on local groups. He The core of support for Mamdani is made up of young people and workers from the five districts who see their own demands for better living, working and educational conditions reflected in their campaign. They deeply distrust Democrats, but are eager to confront the far right and are increasingly open to anti-capitalist ideas.. In fact, right-wing institutions such as the Cato Institute have been very concerned about the results of various surveys that show that 62% of young Americans between 18 and 29 years old say they have a favorable opinion of socialismwhile 34% think the same about communism.
This sentiment is echoed in cities and towns across the country; is reflected not only in Mamdani’s victory, but also in the rejection of MAGA candidates at the polls in states such as Virginia and New Jersey. In that sense, The election represents not so much enthusiasm for Democrats as widespread discontent with Trump’s second term..
This places the Mamdani’s victory at the center of the crisis that shakes the Democratic Partywhich has lost much of its coalition of working-class voters and finds itself without a compelling vision to counter Trump’s offensive. Nothing better represents the different paths proposed to address this crisis than the victory of a member of the Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) over former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in the June Democratic primary rematch, with a lead of approximately 10 points. New Yorkers roundly rejected Cuomo as a MAGA-supporting Democrat and the representative of corporate greed and inequality. that have characterized the way Democrats have governed the most expensive city in the United States.
Mamdani’s victory shows that the working class is eager to fight for their rights and that there is broad support for the initiatives that the political class, both Democrats and Republicans, try to marginalize. Millions of people are no longer content to listen to another politician criticize Trump while repeating his arguments and policies, as Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa did. As some exit polls show, Mamdani not only won in neighborhoods populated by young progressives with college degrees and student debt, but also among precarious workers in neighborhoods such as East New York, Brownwill, immigrant neighborhoods in Queens, and organized workers from a wide range of professions and industries.
In his victory speech in Brooklyn, Mamdani declared: “We have overthrown a political dynasty.” He thanked “those whom our city’s politics often forget.” […] I am referring to the Yemeni winery owners and the Mexican grandmothers. To the Senegalese taxi drivers and the Uzbek nurses. To the Trinidadian cooks and the Ethiopian aunts.” He spoke of the empowerment of the working class, stating: “We won because we insisted that politics would no longer be something imposed on us. Now, it’s something we do.”
The victory of Mamdani generates discomfort within the Democratic Party; Now that he will assume the mayor’s office, the party is faced with the dilemma of turning its back on him and risk losing its best opportunity to mobilize voters to challenge Trump, or try to integrate him into the party apparatus. This contradiction was evident on election day. Several establishment Democrats came out to celebrate the victory election on Tuesday night as a clear sign of renewed faith in the Democratic Party; figures such as Gavin Newsom and Hakeem Jeffries They carefully avoided talking about Mamdani to minimize his political rise and his possible impact on the party..
Mamdani’s campaign reflected a deep anti-establishment sentiment political and business of the city, rooted for a long time. He advocated for increase taxes on the richest, free public transportation and child care, and freeze the rent of rent-stabilized apartments. These demands alone raised the fears of the city’s powerful, from Wall Street to real estate developers, landlords and businessmen. Unlike the policy of the Democratic Party, complicit in the genocide in Gaza, Mamdani was the only candidate who openly supported Palestine and spoke out against the genocide.. Even when the Zionist lobby attacked his campaign and accused him and his followers of anti-Semitism, this did not diminish support for Mamdani’s candidacy, even though he himself qualified some of his criticism of Israel. This demonstrates the deep break with the decades-long consensus of support for Israel in the United Statespresent in this year’s elections, a fracture that even impacts the MAGA base of Trumpism itself and that would seem to be here to stay.
Election night is just the beginning for the self-described social democratic mayor of New York City. When he takes office in January 2026, Mayor Mamdani will not only face obstacles in city and state government (including within his own party), but he will also have to deal with Trump and his threats to cut city funding and deploy the National Guard.
To achieve the demands of millions of working-class New Yorkers and confront Trump and the far right, we need organize—starting today—the social force that can fight for them against Trump’s threats to cut federal funds, new ICE raids and, perhaps, even the threat of the National Guard. We need to build a united and powerful front to fight in the streets and from our workplaces, a front called by unions and social movements. Instead of serving as a pressure campaign on municipal and state politicians, This unity in action must be organized from below, based on the self-organization and capacity for action of the working class and the oppressed, our communities and our neighborhoods, without placing any trust and with total independence from the Democratic Party and the other establishment parties..
Mamdani and his administration, who have just won in the world capital of finance, will inevitably sit down to negotiate with the eternal enemies of the working class and the oppressed. Our demands and the fight against Trump cannot be subordinated to the concessions of the Democrats or to these agreements closed from above, behind the backs of the working class. The Democratic apparatus will do everything possible to dilute every disruptive aspect of Mamdani’s program; our fight must be built independently of our class enemies to achieve our demands for a New York for immigrants, trans people, students and all the workers who make the city possible.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
