This year, proud socialist assemblyman Zohran Mamdani was expected to oust the Republican Curtis Silwa and repeat-defeat Andrew Cuomo, who unsuccessfully ran for New York City mayor as an independent after Mamdani steamrolled him in the Democratic primary.
He did just that on Election Night, making the Ugandan-born mayor-elect both the first millennial and first Muslim ever elected to preside over the city that never sleeps.
A reluctant Gov. Kathy Hochul ultimately endorsed Mamdani, meanwhile both Chuck Schumer and former President Barack Obama — who congratulated all Democrats collectively rather than any individual — withheld their support.
Hochul, in particular, rejected Mamdani’s “Tax the rich!” mission.
Speaking of: Republican President Donald J. Trump didn’t shy away from opposing the 34-year-old’s rise — for, well, some fairly obvious reasons.
Though Mamdani may see Trump’s “bully pulpit” threats as bluster, the former president’s vow to restrict federal funding under a Mamdani administration could still materialize. As a result, a heightened White House watch over the Empire State seems inevitable.
While Long Island remains reliably red, its heavily populated city neighbors tend to swing the entire state blue.
Running on a platform of rent freezes, free city buses, and free childcare, Mamdani appeals to the binge-watching babyfaces who helped elect him — “mister and mrs. softies” who moved to or freeloaded within the Big Apple, inspired as much by the adorkable hero’s journey of Spider-Man as they are terrified of real spiders invading their safe spaces.
Trump, however, will surely work to contain Mamdani’s viral influenza within the five-borough web like the principal who overrides the nurse and the teacher by sending the fake cougher home long before an entire chorus could bloom; this ain’t his first rodeo.
As alarming as Mamdani’s open social-lust may be, Albany isn’t exactly shaking. They see his all-spice, no-dice brand as the antithesis of unity — a glorified lame duck stuck fronting in a “Go, Grease Lightning!” costume until the next squeaky-wheeled progressive comes along.
In fact, state capitol insiders say Mamdani’s far-left ideals have deepened internal Democratic divisions.
“The truth is, there’s a quiet civil war going on in the Democratic Party right now,” Cuomo told Fox News. “You have an extreme left... Mamdani is just the banner carrier for that movement.”
Sore losers they may be, liberals have often proven to be even sorer winners.
To his credit, Mamdani apologized for comparing the NYPD to the Israeli military — but it’s still astonishing that an incoming New York City mayor ever did that in the first place.