New York City flirts with far-left nightmare

A far-left socialist’s shocking rise in New York exposes just how far the Democratic Party has fallen

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The politics of New York City have been left-leaning for many decades. It’s largely been a Democratic stronghold for over a century. The New York State Board of Elections revealed in a November 2023 survey that 67 per cent of active registered NYC voters were Democrats, while only 10.2 per cent were Republicans.

Yet, it appears the city that never sleeps could wake up to one of the biggest political nightmares in U.S. history. How so? There’s a possibility that New Yorkers living in the Big Apple could elect a far-left Socialist as their next mayor.

I’m referring to Zohran Mamdani, a three-term Democratic member of the New York State Assembly who also belongs to the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. He stunned political analysts and the party establishment by defeating former New York governor Andrew Cuomo in the first round of voting in the June 24 Democratic mayoral primary. Cuomo conceded even before the ranked-choice count, which later confirmed Mamdani’s victory, was completed on July 1

It was a shocking upset by the 33-year-old assemblyman. The son of Oscar-nominated director Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani, he had previously worked as a housing counsellor and hip-hop musician before entering politics. He was a relatively unknown entity when he joined the mayoral primary and earned the support of New York Democratic House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

Conventional wisdom would have favoured incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams or Cuomo to win the Democratic primary. Luck was on Mamdani’s side in both instances. The former left the Democratic Party in April after being accused of corruption charges which have since been dismissed. The latter had resigned in disgrace as New York Governor in 2021 during an impeachment investigation triggered by a slew of sexual misconduct allegations.

This helped Mamdani build support among young Democrats and in more radical political circles. While that alone wouldn’t have been enough to secure victory, it led to increased media coverage and raised his public profile. As a result, he began to overtake more established, experienced candidates and was no longer seen as a fringe contender. He eventually gained traction with moderate-left and centrist Democrats who wouldn’t have considered supporting him when the primary began.

End result? This battle between centrist and left-wing Democrats led to the most unlikely of New York City mayoral candidates winning the primary.

It’s worth asking whether New York City Democratic Party members who voted for Mamdani over Cuomo and the other mayoral candidates really know who he is and what he stands for. Some obviously do. My sense is that most don’t.

Mamdani has touted many radical left-wing policies and bizarre, over-the-top ideas in the past and present. Here are a few of them.

In a resurfaced 2021 speech to a Young Democratic Socialists of America conference, Mamdani defended what his fellow Socialists “firmly believe in” and want to accomplish in politics. This included boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel as well as championing “the end goal of seizing the means of production.” The latter may be supported in principle by democratic socialists, but it’s much closer to the old Communist playbook. “Those of us who grew up under communism know this all too well,” Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, who grew up in Ukraine when it was controlled by the Soviet Union, told the New York Post. “Our home countries were destroyed by ideas that came dressed in pleasant, persuasive packaging.”

He told CNN’s Erin Burnett about his pilot plan for “city-run grocery stores,” which would be one store in each of the five boroughs. While Burnett tried to distinguish the idea from what she called “Soviet Union grocery stores,” the reality is that the concept is virtually identical. Mamdani wants to spend US$60 million to involve the local government in a private-sector industry where it has no clear role or justification. If he becomes mayor, it’s reasonable to expect more proposals like this.

Mamdani also made several comments on NBC’s Meet the Press that were quite concerning. He was unable to defend a racially-charged policy on his campaign website that proposed to “shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighbourhoods.” He was afforded three opportunities to condemn the racist, anti-semitic statement “Globalize the Intifada,” and failed to do so. He even blurted out, “I don’t think we should have billionaires” to host Kristen Walker as if he felt he had the right to limit a person’s ability to acquire wealth.

It’s hard to believe that more than 43 per cent of registered New York City Democrats voted for this far-left Socialist politician who comes from a privileged background. He was largely supported by white, middle-class voters and rejected by the Black and Hispanic voters he claimed to represent. He received 20 per cent support from Jewish Democrats, in spite of the fact that he’s made comments some have perceived as being anti-Israel and anti-Jewish.

Long story short, Mamdani is vulnerable and his political opponents know it. The more his radical views and ideas become widely known, the less likely it is that he’ll triumph in the election, which helps explain why Cuomo has decided to stay in the race and, like Adams, run as an Independent candidate.

Some early polls show Mamdani could end up winning on Nov. 4 to become mayor. Anything seems possible right now, after all.

Michael Taube is a political commentator, Troy Media syndicated columnist and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, lending academic rigour to his political insights.