Editor’s Note: The following article was written by one of the Tribuno’s newest writers, Alexandra Renoult-Orlandini.
“New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”
Zohran Mamdani delivered a powerful speech on November 4 following his win as New York City’s newly elected mayor, inspiring everyone around the nation. Mamdani, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, ran his campaign on rent freezes, universal childcare, and free transportation in the city, all the while preaching the idea of billionaires taking advantage of the working class.
A democratic socialist is someone who believes in workers rights and freedoms, as described here. Mamdani’s proposed policies reflect these very ideas, but how did he win in a nation where conservatism seemed to be on the rise? Well, Mamdani was not the only Democrat who won an election last week, and who proved the nation’s complaints are very real under the presidency of Donald Trump.
Whether it is due to tariffs, the government shutdown, the Presidency, or any other excuse otherwise, the economy is a forefront issue on voters’ minds, with the BBC showing exit polls putting the economy as what voters care the most about right now. Mamdani took that issue and took a strong stance, with a clear plan—taxing the top 1% and emphasizing worker’s rights.
He gave every person in New York City a voice- being a New Yorker and an important person for their economy, with the clever use of social media, which really helped appeal to young voters not only in NYC, but across the nation. By appealing to everyday people in a highly progressive city where voters are getting tired of the Democratic Party’s wishy-washy ideas, he made the perfect candidate. But the environment was also set for him too, seen in other Democratic wins in Virginia, California, and Minnesota, to name a few.
Supporters of Mamdani call for his presidency, but opponents argue that just because he was elected in NYC, he could not be someone to win the presidency. While this might have some truth to it right now, The NPRs Politics Podcast brought up a great point where people argue about how Democrats should run their races, whether it is like Mamdani, who ran very strong and progressively, or Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, who ran a more centrist, democratic campaign.
However, Mamdani ran on what he thought was best for NYC and key issues, like rent freezes and free transportation, emphasizing the point that Democrats should run on what is best for their city and focus on affordability, which the party has realized now, and seems to be making moves based on that exact point.
This is why we see a pattern in states like New Jersey, where counties previously red during Trump’s election are now turning blue, or Virginia’s Democratic win with Abigail Spanberger focusing on kitchen table issues. What also helped Spanberger is the government shutdown under full Republican control of the government, due to the amount of layoffs, federal freezes, and overall economic impact in the state of Virginia. California passed Prop 50, characterized as a fight against a “Republican power grab” on health care, rising living costs, and immigration. Minnesota also maintained their Democrat majority in the state senate. Clearly, Mamdani’s win was not the only consequential win for the Democratic Party, but one inspirational, immigrant-led, and caught the eyes of many voters who want to see a change within the party.
There is certainly a strong pushback against President Trump now seen in the major Democratic wins and large margins in the past week. He realizes this as well, with many posts on his Truth Social account where he even mentioned affordability, calling it a “Republican Stronghold.” He blames the losses on him not being in the polls and the shutdown, which he did not characterize at the Democratic shutdown surprisingly. However, even if he was not in the polls, his presence was felt. Mamdani even told Trump to “turn the volume up” during his victory speech.
It seems Democrats have been prevailing the most when they take strong stances and connect with the voters where it matters — the economy and everyday things they use, like social media. Mamdani stated in his victory speech,
“New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”
While we cannot predict exactly where elections will go in the future for certain, this might be the beginning of a pattern, in which Mamdani seemed to ignite young voters and scare Republicans the most.
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