Zohran Mamdani: Why New York Might Roll the Dice on Him

In 25 years of living in New York, the city has never failed to surprise me.

Some days, the Big Apple has me thinking, “I don’t know why I’m still here.” Other times I’m like, “this block party is fire and I’m glad I was here to get down with it.”

But as of June 24, the biggest surprise so far was the shocker election upset in the Democratic primary, Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblyman, who campaigned almost singularly on the issue of affordability. His grassroots, social media-driven campaign bested the money machine that supported former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who had been the favorite.

Once thought an unlikely choice, Mamdani is a 33-year-old Muslim, born in Kampala, Uganda, who lives with his wife in a rent-controlled apartment in Queens. His political approach is democratic socialism, and he says he wants to freeze rents, subsidize buses, and provide city-owned grocery stores in poor neighborhoods.

In other words, he spoke directly to issues that people, especially New Yorkers, worry about: having a roof over their heads, transportation, and getting access to healthy food. But there was also something else he spoke to without saying it – Democrats must either change with the times, or voters will eventually make changes for them.

Crapping Out

It almost seemed like a foregone conclusion that Cuomo would win. He was the most high-profile candidate, at $25 million, had the biggest war chest and endorsements from the political establishment. Plus, he was governor of New York during the COVID crisis that ravaged the state, nation, and world. He was hailed as a hero who held everyone’s hands while we stayed inside, afraid of infection with the virus, which eventually killed 1 million Americans.

But allegations of sexual harassment surfaced, which became increasingly heated during the “Me Too” movement. Although there were some who said that the allegations were unfounded, he was also accused of flubbing care for the elderly during the pandemic. Ultimately, he was forced to step down in disgrace.

As the 2025 Democratic primary season got underway, Cuomo took an early lead in the polls, and it seemed like he’d coast to victory. But his past missteps haunted him, and enough people were skeptical of having him run the city. He seemed to be the symbol of old guard Democratic politics in New York.

That resounded because Democrats nationwide seem to have zero power to stop Donald Trump from using the entire country as his outhouse. People have been begging the Democrats to stand up to the Trump regime, which has done everything from killing diversity initiatives in government, to firing the very scientists and engineers who keep the nation safe, to embarrassing the nation on the world stage, to kidnapping innocent people and throwing them out of the country – including a little girl suffering from cancer, to siccing the National Guard and Marines on demonstrators in Los Angeles. And also a hell of a lot of lying. I mean a LOT.

There has not been a single day since January in which anything good has happened as a result of Donald Trump being president. But Democrats have either just made symbolic gestures like wearing t-shirts and holding up signs the way they did during his address to Congress, or in the case of Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, completely sold out.

So along comes a Democratic primary race that does not involve the rest of the country, but people watch anyway, given that New York is America’s largest city. There is a singular theme to it, though: Trump is braying at the gates, and right along with him is current mayor, Eric Adams – whose quid pro quo actions with the Justice Department and his capitulation to the White House have left him extremely unpopular in the Five Boroughs. But he’s running for mayor again any freakin' way.

Mandani, who I’ll admit I knew nothing about before primary season, and who I didn’t give much chance of winning used an old tool that works every time, but old school politicians constantly fail to understand: he got out in the streets and talked to people.

The Friday before the primary election, Mandani and his team literally walked from Inwood to Battery Park, shaking hands and interacting with people. For those of you unfamiliar with New York, that is the entire 13-mile length of Manhattan.

Cuomo was not about to put on his wingtips and do the same. For him, endorsements from the Democratic establishment, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Bill Clinton, and even distant shoutouts from Rep. Jim Clyburn would suffice, war chest support from former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, vocal Trump supporter BIll Ackman (who is also responsible for forcing Harvard president Claudine Gay out of office), and a number of others who were willing to support an essentially Republican-lite Democratic Party.

But his strategy backfired. People may not know if Mandani’s ideas will work, but they feel it’s better than Democratic rhetoric that has been unable to stop MAGA Republicans from steamrolling politics, while erasing basic human rights both in the U.S. and in Palestine.

The Point is Six

Young people were inspired, even if they didn’t know enough about the complexities of city government possibly complicating Mamdani’s platform and promises. Here was someone closer to their age, who seems like he’s got nothing to hide, no political sins to cover up and lives life just like them. He didn’t have to convince them of anything. And that’s always the achilles heel of any veteran politician: at some point their record can be used against them. In Mamdani’s case, he’s only been in the State Assembly since 2021. So he hasn’t created a lengthy record, but that also means he doesn’t have a record of screwups.

So for voters it’s like you’re at a crap table and the point is six, which means you have higher chances of hitting that point with the dice than you would would any other number. Translated to politics, this is things working in your favor and allowing you to remain engaged. But don’t hit seven, because if you do, you lose and you’ll have to pass the dice. Right now, in election season, the worst thing you can do is leave the table. But that’s what Democratic voters have been doing, leaving the table because they were not feeling lucky enough to keep rolling.

Gambling analogies aside, Mamdani’s very presence in the race is not only terrifying the far right, but also the Democratic establishment. This is because everyone expected Cuomo, given that New York is not only a Democratic stronghold, but it’s an old, dusty Democratic mansion that never expects anyone with a dust mop to come along. That’s why it’s an easy place for the wealthy to roost, because nothing really changes for anyone here but the rich.

Now, while Republicans swear up and down that Mamdani is a jihadist communist (although this would be an oxymoron) hell bent on taking the city down as part of a plot to destroy America, Democrats are more scared that the money they depended on from the wealthy as well would dry up.

Cash in Your Chips

Now why is there all this fear? Well, in my humble opinion it’s because both sides are not scared of what idealists like Mamdani would do, but they’re actually afraid that their ideas would work.

Think about it: Imagine a world in which the political system minimizes bureaucracy, agencies provide useful service, where sustenance is subsidized and where labor lifestyle is supported. If life actually became easier for everyone, nobody would have to go beg politicians for crumbs and politics is no longer a lucrative business.

“Damn that Gray…He’s an anarchist!!!! He must be stopped!!!!”

Maybe I am, but if anarchy means a city, then one day a society where people are actually enjoying their lives because politicians, oligarchs and bureaucrats aren’t in the way, then just call me Noam Chomsky.

I’m not even saying Mamdani’s ideas would work, and this isn’t an endorsement of him. What I am saying is that this could be the beginning of a political upheaval in America. People are sick of both Republicans and Democrats. The 2024 elections turned out the way they did not because all these MAGA nutjobs came out of the woodwork and spirited Trump to the finish line, but because 89 million voters decided to stay home and sit on their butts rather than cast ballots.

At least the Republicans are smart enough to start letting their old fossils roam out to pasture. Sen. Mitch McConnell, and most recently Sen. Thom Tillis are making their way out of Congress. This follows a wave of GOP congressional retirements in 2024. A few Democrats did decide to leave as well, but then you had people like Rep. Dianne Feinstein who stayed in office until her death at age 90. This represents a fundamental flaw in political thinking and leaves people thinking that they care more about power than service.

Younger politicians like Maxwell Frost, Jasmine Crockett and even conservatives like Markwayne Mullen and Josh Hawley – as dislikable as those two are – represent a future where people communicate instantaneously, where software is going to do half our thinking for us and where people are going to want answers now instead of “learning to play the game.”

That’s always been bullshit. Mamdani, at least to New York voters, as well as other progressives who are emerging, represents a way not to step in it.

Madison Gray is a New York City-based writer and editor whose work has appeared in multiple publications globally. Reach out to him at madison@starkravingmadison.com.