Not by Popular Power Alone
Grassroots worker organization and mobilization is essential to the success of any socialist electoral project. But socialists in executive office can’t neglect other elements, like maintaining wide popular support and alliances within the state.
To exert real pressure on elites and defend himself from the attacks likely to come from Donald Trump, Zohran Mamdani can’t rely on popular mobilization alone. He will need to forge political alliances and drastically expand his base of support. (Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
With every passing day, it looks more likely that democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani will be New York City’s next mayor.
The prospect is thrilling for the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), of which I am a member and from whose ranks Mamdani rose, and for the US left broadly. Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary against former governor Andrew Cuomo and his gigantic AIPAC-funded war chest demonstrates the potential of an ambitious left-wing economic pitch and the waning influence of the pro-Israel lobby.
If Mamdani does win in November, his program holds out the promise of breaking with the austerity and corruption of the Eric Adams administration. It also has the potential to expand the popular imagination when it comes to what the public sector can do to improve ordinary people’s lives. Yet a Mamdani mayoralty would face daunting challenges: from the hostility of the city’s economic elite, to opposition to his agenda by the Democratic state government, to the threat of federal funding cuts or worse from the Trump administration.
Sorry, but this article is available to active subscribers only. Please log in or become a subscriber.