The outcome of New York City’s mayoral election could influence the political consciousness of the country as a whole, according to USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future Director Kamy Akhavan.
The Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani surprised the nation with a social media driven-campaign that placed him ahead of well-known New York politician Andrew Cuomo for the past few months.
As of 8 p.m Tuesday, the Associated Press said Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City.
“He’d be the one of the youngest leaders that [New York City] ever had. He’d be its first Democratic socialist. It’s a lot of firsts for him,” said Akhavan. “So I think the fact that there’s someone who is first across so many identity lines is really exciting. But in terms of what it’s going to be for politics, it’s really a big question mark. We’ll wait and see.”
Mindy Romero, the founder of the Center for Inclusive Democracy, a non-partisan research center, said Mamdani’s success is even more impressive given Cuomo’s status as the establishment pick for years.
“It’s very unusual in politics that you see a seasoned veteran - even one with Cuomo’s record of scandal - being bested by essentially an unknown,” said Romero. “I think there is something about the larger context right now that anti-establishment kind of works.”
Romero said Madmani’s success can be attributed to the positive tone of his messaging. Another draw among young people especially, Akhavan said, is his social media presence.
“If you look at use of social media by age bracket, it tends to skew heavier use for younger users. So that means that the candidate that is more popular with young people tends to have a lot more visibility on social media,” said Akhavan. “New York is a very blue city. [Mamdani] has a very blue message. He’s advocating for things like free public transit…for democratizing the process in a way the city has not seen for decades”.
Annie Harrigan is one of those young New Yorkers who discovered Mamdani on Instagram. A journalism graduate student at USC, she came into contact with Zohran’s campaign through her friends’ constant resharing.
“I think when I followed him he had maybe a few hundred thousand followers. Now he’s at over 4 million,” said Harrigan. “Every day I go on Instagram I swear I see a new social media page dedicated to him. Like, there’s hot girls for Zohran, there’s Pakistanis for Zohran. South Asians for Zohrans. There’s gays for Zohran. I think social media is such an incredible and smart way to engage with, like a youth vote.””
While students like Harrigan cite wealth inequality and the defunding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as reasons why they are attracted to Mamdani’s policies, Mamdani also has his critics. Some object to his approach to law enforcement policies and the inclusion of race into his tax plan.
Libby Ferencik is a data science and applied mathematics major at USC, who plans on living and working full time in New York City upon graduation.
“He wants to make public transportation free. That has never worked in the history of all socialist and communist policies,” said Ferencik. “I think you’re going to be seeing a lot of businesses and richer people who are able to leave the city go to states like Florida and Texas where there isn’t a state income tax. Overall, the city is going to be losing money if these policies are implemented.”
Akhavan sees Mamdani as the starting point of an increasingly common progressive wing of the Democratic party. He cites Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh as another sign of this change.
The New York Times, at the time of publication, has Fateh behind incumbent Jacob Frey, but if Fateh also wins, a more progressive wing could influence how the Democratic Party presents its case to the nation moving forward. This would be especially true, Akhavan said, when it comes to facing off with the current administration, as President Donald Trump endorsed Cuomo for mayor.
“I think in terms of national politics and who’s going to really benefit from this, it’s just going to contribute to further partisanship and further division,” said Akhavan. “We’re going to see the MAGA right attacking the progressive left. We’re going to see the center attacking the progressive left, and it’ll just contribute to more partisanship.”
In any case, the outcome of Tuesday’s election is only the beginning.
“A lot will have to depend on the performance of the winners,” Atkhavan said. “And a lot will then depend on the messaging they use, whether they come to the offices with messages of unity, or whether they come to the office with messages of deeper division.”