New York City is going through what might be called "interesting times". And I don't mean the Yankees reeling from a defeat by the Toronto Blue Jays en route to the World Series.
On November 4th, the city votes for a new Mayor to replace the scandal-plagued Eric Adams, and the favourite is not (equally scandal-plagued) ex-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (standing as an Independent after he lost the Democratic nomination), nor the uninspiring and ageing Republican Curtis Sliwa, but the youthful socialist firebrand Zohran Mamdani.
With a double-digit lead in the polls, just over a week ahead of the vote (advance voting has already begun), upstart Mamdani has a clear run to the position of Mayor of America's largest and most important city. As the 34-year old son of Ugandan-Indian immigrants, a Muslim, and a declared democratic socialist, he is perhaps an unlikely candidate for such an important and influential job. But he is a three-term member of the New York state assembly, and no political neophyte. He is smart, charismatic and he positively oozes authenticity.
Mamdani has battled his way to this position on a platform of taxing the wealthy (including a special 5.9% income tax on millionaires, and a sharp increase in corporate taxes), freezing rents, and offering free buses and childcare, an unabashedly socialist stance that seems to have struck a chord with New Yorkers, particularly the younger generation. He has made no secret of his pro-Palestine, anti-Israel views in a city where Jewish money has always spoken very loudly.
He is the epitome of the kind of progressive politician Donald Trump hates and, if elected, he can expect a huge battle with Trump, who has no qualms about interfering in municipal and state politics. Indeed, Trump has already loosed the opening salvos in anticipation of the election, calling Mamdani a "100% Communist lunatic", and has already threatened to cut federal funding to the city should Mamdani be elected. Nothing daunted, Mamdani has lambasted Trump and his ICE agents, saying "His authoritarian administration is waging a scorched-earth campaign of retribution against any who dared opposed him". You can expect the tone of the debate to deteriorate from here.
Mamdani has even set the cat among the pigeons within the Democratic party itself. Neither Chuck Schumer nor Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives respectively), representing the old-school centrist Democratic tradition, have come out to endorse Mr. Mamdani, although New York state Governor Kathy Hochul (herself a centrist, although less old-school) has, and there are signs that rank-and-file Democrats may be moving more towards Mamdani's more radical opinions, and away from the perceived cautiousness of Schumer and Jeffries.
It should be mentioned, though, that Mr. Mamdani is starting to temper some of his more exteme views, as the promise of such a high-profile position beckons. For example, he has apologized for calling the New York Police Department "racist, anti-queer, and a major threat to public safety", and supporting calls for its defunding. He has also said that he would actively discourage pro-Palestinian activists from using the contentious phrase "globalize the intifada", which he once espoused himself.
However, many federal Democrats still worry that a socialist experiment in New York led by Mr. Mamdani might reflect badly on the Democratic Party when it comes to mid-term elections next year. Others, though, wonder whether Mamdani is in fact the face of the future, and maybe a way out of Trumpism. Interesting times indeed.
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