Zohran Mamdani, the New Left, and a Return to Materialism

In the past few days, many progressive followers of US and world politics have felt an emotion they thought lost long ago, hope. In a terrible upset for the Democratic establishment, self proclaimed democratic socialist and ‘progressive muslim immigrant’ Zohran Mamdani became the Democratic nominee for NY mayor, beating out his mainstream opposition Andrew Cuomo by over 6 points after 93% of the votes were counted in the first round. Cuomo subsequently conceded to the left-wing candidate, making the rest of the vote count a mere formality.

In the days after Mamdani’s historic win, which puts him a considerable way closer to becoming the mayor of the predominantly Democrat city at the November elections, members across the political spectrum have been scrambling to make sense of his victory. Right-wing commentators like Dave Rubin and Charlie Kirk responded with the expected barrage of racism, calling Zohran and his supporters ‘Islamists’ and ‘Hamas Supporters’ despite the mayoral candidate repeatedly stating his support for the Queer and Jewish communities in New York City. For Kirk, it did not take him long in his interview with Megyn Kelly to begin the tired fearmongering over ‘Muslim mayors’ in London and now New York importing a ‘radical cultural orthodoxy’ and ‘hundreds of thousands of people that don’t import [western] values’. One look at the comments on Megyn Kelly’s original video show even her right-wing audience is not falling for this line of trite propaganda.

The reaction from the Democratic establishment was more interesting. The alleged ‘left-wing party’ in the USA was quick to centre the concerns of Wall Street and business interests in response to the democratic socialist’s victory. One reporter on CNBC likened the future of NYC under Mamdani to that of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Night Rises. In this morbid fantasy, ‘wall streeters’ would be executed as prisoners of the impending class war by being made to walk out onto the ice of the Hudson River and freeze to death in its waters. Ignoring the evident double standard that determines class war only takes place when wealth is distributed downwards, it is curious to see the Democratic establishment so clumsily re-emphasise the stance that Mamdani centred his campaign around defeating.

Many have already touched on the symbolism of Zohran Mamdani’s victory for the Democratic strategy against the GOP. Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani’s main opposition in the race, encapsulated many of the traits regular people have been manipulated into believing are necessary for a respectable and trustworthy political candidate. He is relatively old at 67 years of age, wealthy, and with a brand of establishment politics that seeks to maintain the status quo with some potential changes for working class citizens. Cuomo represents the style of centre-right big-business politics that, according to Bernie Sanders, lost the Democrats the 2024 election. Mamdani’s victory therefore symbolises, with a few potential caveats, that another way exists to fight fascism in the USA, a system of government that we should not dismiss as a sombre historical mistake, but as the natural evolution of capitalism in crisis (see Michael Parenti’s ‘Blackshirts & Reds’ - Chapter 1: Rational Fascism).

Zohran Mamdani’s first break with the Democratic establishment, as mentioned earlier, is his incessant emphasis on the material wellbeing of ordinary citizens. In an interview with The Breakfast Club podcast, Mamdani detailed his conversations with ordinary New Yorkers in the boroughs that saw the largest shift towards Trump in the 2024 election. According to him, the most significant reason those voters either refrained from going to the polls, or turned red, was because they remembered having more money in their pockets 4 years prior, and they believed Trump would return them to such a state of affairs. Despite the large immigrant population in these areas, and Trump’s fascistic racism throughout the campaign, New Yorkers voted for who they felt could make their lives more comfortable economically.

This is a point large parts of the Democratic establishment have failed to grasp. Kamala Harris warned against Donald Trump being a fascist, Donald Trump ran on a policy platform of shameless authoritarianism, and yet he won the popular vote for the Republican party for the first time in 20 years. It is evident now that people care more about putting food on the table than the threat of right-wing autocracy.

This is, of course, not solely an American issue, but one that has already taken root across developed liberal democracies. Where weaker mainstream parties have capitulated to the right, its policies, and its rhetoric, Mamdani has instead chosen to double down on a progressive economic and political stance, without watering down where his allegiances lie. He proudly bears the label of democratic socialist, in a country where suggesting the minimum wage should be equated with the cost of living is considered communist lunacy. When asked how he will pay for his ‘socialist utopia’ Mamdani calmly lays out his plans to raise money for universal childcare and free buses through tax hikes on corporate income and well-off New Yorkers earning over £1 million a year.

On cultural and social issues, Mamdani is equally uncompromising. When pressed on whether he would arrest the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to New York City, he unequivocally responded; ‘no, this is a city that [sic] our values are in line with international law, it’s time that our actions are also’. Mamdani does not shy away from who he is, presenting himself at the NYC Mayoral debate as a ‘progressive muslim immigrant from New York’ and ‘Donald Trump’s worst nightmare’, despite the growing authoritarianism of the Trump administration and its repeated use of scare-tactics against his political opponents. On this last point regarding a direct affront to Donald Trump, Mamdani has again been explicit in his wish to begin Trump-proofing New York City, in an effort to ‘reject Donald Trump’s fascism’ and prevent the illegal ICE raids and kidnappings that motivated protests across L.A in June.

Like many on the left these last few years, I have been alarmed at the rise of right wing parties in many of the most powerful liberal democracies in the world. As the right, aided by a capitalist establishment historically adept at turning to the far right when capital is in crisis, have normalised a xenophobic vitriol in mainstream politics, the left has failed to mount an effective counterattack. Mamdani is that counterattack. While it remains to be seen how his campaign can be emulated and adapted for each country’s specific political and economic battle against the right, not least given how Mamdani’s own personal charisma and background aids his message, the blueprint is there. It is now the task of the left to take Mamdani’s lead, and breathe hope back into politics.

Illustration by Will Allen/Europinion