A political earthquake in New York City: Socialist Zohram Mamdani wins Democratic mayoral primary

United States socialist candidate Zohram Mamdani’s win in the June 24 Democratic primary race for mayor of New York City (NYC) has been described as a “political earthquake”. Mamdani, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), was up against the deep pockets of the Democratic establishment, but handily defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo and an array of other candidates. 

The win has been celebrated by socialists and the broader left around the world, as a spark of hope in an era that has seen the rise of the far right, particularly boosted by the election of Donald Trump last year. DSA member Winnie Marion, who was involved in Mamdani’s mayoral run, spoke with Isaac Nellist for LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal, to discuss the campaign victory and its broader implications for politics in the US. 

There have been a lot of theories put forward to explain the success of Mamdani’s campaign. Why do you think it was so successful?

We have been experiencing this rise in far right politics in the US and around the world. In our two party system we have been offered two options: the far right extreme view that puts working class people under the bus to serve the billionaires and, alternatively, people that are unwilling to stand up to that agenda and continue to uphold the status quo.

The Democratic establishment has not been able to present an alternative vision that has inspired or excited people to fight for things that make their lives better. When inflation and rent costs are so high, nobody has any confidence in the political system. That is why Zohran has been successful, because he has presented a vision that inspires people.

A lot of first time voters and younger voters, people who have otherwise not participated in politics in NYC, were excited by a vision for the future they can believe in and that presents an alternative to the right-wing movement. The Trump administration has been attacking our city’s institutions, even on a municipal level. Having somebody who can confidently say they will stand up to Trump and his far-right administration has excited a lot of people. 

What can you tell us about your experience being part of the campaign? What kind of campaign infrastructure was established? 

It has been amazing on the ground to have so many people supporting the campaign. Alexa Avilés, the DSA city council member I work for, is also running for re-election and having so many people canvass for her was so exciting. We would talk to young people who knew about Zohran’s campaign and older people who knew Alexa, so our previous work helped to reach a broad base. 

We have had 50,000 volunteers door knocking 1.5 million doors and making millions of phone calls. It is an extremely energised movement. Structurally, we have field leads, who are generally DSA members or part of other organisations, taking on leadership roles and helping take in new volunteers. It is inspiring to talk to so many people who have never been involved in a political campaign before. 

I joined DSA in 2020 through the Bernie Sanders campaign and there was a lot of excitement at the time that, ultimately, was let down when Joe Biden won the nomination. So, a lot of socialists have felt like we are building towards a future campaign.

We have built institutional knowledge and structures over the past five years that all came together for this mayoral campaign. We have nine state and local elected officials in NYC. 

It is tied to a moment where people feel such dissatisfaction with politics, particularly with the past year-and-a-half of witnessing a genocide. 

So, this all came together to encourage people to join the campaign. Many have also gone on to join DSA. 

What role did DSA play in the campaign? What lessons is it drawing from the experience?

The campaign's infrastructure was built on the infrastructure established in previous DSA campaigns. A lot of the same people are involved, and are often in DSA leadership positions. DSA has played a huge role in providing volunteers to canvass and phone bank, and taking on leadership positions.

A coalition of other organisations were also involved in the campaign, but DSA were the main energy behind it. Zohran has been involved with DSA for a long time, and DSA ran his previous campaign in 2020.

There are a lot of lessons to take away from the campaign. One key lesson is that being able to experiment at a time when there is so much dissatisfaction with politics is very important. Trying large-scale campaigns in strategic moments is something we can explore. Also not being afraid to embrace issues that people generally think candidates should avoid, such as using the word “socialist” or supporting Palestinian liberation. People connected with that message.

The other takeaway is the importance of a very clear policy platform with a few key programs that are beneficial and tangible to working-class people. For example free buses, making groceries more affordable by setting up public grocery stores, universal childcare, rent freezes for rent stabilised apartments — programs that connect to people’s daily lives and do not go into technical jargon that disconnects people.

The focus is on what can make your life better this year, or in this mayoral term, and how we can work together to achieve that. 

What impact did Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the Palestine solidarity movement have on the campaign? 

Zohram’s campaign has elicited a lot of anger from the Zionist lobby. People have been witnessing a genocide for a year-and-a-half and have been completely demoralised.

Last year, we had encampments at universities across the country and university administrations collaborated with militarised police officers to crack down on students exercising their free speech. At Columbia University, in NYC, they sent NYPD police officers to suppress protests.

The corporate media has targeted protesters and aided Trump to deport people involved in the protests and demand colleges give lists of those who participated in protests. He has also threatened to defund colleges that allow protests to continue. 

A lot of the young people who voted for Zohran have seen this in person or on social media, or have been following the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained for months by ICE for participating in Palestine solidarity protests. We see daily detentions by ICE and the horrors going on in Gaza and most politicians have been afraid to speak up about it. 

The fact that Zohran has spoken up about the crisis in Gaza, and that our taxpayers dollars are funding this militarsation and genocide, instead of addressing the affordability crisis in the US, has boosted his campaign. 

Additionally, the campaign is working to address racism and hate crimes in a broad and systemic way. However, Zohran has been the target of Islamophobia, including from elected representatives. 

What impact will Mamdani’s win in this primary race — and potential win in the mayoral election in November — have on politics in Trump’s US?

It is hard to predict how Trump will react. Everyday I am shocked by how horrible and heartless his political agenda is, especially on immigration issues.

People are being forced to grapple with the fact that the Democratic Party has not presented a vision that excites people for many years. This has led to a rising class consciousness, as working-class people see themselves connecting to a socialist campaign. 

I think a lot of establishment progressive campaigns will try to adopt a lot of the language and messaging that Zohran used to attract votes, but they are not accountable to the movement like Zohran and other DSA candidates are. We will have to work to differentiate between that style of faux progressivism and socialist politics tied to a movement.

The right will attempt to use Zohran to advance their political agenda. Historically, there has been collaboration between the federal government and the mayor of NYC — it will be interesting to see how that plays out. Eric Adams, the current NYC mayor who is running as an independent in November, has been aligning himself with Trump’s interests. The City Council has filed a lawsuit against Adams over his plan to support Trump’s deportation drive in the city by setting up ICE on Rikers Island [which houses NYC’s largest jail].

It is in Trump’s interests for Adams to defeat Zohran. He will try to make NYC an example for other cities in the US. We will have to set up a front [to defend] our city’s infrastructure, politics and movements to combat this increasingly fascistic agenda. 

What does the Mamdani campaign reveal about the strengths and weaknesses of socialists engaging in electoral politics?

A lot of working class people only connect to politics during elections, and do not yet see themselves as people who can participate in politics in everyday life. It is important that we use the ballot box to mobilise and excite people towards socialist politics. Running campaigns that speak about socialism unabashedly and are excited about our movement, as Zohran has done, is really important for us.

We use elections to organise people, show them a better vision for the future and build class consciousness. Electoral politics are a helpful tool to talk to people about socialist politics, to build power, pass legislation and stand up to the far-right. We should use these platforms to talk with people about what it means to have socialist politics and to present a vision for the future beyond voting for “the lesser of two evils”.

At the same time, we acknowledge that Zohran cannot implement everything on his own. The funding for his opponents does not stop after the election, and it will be very hard to implement his policy platform. He will be getting attacks from all angles for what he is doing.

So, we should see this as a first step in building a movement that supports what the campaign stood for.