Twenty-two million dollars in billionaire-funded racist, Islamophobic attack ads, plus a steady stream of red-baiting from New York’s political old guard, media establishment, and even Trump himself, weren’t enough to stop the juggernaut of the Mamdani campaign. He won more votes than any New York City mayoral candidate since 1969.
Democrats and pundits underestimate the potential for working-class rebellion. Mamdani’s campaign was powered by disgust with the Democratic Party and a broad, mobilized alliance — struggling young people, immigrants, and people of color alongside many white workers who, despite higher salaries, can barely cover their expenses.
Now we’ll see how capitalists will try to sabotage his reform efforts. One of his first challenges may be when the New York Police Department he is now in charge of attacks the very movements that helped get him elected. His re-appointment of billionaire heiress and police reform opponent Jessica Tisch as police commissioner is not a great opening move.
We should hold no illusions about Mamdani’s power, and we certainly can’t vote our way to freedom. As we’ve seen in Los Angeles and Chicago, it’s organized communities on the street that are effectively pushing back on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But the working class needs all of the allies it can get in the battles ahead, including elected officials who are willing to fight in a united front.
In his victory speech, Mamdani vowed to stand up to Trump: “To get to any of us, you’ll have to get through all of us.”
Let’s hold him to that — and keep organizing the working class to defend itself.
