Zohran Mamdani may not solve all of the beleaguered US Democrats’ problems, but the surprise frontrunner in the race for New York mayor does offer hints on how to win back voters and power.
The Democrats — shut out of power in the White House and both chambers of Congress — are seen negatively by 63 per cent of US voters, according to a July poll in the Wall Street Journal, the party’s lowest approval rating in 30 years.
John Kane, a professor of political science at New York University, said the party needs to reconnect with parts of their traditional base, such as lower-income Americans and young voters.
Mamdani, a 34-year-old self-described democratic socialist, has developed a plan aimed at luring working-class people and young adults, for whom famously expensive New York is becoming harder and harder to call home.
His platform’s highlights include a freeze on rent hikes as well as free bus service and day care.
Mamdani’s virulent opposition to President Donald Trump has a strong symbolic appeal for a Democratic base, “which feels almost entirely powerless in the present moment,” Kane told AFP.
He has a more than 10-point lead over his main rival in the November 4 election for mayor, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a scandal-tainted veteran Democrat who is running as an independent this time.
Still has some juice
“Mamdani is evidence that the American left still has some juice in it in 2025,” said Daniel Schlozman, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University.
But New York — America’s biggest city, and an ethnically diverse and historically Democratic — one does not reflect the United States overall, Schlozman said.
And while enthusiasm over Mamdani is one thing, his success is “a very different matter from Democrats at large winning the elections they need to win to take control of the House next year, maybe the Senate, and the presidency in 2028,” he added.
Schlozman said Mamdani is a compelling leader who understands that issues of affordability in New York are critical, but cautioned that the national electorate is probably not ready for his policies.
Democrats would need to address affordability in a very different way from him to satisfy voters even in other Democratic-leaning states, much less swing states that can go either way, he continued.
Kane also said that outside large cities, where people are used to seeing all kinds of nationalities and heritages, Mamdani’s origin and religion and his past statements calling the police “racist” might fail to win over some voters.
The candidate was born in Uganda to a Muslim family of Indian origin and became a US citizen in 2018.
Right message, wrong messenger
Then there is also the risk of Republicans seizing on Mamdani to ridicule Democratic policies, just as Trump has dismissed him as a “little communist” who is too willing to spend taxpayer money.
Many in the party “might regard Mamdani as a case of right message, wrong messenger,” said Kane in reference to Mamdani’s policies.
Most moderates in the Democratic Party, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — who is from New York — have abstained from endorsing Mamdani so far.
“Some moderate Democrats may shy away from Mamdani based on policy stances, while others shy away simply because they don’t view him as an electable candidate at the national level,” said Kane.
Indeed, political experts say that New York differs enough from the rest of the United States that it is not necessarily the best place for a Democrat to launch a national campaign.
In any case, Mamdani could only go so high in US politics — since he was not born in the United States, he cannot run for president.
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