28 Comments
User's avatar
Erica Richter's avatar

Gabe, I think you missed a fairly wide discussion that you might have wanted to include about how Mamdami’s victory, clearly bait for the Republicans to call him the face of the Democratic Party, applies much more specifically to New York City and not the country as a whole. Would he have won in other cities-it’s pretty clear he wouldn’t because his whole message and focus was directed at the people of New York and their unique problems. You can’t really compare any other city to New York. So although the Republicans will try to call him the face of the party, it doesn’t really apply! I know you don’t want to be accused of falling for any particular party line.

Expand full comment
CC's avatar

Ironically, Mamdani assured the immigrants, legal & illegal in NY that he has their back, while also telling the press explicitly that he’s going after the wealth of white New Yorkers - ‘nothing like a unity ticket 😂😂😂

Expand full comment
AJ Ong's avatar

Mamdani has not campaigned on race, other than implying being non-white is equal to white. For instance he is not hoping to tax white billionaires, just billionaires regardless of race

Expand full comment
CC's avatar

You did not listen to his speech last night…

Expand full comment
AJ Ong's avatar

Of course I listened to the entire speech. Quote the lines you are concerned about and prove your point

Expand full comment
CC's avatar

Mamdani explicitly stated he was there for immigrants, legal & illegal - he never mentioned what he would do for native black & white New Yorkers. He didn’t even acknowledge them - only that he will need their wages to fund his programs for immigrants. Mamdani was speaking to his Brownish brethren from Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He’s explicitly racist.

Expand full comment
AJ Ong's avatar

You are incorrect, Mandami mentioned no such thing. His speech was specifically about the working class regardless of race vs the wealthy class. He didn't mention black, white New Yorkers in the same way he didn't mention Latin or SE Asian New Yorkers.

You are clearly misremembering his victory speech. Here is the full text:

Zohran Mamdani's victory speech in full - Newsweek https://share.google/4DsNbFgBlb7OSRG8Y

Expand full comment
Tom Kudla's avatar

On the NYC Mayoral race -- with 91% of the votes counted (link below), the vote count is a 50/50 split between Mandani and Cuomo/Swila-taken-togehter -- ~35k more votes on Mamdani's side (1.036mil to 1.001mil).

But, if Swila had dropped out (and endorsed and campaigned for Cuomo (the "RFKjr dropped out to back Trump" -style gambit)), and if Swila was promised, say, a Police Commish partnership with Tisch (RFKjr was promised HHS Sec), then, the "Law & Order" party most likely would have won out...

When its a 50/50 split, Mamdani has NO mandate, no?

https://www.cnn.com/election/2025/results/new-york-city-mayor

Expand full comment
AJ Ong's avatar

Ask Trump and his "mandate"

Mamdani's election was obviously a mandate. He was the only candidate to win a majority of votes. This in spite of the significant obstacles of his inexperience, his young age, his Muslim faith in a city that became unified against Muslim fundamentalism after 9/11, his avowed democratic socialist philosophies in the largest capitalistic city in the US

Expand full comment
CC's avatar

Mamdani does NOT have a mandate when half the voters don’t want him.

Expand full comment
AJ Ong's avatar

But Trump has a mandate when less than 50% voted for him?? Lol

Expand full comment
CC's avatar

Who said Trump had a mandate? He never did…

Expand full comment
AJ Ong's avatar

? Trump says he had a mandate. Which is echoed by Fox News and maga lobby

Expand full comment
AJ Ong's avatar

Trump claims a ‘massive’ mandate, but presidents often overread their victories https://www.npr.org/2024/12/16/g-s1-38003/trump-mandate-presidents

Expand full comment
CC's avatar

Why should Republicans help Democrats dig out of their own crap? 🤷‍♀️

Expand full comment
Malcolm Kottler's avatar

"The succesfful balot meuasre likely flipping five House seats will likely go a long way towards Democrats coutnering mid-decade redistriirtng efforts by Republicans."

Oops. The spell-checker failed badly here.

But I am still a big fan of Gabe!

Expand full comment
CC's avatar

But will it work for California in the end? The population outflow is so great because Gavin Newsom manages the state so badly - that CA is expected to lose 3 to 4 seats in the near future. Disenfranchising his own population is not a good look for Gavin. I’d say it’s craven.

Expand full comment
AJ Ong's avatar

You are parroting incorrect gop talking points. California population increased roughly 6% from 2010 to 2020. California did suffer outroads during pandemic, primarily because of affordability but things are back to normal. California population and inflow increased in 2024. I assume 2025 will show the same

Expand full comment
CC's avatar

AI: Regarding whether California will lose seats due to recent population loss, forecasts suggest that the state may lose up to five congressional seats in the 2030 apportionment cycle if current trends continue, as the growth rate has slowed or reversed in recent years. Despite some decline in population, the recent redistricting and population shifts primarily influence the distribution of seats rather than their total number until the subsequent census happens in 2030.

Expand full comment
AJ Ong's avatar

I guess this is accurate if California population trends during pandemic continued. It did not

Expand full comment
SevenDeadlies's avatar

Feel like mentioning David Dinkins should be a thing wrt Mamdani. I'm actually surprised at the VA turnout as well.

Expand full comment
CC's avatar

What is shocking about Mamdani is that he’s a Muslim when it was just about 20 years ago, 19 Muslims took down the World Trade Center, killing 3,500 New Yorkers. That Democrats voted for Democrats in Blue States is not surprising and indicates nothing going forward.

Expand full comment
Ginna Taft's avatar

It’s great that the results are what they are, but both parties need to find strong candidates that aren’t the old guard, bring more women into these races and be prepared for a fight for our republic-in other words unseat Trump.

Expand full comment