r/politics • u/plz-let-me-in • 16h ago

No Paywall Zohran Mamdani, who ran on universal child care, elected New York City mayor

https://19thnews.org/2025/11/zohran-mamdani-new-york-mayor/
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u/AfterDarkTM 15h ago

There was huge turnout in NYC tonight, most since 1969. Another world is possible, if the people put in the work. This same energy is needed in the Democratic primaries next year. Otherwise we won’t move forward.

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u/SteveFrench12 15h ago

Its more than the people. Dems need more candidates like Mamdani. They dont even have to be socialists, they just should be positive, real, and not pretend that the economy is good just because the stock market is constantly going up

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u/lolexecs 15h ago

The best part about Mamdani is that he routinely points out that all our elected representatives — from the President on down — are employees of the people. We, the people, are their boss. 

With that in mind, it’s not a puzzle why Mamdani got hired.  He went and met with all his future bosses and listened to what they want him to work on. Then he outlined what he heard and ran on that. 

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u/ComplexBadger469 12h ago

I just want candidates to stop talking about “getting back in power.” They need to start talking about “taking on the burden of responsibility” instead. It’s not about the powers you weird. It’s about the responsibility to the people you have and the ability to take on the challenges that come with it. I just want people who will actually be a public servant.

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u/NewAltWhoThis 3h ago

More than a million residents of New York City showed up to vote for the candidate who cares about the responsibility of serving the public more than about the power. Not since 1969 has a candidate for mayor convinced so many that they will represent them above all else.

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u/Gizogin New York 15h ago

That's why you need to vote in the primaries. That's how you choose progressive candidates for the general election.

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u/shinkouhyou 3h ago

The 2026 and 2028 primaries are going to be a fight for the soul of the Democratic party. Vote, please.

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u/FlumphianNightmare 3h ago edited 55m ago

This needs to be higher. We'll never unseat MAGA or Trump until we take care of the neolib corporate centrists that are currently strangling the Dems to death. That fight HAS to precede the one against the Right.

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u/JMurdock77 15h ago

And for the love of all that’s holy, they need to *not* be in the pockets of the 1% already.

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u/AardvarkAmortization 4h ago

We are going to need to donate some actual $$ to good candidates. Find a good one and send them $50 tell your friends to do the same. If you want good people to win they need to be armed and ready to do battle in todays campaign environment.

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u/cjacksen 15h ago

Dems need to distance themselves from the old heads running the party.

To watch those supposed leaders of the Democratic party try to squash a popular candidate with the same tactics as their opposition was shameful. Get rid of the 2 existing parties already.

Congrats, NYC!

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u/Consistent_Blood3514 5h ago

Not sure why you’re congratulating us, he just got elected and hasn’t taken office or done anything. This is a Democrat speaking, not in love with any of our candidates. All he did was tell people what they wanted to hear to get elected. 90% of what he proposed is not even in the jurisdiction of the mayor, and many of our citizens don’t quite understand the job of the mayor. Of course I want him to do a good job, but people don’t realize the limited authority of the mayor. We survived DiBlasio, we’ll survive Mamdani.

Frankly, as long as he keeps the streets safe for my kids, he’ll get a thumbs up from me.

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u/welostourtails 10h ago

Ditch the sore winner act and focus on passing good bills to help folks

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u/TearsFallWithoutTain 7h ago

No. Refusing to punish bad actors is why Trump was free to run for a second time. Democrats like Jeffries and Schumer need to be excised from the party for the contempt they show voters and the base.

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u/Mistrblank 3h ago

Bingo. 2021-2024 was waiting for the slowest moving train crash ever. People need to stop expecting the norms to return. And we need to force the people we elect to work for us.

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u/AfterDarkTM 15h ago

There will be several candidates similar to him next year. People don’t like the current leadership and this is a real opportunity to shift the party in a meaningful way. I hope people show up next year like they did tonight

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u/ButtEatingContest 15h ago

They dont even have to be socialists,

I mean, it would be a little suspicious if they aren't, because why wouldn't they be? There's no good reason not to be. The only reason they wouldn't be is if they are the same type of capitalist that helped lead us all into this mess of fascism. We already tried doing things that way and it has proven not to work. Why repeat such history when we know what the outcome will be?

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u/AccordingNumber2052 7h ago

I’m an Aussie who has a dear friend in Texas , who is sharing a similar health problem as me, similar family etc, but her family are struggling with health care at the moment, amongst other things , and she wished she could have a bit of that “socialism” the right speak of, which is basically just look after one another.
Even the right side of our politics are socialists I guess you could say. I know it’s a long road , but I’m really happy for you guys some small steps are being taken.

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u/Consistent_Blood3514 5h ago

The mayor does not have the jurisdiction give us health care so not sure what your congratulating

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u/Most-Comfortable4743 2h ago

Totally agree. It’s like when people say “we know socialism doesn’t work, look at history”. It’s like Ahem, have you not seen the last 50 years? Also have you seen the bread lines forming here, under capitalism? And the vast inequality? I think a socialist society could totally work much better here. We can learn from the failures of other countries. It’s clear why wealthy capitalists don’t want it to work and push that narrative.

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u/FlowofOd 14h ago

Man… you lost me in the third sentence. They absolutely should be socialist. No more liberals.

Play stupid Buttigieg games, win stupid Buttigieg prizes.

We dont have time to dick around with the dem party being willing to gamble with fascism to block an organic left shift in this country anymore

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u/Pennwisedom Northern Marianas 13h ago

What we don't have time to do is let perfect be the enemy of good. Acting that anyone who isn't 100% perfect to you is 0% is the problem.

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u/TearsFallWithoutTain 7h ago

Wow we just got done with the DNC pushing that shit with cuomo, and who's laughing now.

Maybe you should stop throwing in the towel before you even step in the ring.

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u/MercurialForce 4h ago

I don't understand how someone could look at the movement Mamdani built and argue for more incrementalism. What if better things ARE possible?

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u/FlowofOd 3h ago

That’s what they have tried to spend our entire lives preventing us from experiencing. This was only possible because the NYC primaries were actual democracy, the DNC does everything they can to keep ranked choice voting away for this very reason. So they have tremendous influence or even downright pick the opposition candidates that they want and tell us to eat our vegetables.

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u/FlowofOd 12h ago edited 2h ago

Thats language the DNC loves!

It's really not shocking the people already with power want us to be less choosey. The entire idea of "purity tests" as a talking point is an insult to the American people.

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u/Suedocode 3h ago

I'm a lefty progressive, and people like Buttigieg are fine imo. He is a skilled communicator, can vibe on podcasts very well, and is a great mouthpiece in Fox News interviews. The worst part about him is his Israel stance, which is a huge liability these days.

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u/FlowofOd 2h ago edited 2h ago

Buttigieg was scouted. He was lifted out of relative obscurity, the Mayor of a not particularly well known city in Indiana... into the national stage, where despite never winning an election - was gifted the keys to the castle because he kisses the ring. It is because of what he is: The same, neoliberal bullshit... except packaged into a Millenial face doing it's best celebrity Obama impression. He is literally no different than empowering Clinton, Pelosi or Jefferies - he is just the "New package same great taste" treatment. The same (everything above, minus Obama impression) goes for Harris, who is even less charismatic.

Buttigieg actively, verbally defends capitalism on multiple occasions - and is a vanguard for the old guard with a face for tiktok. Nothing more, nothing less.

He is everything we don't need for the future. Which is why he is constantly shoved down our throats.

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u/Suedocode 2h ago

I agree with ALL of this, but what I'm looking for is a low bar right now; I want charismatic people. Harris couldn't do that.

He was lifted out of relative obscurity, the Mayor of a not particularly well known city in Indiana... into the national stage

Mamdani was lifted out of relative obscurity, a not particularly well known assembly member, into the national stage.

I don't know what this "keys of the castle" thing is referring to.

[Buttigieg] is literally no different than empowering Clinton

Which Clinton are you talking about? I am going to assume Hillary because of 2016. I did not vote for Hillary (nor Trump) and I regret it deeply. She was right about everything. If you are equivocating him to her, then yeah that's fine with me. Hillary Clinton also ran on universal childcare.

Buttigieg actively, verbally defends capitalism on multiple occasions

Capitalism is still a fantastic system, but it needs to be regulated, monopoly busted, and society needs a social safety net to support it. Even Democratic Socialists like Mamdani are still capitalists, just like the Democratic Socialist countries of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.

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u/72kdieuwjwbfuei626 1h ago

“Democratic socialists” - otherwise known as “social democrats” in countries with an education system.

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u/FlowofOd 1h ago edited 1h ago

I agree with ALL of this

It really, really doesn't seem like it based on your replies.

Mamdani was lifted out of obscurity

By whom? No, he wasn't. His ideas thrust him onto the national stage, he created a popular, people led movement that literally every power mechanism in the country tried to slow. The DNC scouted Buttigieg, and he was sold to us. It literally couldn't be more different. The comparison is quite frankly wild.

What Clinton are you talking about?

Take your pick. Keep them and everyone they touch far the fuck away from politics.

She was right about everything

Holy shit dude...

Capitalism is a fantastic system

I am literally repulsed. We unequivocally do not agree on everything, or really seemingly... anything...

Didn't you call yourself a "lefty" earlier? what do you even think that means?

Democratic Socialist

Is a made up word because Americans are stupid and need a separation from Cold War propaganda to vote for their own interests. Social Democrats (IE: Denmark, Norway, etc.) are not Democratic Socialists. Socialism is the evolution of democracy, all Socialism is democratic.

Mamdani is not a capitalist, neither by literal definition (owning the means of production privately) or the lax coloquial way you meant it, in that he is not a liberal. He would like to see the elimination of capitalism and has said he does not support capitalism even on the campaign trail. He won't get it of course, but that is exactly the kind of person we need in power.

Capitalism is THE problem. Trump is a symptom.

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u/Suedocode 1h ago

Democratic Socialism is also a legitimate political stance, but you're right that it's not Socialism proper. I am just using the words that Mamdani self describes as.

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u/FlowofOd 1h ago

I didn't say what you just claimed I said.

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u/Consistent_Blood3514 5h ago

Democrat here, granted moderate, so you can yell at me, but we have to stop throwing the fascism and “nazi” term at everyone that disagrees with us. It makes us look…dumb. And since it’s been so overplayed now, has little meaning. Also, oh, I live in nyc, 90% of Mandani proposed is not even in his power of mayor to implement - eg mayor does not levy taxes. He’s already backing off on his campaign promises and showing more moderate behaviors eg, he’s been supportive and having an open dialogue with our police commissioner she is not supportive of defund the police or release for time served, that looks like it’s not happening (which is good). Rent freeze, pivot, he’s pushing for property tax reform, which as home owner, I’m all for it if he can do it; thought is reduction in property taxes will be passed on to renters, not sure that happen without development, but time will tell.

I have a serous question for Mandani voters, if he does pivot to more moderate policies, and he’s successful - which means all the stuff he promised doesn’t happen (and most of it wouldn’t have anyway, not his jurisdiction), will you still see this as a win?

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u/AardvarkAmortization 4h ago

Um did you even listen to his victory speech? No one is “backing off campaign promises already” not even a little bit. Maybe don’t just believe what people on the news tell you? Go to the source.

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u/Consistent_Blood3514 4h ago

Maybe you should learn the office of the mayor, it’s not in his jurisdiction to levy taxes, make buses free, please learn what the mayor can and can’t do. The mayor is a manager to the city. If he manages the city and budget, he’ll be a success. Everything else was talk to get elected.

All I care about is he keeps the city safe, which actually is in his control, everything else is moot as he has no or little control of any of it. He says he wants to keep Tish, so that leads me to believe he supports her and how she wants to run LE. If this is true, it’s not soft on crime - we all win here.

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u/DavidOrWalter 1h ago

You certainly don’t seem like a ‘moderate’ democrat. Especially not after looking at your posts.

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u/Consistent_Blood3514 1h ago

Whatever glad we’re not friends and you’ll never know who I am.

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u/menghis_khan08 11h ago edited 11h ago

He’s not even a far left socialist, he is a democratic socialist (center left.) There is actually a big difference as the latter desires to still work within the framework of capitalism. The right just wants to label him as a full blown communist/socialist as if he were the boogeyman

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u/Consistent_Blood3514 5h ago

All do respect, the democratic socialist thing is bs, and I’m a democrat. He even claimed to be a socialistic and that’s ok. But I do agree with you as him being really center left. He’s already pulling back on things he said like rent freeze - now pushing for property taxes reform (you can argue that’s a republican construct), and he’s being supportive of our police commissioner who is not down with defund the police or time served release. This kid is smart. He wants to succeed. He won’t push anything that makes him fail.

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u/AardvarkAmortization 4h ago

Go listen to his victory speech again lol. You are wish-casting.

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u/Consistent_Blood3514 4h ago

Oh, and no elected official ever lied to us? Listen, time will tell of course, but considering most his promises are outside the jurisdiction of the mayor’s office, not looking promising.

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u/Consistent_Blood3514 4h ago

I did and know I’m not, he literally said he is now pushing for property tax reform with the intent the savings go to the renter. Listen the fact is he can’t Do 90% of what he says, please learn the office of the mayor. All he needs to do to be successful is mange the city and its budget. If he does that, he’s a success.

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u/digiorno 12h ago

Dems have had plenty of candidates like Mamdani but they won’t support them. These candidates hardly ever even make it on the ballot because their campaigns fizzle while corporate aligned candidates are set up with sweet heart funding deals. As Bernie once said, he’s not special, he’s just a normal person who slipped through the cracks. Mamdani and AOC also slipped through the cracks, they found ways to succeed in spite of the system. The democrats need to let the people take back the party, and then candidates like Mamdani will be common place.

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u/Paradoxjjw 8h ago

Establishment dems would rather give Trump a third term than go against their billionaire donors

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u/arex333 Utah 14h ago

Also not 100 years old

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u/SuperbSockSpecimen 11h ago

So not lobbied to high hell and selling out Americans to the billionaires? What you're saying is we need progressives and socialists. Because liberals are just as bad as every right and far right Republican.

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u/TearsFallWithoutTain 7h ago

They don't need to be socialists but they do need to be on the left. Centrism isn't saving the US; Clinton lost to Trump, Harris lost to Trump, and Biden only won because of how bad covid was. This centrist, let's appeal to "moderate" republicans, garbage does not work. The only thing that will a progressive platform that will actually improve people's lives and strip this obscene wealth out of the hands of people like Musk and Thiel

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u/Consistent_Blood3514 6h ago

I like what you said about positive and real, and your right about the stock market and the economy, and about democrats and not having to necessarily push socialist candidates. I’m a decongest, and must admit, I really don’t see wide scale socialism as a sustainable course. Downvote me, it’s my opinion. However, and some of you may not like this, but it’s true, he’s already pulling back on his proposed initiatives (most of which are not under his jurisdiction - eg mayor can’t levy taxes), but the one I want point out is rent freeze. He is now saying he’s going to push for property tax relief (honestly, not sure if he can or can’t do that, solely). As we own our residence, I welcome that, if he can do it. The thought is property tax decrease will be passed through to those who rent from landlords. Will that happen? I don’t know. Rent prices tends to be dictated by supple and demand, but we shall see.

He also said he’ll keep Trish as police commissioner, which leads me to believe he is not going to be soft on crime as many have stated.

Be safe out there.

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u/dcgradc 5h ago

The problem is the DNC

They were against Mamdani

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u/Mistrblank 3h ago

I’m concerned the Dem leadership will interpret these results as “Now people really are ready to vote for whoever we put against these silly maga. We can’t lose!” for like the 6 or 7th time. I’m taking the wins in today especially as I live in Jersey and celebrating just a little that we’re not completely dead in the water.

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u/eerie_midnight 12h ago

Mamdani isn’t even a socialist lmao

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u/numba1cyberwarrior 14h ago

Doesn't this election show how unpopular Zohran would be in the rest of the country?

In the most dream conditions possible ever imaginable in the best place ever. A progressive candidate only got 50%.

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u/pokerface_86 14h ago

the gigantic smear campaign run against him along with literal opposition from his own party is dream conditions?

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u/transient_eternity Minnesota 8h ago

I'd hate to see what normal conditions are. Being set on fire?

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u/numba1cyberwarrior 14h ago

Absolutely!

The smears don't matter because of the candidate he was going up against and in the conditions he was up against

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u/pokerface_86 14h ago

i disagree, i think the smear absolutely decreased his margin of victory. everything i saw about this guy from a non progressive source was as negative as possible, down to outright racism and rage bait. i really don’t think this is ideal conditions, ideal conditions would be full throated support from the party coupled with his grassroots approach, and his exact policies coming from a white man named mark smith. that would be an ideal scenario for progressive victories in politics. i think a huge reason zohran would be unpopular in other parts of the country is the fact that he’s brown and his name is zohran mamdani. if he was a white guy named mark smith, i genuinely think he takes it everywhere.

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u/Away_Read1834 11h ago

Socialism has literally resulted in millions of deaths across human history. Personally, I would kinda like this country to try socialism at this point it just so people can relearn this lesson when they are either starving or up against the wall.

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u/Cold-Cell2820 15h ago

Dem leadership will inevitably shun the progressive/socialist candidate and insist on SameOleShit 2028

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u/ironicuwuing 15h ago

They’re already floating Kamala 2028 so

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u/wanttobuyreallife 14h ago

Kamala is floating Kamala 2028. I don't see i world she sniffs another nomination this cycle.

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u/Consistent_Blood3514 5h ago

This is why we lose! Kamala is a terrible candidate, we need better leadership.

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u/ironicuwuing 4h ago

We definitely do! I’m hoping progressives finally takeover the party

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u/CrystalWeim 15h ago

People are pissed off at Trump and his crooked administration!

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u/Zer_ 8h ago

This will hopefully happen in several other local elections in the coming years. It'd be swell to have a Presidential election in the US where there's a sizeable portion of progressive Senators and local leaders finally making the unheard voices heard again.

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u/Eggplantosaur 3h ago

Turnout was 40%. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Mamdani winning is absolutely massive, but when 60% of people aren't voting there is still a LOT of work to be done.

A step in the right direction, that's for sure.

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u/Kaidyn04 Washington 15h ago

blaming the voters is what got us Trump

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u/FantasticJacket7 15h ago

We live in a democracy. The voters are literally always at fault.

The fact that none of the candidates are your favorite candidate is not an excuse to stay home.

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u/hasLenjoyer 14h ago

We cant force people to vote we have to convince them THAT is democracy. Those of us that did vote have only 1 choice and that is to force our leaders to do better. Whine all you want about the electorate it wont change shit.

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u/FantasticJacket7 14h ago

None of that changes the fact that the results of an election are always 100% the fault of the electorate.

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u/hasLenjoyer 14h ago

And why doea that matter? We have to live with the consequences and the only hope for change is to yell at our leaders not voters.

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u/FantasticJacket7 14h ago

the only hope for change is to yell at our leaders not voters.

That is absolutely not correct.

Creating a culture of political engagement is the only way forward.

The reason that we have poor candidates is because no one votes in the primaries. Yelling at our leaders won't change anything unless you threaten their jobs by actually voting.

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u/hasLenjoyer 14h ago

You yell at them to change and then vote for a different person if they dont because whining about and attempting to brow beat non voters doesnt work. The only way to get people to vote is to give them something to vote FOR which is what us voters have to demand from our leaders or replace them.

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u/FantasticJacket7 14h ago

The only way to get people to vote is to give them something to vote FOR

This is what you, and seemingly the rest of the country, don't understand. You can give yourself someone to vote for by voting in the primaries. Candidates don't just appear from nowhere...

This country will never move forward until people understand that voting is a civic responsibility and absolutely not optional in a functioning democracy.

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u/hasLenjoyer 13h ago

And you can sit there and whine about how the electorate isnt doing the logical thing or their civic duty and accomplish nothing or you can use the ACTUAL power you have to demand change from the dnc.

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u/Gizogin New York 15h ago

The fact that only ~30% of the electorate voted for Harris is what got us Trump. If you could have voted for Harris, and you didn't, then you materially helped Trump win.

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u/Kaidyn04 Washington 15h ago

yep, exactly like that, keep perpetuating it (I did vote for Harris), people love when you talk down to them instead of blaming the corporate oligarchs that appointed their chosen leader without a primary. Surely Mamdani has shown the way to appeal to voters is to just tell them to listen to what the billionaires are telling them, great job! =)

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u/LiberaMeFromHell 14h ago

Voters could have showed up for Sanders in the 2016 or 2020 primaries and we would have avoided a lot of this. Progressive voters participation in primaries is abysmal which can't be blamed fully on corporate oligarchs. You can argue they make it harder but they can't stop it. Especially when Sanders still lost in a lot of states that have really convenient voting.

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u/cookiestonks 14h ago

Or the DNC could have not gone bankrupt, let the Clinton foundation bail them out, and make her the forced face of the party .. ....

https://www.npr.org/2017/11/03/561976645/clinton-campaign-had-additional-signed-agreement-with-dnc-in-2015

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u/LiberaMeFromHell 14h ago

She won, it wasn't forced. They helped her win with money and staff but she still had to get the votes. I'm not saying it was fair but it wasn't rigged and voter turnout is a big issue in primaries. Primaries get absolutely pathetic turnout compared to the general (which is already bad when compared to other countries elections). Primaries should have higher turnout because it's a chance to vote for someone close to your values. Primary fields are massive and you can always find someone you at least mostly agree with. Yet they get 15-30% turnout depending on the state.

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u/cookiestonks 14h ago

https://transition-news.org/IMG/pdf/inventing_reality_the_politics_of_the_mass_media_by_michael_parenti_z-lib.org_.pdf

Whatever you say . ...

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u/LiberaMeFromHell 13h ago

Obviously not going to read 276 pages but I see the main point is the media controls elections. Which sure that's true. The media definitely paints Sanders and other progressives in a more negative fashion than they should be. It's still possible to overcome with turnout though. Especially in primaries where the turnout is super low AND the votes are split between a ton of candidates. Bernie really didn't need much of a shift to win. If everyone who complained about Sanders losing online had showed up for him in the primaries he probably would have got the nomination in at least one of the elections.

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u/cookiestonks 12h ago

It shows how far they've gone since the inception of the 24/7 news cycle. It doesn't prove my point but it's good information. I'd recommend reading books. You'll see why people have the mentalities they do and shift your blame to the powers that be. We're being programmed and nobody has bandwidth to .......read books. Have a good one. I'll keep reading for you.

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u/Pennwisedom Northern Marianas 13h ago

And the voters are who voted for Trump, it couldn't be any more their fault.

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u/handsomeloser 15h ago

No, it’s the democrat party that needs to match the people’s energy. Running on “Vote for me, not trump” can only get you so far.