What Does Mamdani's Win Mean

Can He Lose the General? What Does This Mean for the Party? A Lot to Unpack

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Before we start diving into this, I want to make one thing clear: my pages are not a safe space for Islamophobic rhetoric. I don’t want to hear that he is “going to enact sharia law,” or anything about him being Muslim. This is counterproductive, unhelpful, and racist - and we need to be better than that.

It is not Islamophobic to take issue with someone’s words and actions because they happen to be Muslim. Just as it is not antisemitic to call me a fat bitch just because I happen to be Jewish. However, if you call me a fat Jewish bitch, that is antisemitic. Hope this helps.

In recent months, I was somewhat heartened by fairly decisive victories against far left and far right candidates both internationally and here in New Jersey.

But the New York City primary was the perfect storm.

The Democratic establishment put up a candidate riddled with scandal and baggage. Cuomo was uninspiring and embarrassing, and put us “normie Jewish Dems” in the position of having to root for a sexual predator. And, yes, I would have unabashedly ranked Cuomo #1 because while he is a corrupt pervert, I firmly believe he could manage the greatest city in America without causing undue harm to marginalized communities. Including women and including Jews.

But Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy had all the assets of a fantastic comms campaign. A good-looking, sweet-talking candidate with Don Quixote ideas, paired with bold graphics and hot young Brooklyn residents to wear them. A hashtag, a Hinge profile prompt, and pop star endorsements. TikTok videos on “how to check if he voted in the primary.” It was fucking genius.

It also veered into the inappropriate and uncomfortable.

You couldn’t walk out of your house without being chased down by a Zohran canvasser. They shamed people at polling places: “Don’t vote for a sexual predator!” Admitting you werent ranking Mamdani was tantamount to admitting you voted for Trump, and you were treated like a “boot-licking dork” for seeing through Mamdani’s bullshit.

And bullshit it was:

Eat the rich, ammiright?

Like I said, the “working families party” and the DSA does not actually represent Black or working-class Americans.

But thinkpiece after thinkpiece will ask, “is this the new direction of the Democratic party?” Well, for your sake and mine, I hope the fuck not.

Julius Hernandez writes:

What this race ultimately reveals is less about Mamdani himself and more about the far left’s strategic blind spots. Winning in the safest of Democratic strongholds is not the same as building a national coalition. The far left continues to struggle in competitive states and purple districts because their messaging often doesn’t meet voters where they are. Mamdani’s campaign was successful in a deeply blue city, in a deeply blue state. That’s a victory — but it’s not a signal of broader political realignment.

And let’s not pretend the coalition here tells the whole story of New York. The neighborhoods most likely to be impacted by flawed policy — renters living in fragile housing, families reliant on city services, workers navigating a volatile labor market — didn’t overwhelmingly back Mamdani. The ones who did? Often wealthier white voters in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, many of whom have the insulation to withstand the consequences of policies that may sound good but function poorly.

From where I sit — outside the five boroughs, watching closely — this didn’t look like a people’s uprising. It looked like a political niche campaign that took advantage of the moment, capitalized on an underestimated opponent, and rode a wave of white, progressive energy to a win that may be hard to replicate elsewhere.

Mamdani’s victory doesn’t answer the question of how to govern a diverse, economically complex city. It simply raises more of them. And the voters who will bear the brunt of whatever happens next are the same ones who didn’t put him there in the first place.

Ilana Glazer and Ben Platt and all the “Jews for Zohran” will tell you that anti-Zionism is not antiSemitism and Mamdani writing a rap song sending his love to the Holy Land Five - convicted funders of Hamas - is not a reason for any concern at all.

And what does BDS mean to Mamdani? Because, to many people in the movement, it means boycotting Israeli shops and businesses, Israeli artists, and Jewish organizations with any ties to Israel. Thousands of Israelis live in New York City. What will this mean for them?

Hasan Piker doesn’t have to be wearing a 9/11 conspiracy shirt for us to know exactly who he is. But it is especially striking that he is wearing one here.

And what does it mean to anyone who identifies as a Zionist? Even though many of us are staunchly against the current trajectory of this war, against the Israeli government, and desperate for peace. But the distortion of the truth of not just what Zionism means, but of so much that is happening in real time. Against the reality of the threat of the Iranian regime. The reality of some - not all - but some of what is happening in Israel and Gaza. The reality of the lived experience of Jews in the diaspora.

Is boycotting, doxing, shaming, and harassing us going to be seen as even more acceptable than it already is?

Meanwhile, there are antisemitic hate crimes against Satmar Jews who are actually anti-Zionist (though they are not Neturei Karta - yeah, it’s a lot to explain). And, of course, synagogues, schools, Israeli restaurants, and arbitrary Jews walking down the street.

These are not paranoid questions. This is based in stark reality.

It’s especially heartbreaking in the city of Ellis Island, where so many of our ancestors came when fleeing from the European pogroms. I know mine did. I know that we built up the city’s labor movements, social activism, publishing, real estate, the arts - and, of course, delis. We are Crossing Delancy and Annie Hall and When Harry Met Sally.

And, despite what some celebrities and meme accounts say, you can’t just tout the aesthetic without the roots, without the struggle, without the understanding, and without the truth. I mean, you can, and they are. But sooner or later, we all come to understand that our Jewish DNA is about more than lox and bagels.

Could Mamdani Lose in November?

Personally, I highly doubt it. And here’s why.

It’s definitely true that more New Yorkers do NOT want Mandani than want him. Only about 9% of the entire New York City electorate ranked him #1. Throw in another generous 6% for the Landers and other progressive voters, and we can give him 15% enthusiastic support.

90% of Jewish New York voters do not want Mamdani. Black voters, low-income voters, and a whole slew of other “normies” do not want Mamdani.

But Mayor Adams is just as flawed as Cuomo and has the approval rating of a rotten banana.

He would need to come out with a platform of fresh, new ideas, exciting policies, and a true vision for his second term. But after seeing Cuomo’s lazy-ass stale campaign, I have very little faith in this happening.

Plus, Republican Curtis Silwa is quoted as saying, “the only way I drop out of the race is if I am six feet under in a pine box.” Staunch Republicans will vote for him, even knowing that Adams is their only chance against Mamdani. We see this play out all the time.

Finally, even if Adams comes out with an exciting campaign and all the anti-Mamdani voters unite, there is one big problem.

Tens of thousands of NYC college kids will be back in town in November. And you better bet Mamdani is already working on a stunning campaign to get these kids registered in New York. And the great irony - this will also end up siphoning a few hundred voters away from Mikie Sherill in New Jersey.

So, no, I am not optimistic.

The only thing I can realistically hope for is that Mamdani tries to build real bridges in Jewish communities. That he uses his platform and authority to forcefully condemn harassment and violence against the Jewish community. That he focuses less on anti-Israel policies and rhetoric and more on finding ways to make his pie-in-the-sky ideas a reality that helps New Yorkers.

But considering there is a good argument that a lot of his ideas aren’t just impossible, but would actually harm New Yorkers - it’s hard to have much faith. So maybe he just crashes and burns and the party learns a lesson like it did in San Francisco.

The good news: We’ll have a proud Jewish Comptroller in Mark Levine to provide checks and balances. And hopefully, he will keep Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, another badass Jewish woman.

Is this the Future of the Democratic Party?

I think this depends where we are looking.

I know that Philadelphia is gonna try it - watch. And I could probably guess right now exactly who will try to challenge Mayor Cherelle Parker.

But I don’t think that will work.

The 2022 Philadelphia mayoral primary pitted five moderates against the sole progressive darling Helen Gym. I wasn’t living in the city at the time, but I was there enough - as well as online - to see her followers acting pretty rabid. Even with the five-way moderate vote split, she came in third.

Sure, the landscape has changed in the past couple of years. And plenty of Democratic Socialists have beaten establishment Democrats in state rep, state senator, and council elections. But I’m confident Philadelphia will not have a socialist mayor in 2027.

It didn’t work in San Fransico and Oakland. It’s not going well in Chicago. But since when have Americans ever learned from their mistakes?

Will AOC be the next New York Senator and beat out Schumer? Probably.

Will swing-state socialists win more Congressional seats? I think it depends. Bowman and Bush lost their primaries decisively in 2024. This nation is not a monolith, every city is different, and New York’s primary was exceptionally ripe for this win.

So, stay tuned I guess. The revolution - whether good or bad - will be televised.