Today is the big day.
Analysts are pretty much unanimous that residents of the Big Apple are set to create history by electing the first Muslim mayor in the financial capital of the United States.
Thirty-three-year-old Zohran Mamdani's meteoric political rise in the New York mayoral race caught the imagination of the entire world. Initially, appearing to be armed with just a winsome smile and a savvy political mien, especially in tune with today's social media communications, few gave him a second thought as he took on a former governor. In fact, Mamdani's run for the Democratic nomination for the mayor's race appeared almost Quixotic.
It had all the hallmarks of a classic David-versus-Goliath battle.
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had everything going for him. He was backed by Democratic heavyweights like former US President Bill Clinton. As the city's 56th governor, he had universal name recognition. Wallowing in millions of dollars in campaign cash, he had roped in union endorsements and the local Democratic machine.
Mamdani, on the other hand, was a first-term New York assemblyman and an unabashed democratic socialist who polled an abysmal two percent as late as January. He is a passionate supporter of Palestine and fiercely critical of Israel in a city with the largest Jewish population of any city in the world, where Jewish New Yorkers are shy about using their political clout.
So, what was Mamdani's secret sauce? Observers say that he touched a chord with voters with his passionate attention to bread-and-butter issues, full of plans to freeze rent, offer free bus service and start city-run groceries. While critics pooh-poohed these plans as pie-in-the-sky, voters sensed a genuine engagement, an easy accessibility which, coupled with his savvy new-generation social media splash, sparked electric enthusiasm in a jaded public, especially young people.
Cuomo's listless, cold and aloof campaign had the obsolescent feeling of yesteryear. Mamdani seemed to be everywhere. He put out that message several times on social media to ensure it reached everyone. As he walked all the way down Manhattan, talking to voters of different ethnicities, Cuomo took a chauffeur-driven SUV. Mamdani even did a brief tongue-in-cheek election video in Bangla with Bangladeshi American Shahana Hanif, the first Muslim member of the New York City council.
A wrinkle in the Democratic primaries, which the savvy Mamdani exploited, helped him seal the deal. Instead of the usual first-past-the-post system, New York Democrats chose their candidate on a ranked choice system, where they could list their preferences. Mamdani and fellow primary candidate New York City comptroller Brad Lander cross-endorsed each other. This added a fillip to his support. In that, Mamdani won the Democratic primary handily in June, beating Cuomo by 12 points.
In a heavily Democratic city like New York, winning the Democratic primary is virtually getting anointed as mayor. Yet, Mamdani's ascend could not be that easy, as some Democratic establishment figures in the state were not at ease about his win. They began to hem and haw. This flew in the face of the pronouncements by the very same establishment Democrats who were always urging recalcitrant progressives to "vote blue no matter who." When it was their turn, it seemed too bitter a pill to swallow. Critics cried foul, suggesting that Democratic establishment types were deep in bed with real estate tycoons and the pro-Israeli lobbying group AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Then things got even more curious. Notwithstanding his defeat, Cuomo decided to run mayoral race as an independent. Current Mayor Eric Adams, widely loathed by Democrats for allegedly cutting a deal with President Donald Trump, is also running as an independent, having the good sense not to risk ignominy by running in the Democratic primary. There's also Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, polling in the low double digits.
That's where matters stand as New Yorkers vote to elect their next mayor.
Win or lose, Mamdani's place in US political history is assured for upending conventional wisdom. He never dithered over issues supposed to kill a US political campaign. His support for Palestine, his advocacy for government-backed programmes are often politically taboo. Trump refers to him as "Mamdani the Commie."
But, Mamdani's electorate admires this article of authenticity in him. Like former President Barack Obama, he has been able to create that special connection of trust not only with those who support his policies, but also with those who don't, because the latter group too trusts him as a person.
At a time of deepening political malaise, Mamdani has been able to do that rarest of things: he has managed to rekindle in a cynical electorate a belief that positive change is possible through politics. He reminds me of another politician of yesteryear: Senator Eugene McCarthy. The former Minnesota US senator decided to take on incumbent President Lyndon B Johnson in the 1968 Democratic primary campaign in the thick of the Vietnam War. Although he didn't win the nomination, his anti-war stand drew huge support, and as in the case of Mamdani, it attracted a huge number of students.
Mamdani's policies, cast by critics as "socialist"—a thoroughly pejorative moniker in the US—have won widespread support. This should not come as a surprise.
Times have changed. Robust claims of the superiority of markets ring hollow to a younger generation buffeted by economic challenge and the dismal fate of quite likely never doing as well as their parents. For them, socialism is not necessarily taboo, nor is capitalism beyond reproach.
Americans, contrary to politicians who like to bad-mouth government-supported public programmes as "socialism," can be enthusiastically supportive when the programmes actually deliver.
Fiorella La Guardia, one of New York City's most celebrated mayors, was a lifelong Republican who allied with socialists on progressive causes like labour rights, social welfare and housing reform.
Socialist Party leader Norman Thomas advocated social welfare programmes which formed the basis of social security, a key component of President Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal and the foundation of today's social safety net. It is one of America's most beloved and popular programmes.
Or take Medicare, the healthcare programme for seniors introduced by Johnson in the 1960s. President Ronald Reagan lambasted the programme as a Trojan horse that would lead Americans to lose their freedom. Medicare today is a vital and universally lauded programme—it's fair to say that Reagan's observation hasn't aged very well.
One of Mamdani's signal achievements is his success in triumphing over ethnic and religious divides. He drew support from all ethnicities, particularly from Jewish New Yorkers.
His charm, optimism and impeccable manners are the strongest possible antidote to Islamophobic stereotypes. Like London Mayor Sadiq Khan and former Scotland First Minister Humza Yousaf, Mamdani represents a template for political success for Muslims in the West, which will have a salubrious spillover effect on popular perception of Muslims. I confess to a parochial pride in his success—not just because he is Muslim but also because he is of South Asian descent. Credit is also due to the broadminded New Yorkers who have been able to transcend ethnic ghettoes—with particular credit going to Jewish New Yorkers, especially younger voters, whose support is informed by their own disgust at the slaughter in Gaza.
If Mamdani wins, the path forward will be anything but easy. However, there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic. Ever since he won the primary, Mamdani has reached out to all kinds of people, including many who are his sworn enemies.
Partnership for New York City, a consortium of 350 members representing banks, law firms and corporations, is a case in point. It is hard to think of a group more anathema to Mamdani's campaign. Yet according to The New York Times, two partnership members—Sally Susman, a longtime corporate executive, and Robert Wolf—have met Mamdani and liked what they've seen. She later helped set up intimate meetings with Mamdani and business leaders and tech investors. "There's something about him that makes people want to help him," she told The New York Times.
Time alone will tell how much success Mamdani will achieve. Today, he has already endeared himself to millions by proving that genuine engagement, passion and a dash of optimism can bestow the most precious gift of democratic governance: a polity stirred out of apathy that rediscovers its faith in civic engagement. This is no mean achievement.
Ashfaque Swapan is a writer and editor based in Wisconsin, US.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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