Zohran Mamdani’s decisive win in the first round of the New York City Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday has become more than a local political upset—it’s a new frontline in the battle over the soul of the Democratic Party and a gift to Republicans eager for a fresh national target.
President Donald Trump mocked Mamdani, a proud democratic socialist, as a “Communist lunatic,” adding, “If this is the future of the Democrats, they don’t have one.” Vice President JD Vance congratulated him as “the new leader of the Democratic Party.” Within hours, the National Republican Congressional Committee branded him an “antisemitic socialist radical,” tying him to frontline Democrats in suburban swing districts.
On Wednesday morning, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote on X, “The commentary about NYC Democrats nominating an anarchist-socialist for Mayor omits one point: how unchecked migration fundamentally remade the NYC electorate. Democrats change politics by changing voters. That’s how you turn a city that defined US dominance into what it is now.”
New York City is and has always been one of the most diverse electorates in the country. And Mamdani actually performed better than Andrew Cuomo with white voters, but Miller’s post suggests the coming attack line from the GOP.
Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, who is preparing to challenge Kathy Hochul for New York governor, said the state’s Democratic leadership was in “full-blown panic mode.” Representative Mike Lawler of New York’s warned that Democrats “will pay the price for this insanity at the ballot box.”
Mamdani’s grassroots campaign, modeled in part after Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York’s 14th District’s 2018 insurgency, leveraged ranked-choice voting and community organizing to outmaneuver Cuomo and establishment Democrats despite being outspent by tens of millions of dollars. Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed him, called the win “proof that working-class politics can’t be bought.”
Progressives Cheer, Democrats Split
Still, not all Democrats are celebrating. The New York Times editorial board warned Mamdani’s platform was “seductive but unserious,” and called him “unproven.” The Washington Post argued his vision could return New York to the “bad old days of dysfunction.”
Yet the June 24 results showed a clear disconnect between the institutional voices that have long molded the Democratic platform and the actual voters who show up in the party’s primaries. Mamdani dominated in working-class precincts in the Bronx and Queens, as well as the more affluent brownstone neighborhoods of Brooklyn. He put up his strongest numbers among younger voters and renters in Manhattan. Turnout also surged among first-time voters—particularly immigrants and transit users, key constituencies for Mamdani’s “a city you can afford” message.
“Mamdani represents a rejection of the assumption that you need corporate donors to win,” Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution—which mobilized over 60,000 supporters—told Newsweek. “This was a referendum on the Democratic Party’s future—and a warning to the corporate wing.”
But Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff, of the Institute for Education and former Biden 2020 digital director, urged caution. “Has he inspired a lot of people? Sure. Do I think he’s the future of the Democratic Party? Distinctly not,” Shroff told Newsweek.
“He’s run an amazing campaign, but many Democrats are deeply uncomfortable with him being elevated as a party standard-bearer.”
Shroff pointed to policy misalignments, including Mamdani’s vote against a ban on ghost guns. He also noted that Mamdani’s promises are unlikely to translate into results.
“The mayor of New York needs state cooperation, and many of Mamdani’s proposals will go nowhere without Albany,” he said. “He’s made big promises without the machinery to deliver.”
Mamdani Not a Lock in November
For Shroff, centrist Democrats like Governor Hochul—up for re-election next year—face political risks in the wake of Mamdani’s rise. “Her nightmare scenario is Elise Stefanik punching down at Mamdani and using him to define what Democrats supposedly stand for,” he said.
Mamdani’s stance on Israel has also drawn backlash in a city with the largest Jewish population in the country. His strong pro-Palestinian stance and refusal to condemn slogans like “globalize the intifada” will be problematic for large swaths of those otherwise progressive voters, said Josh Lafazan, former Nassau County legislator and Democratic strategist.
“At a time when Jews need to be protected… I think you’re going to see a massive wave of Jewish voters coming out to vote against him,” he said.
Ocasio-Cortez, however, defended Mamdani’s record and doubled down on her challenge to party leadership. “Zoran’s win sends a message,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “You can’t ignore the base anymore.”
As Mamdani enters the general election, his path to victory remains uncertain. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, though deeply unpopular, is running as an independent and targeting conservative and moderate voters. Cuomo, fresh from defeat, has also left open the door to continuing his campaign as an independent.
But business leaders in the city told the New York Post in the aftermath of Mamdani’s win that Cuomo needs to drop out entirelty, lest he split the moderate vote between Adams and Curtis Sliwa, the perennial GOP candidate and gadfly. Cuomo faces a Friday deadline to exit the race.
The post Republicans Pile On as Zohran Mamdani Becomes Democrats’ New Lightning Rod appeared first on Newsweek.
