Republicans use Mamdani bombshell victory over Cuomo as ammunition to blast Democrats as extremists
The political earthquake that rocked the nation's most populous city may prove to be a gift for Republicans aiming to paint Democrats as extreme radicals ahead of next year's midterm elections.
As democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assembly member from Queens who is originally from Uganda, was on his way to topping former three-term New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the rest of the large field in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, Republicans pounced.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) was one of the first out of the gate to capitalize on the leftward lurch, firing off an email release that claimed, "the new face of the Democrat Party just dropped, and it's straight out of a socialist nightmare."
Aiming to tie House Democrats to Mamdani, NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella argued that "every vulnerable House Democrat will own him, and every Democrat running in a primary will fear him."
Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, a top ally of President Donald Trump who is seriously considering a run for Empire State governor next year, also pounced. Stefanik claimed that "a radical, Defund-the-Police, Communist, raging Antisemite will most likely win the New York City Democrat Mayoral primary."
Even Vice President JD Vance got into the game, writing, "Congratulations to the new leader of the Democratic Party" in a post on Blue Sky, a social media platform frequented by progressives.
Veteran Republican strategist Colin Reed told Fox News that "the Democratic Party's trying to convince people that the tail is not wagging the dog, and they don't answer to the more extreme elements of their party. Now, that entire effort is undercut by a socialist winning handily in a bellwether election to determine who's going to run America's largest city."
"It's a messaging nightmare that's going to unfold in real time from now until the midterms," Reed said.
Mamdani, riding a wave of support from progressive and younger voters that boosted him from a one-time long shot, stormed to victory over Cuomo, who resigned from the governor's office in 2021 amid multiple scandals and was aiming for a political comeback.
"Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won," Cuomo, who for weeks had painted Mamdani as an inexperienced far-left politician, said in a concession speech.
Mamdani – who has proposed eliminating bus fares across New York City, making City University of New York tuition-free, freezing rents on municipal housing, and providing "free childcare" for children up to age 5 – was energized by recent endorsements after winning endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, two leading voices of the progressive movement.
"In our New York, the power belongs to the people," Mamdani said after declaring victory.
New York City's mayoral primary campaign played out as the Democratic Party works to escape from the political wilderness, following last year's elections, when the party lost control of the White House, the Senate majority and failed to win back control of the House from the GOP. It also came as the party works to resist Trump's sweeping and controversial second-term agenda.
Political analysts said the results of the primary would be seen as a barometer of which way the Democratic Party is headed, toward the center if Cuomo had won and toward the left if Mamdani was victorious.
"Zohran Mamdani's likely victory shows that a new direction for the Democratic Party is possible – a future of dynamic candidates who appeal to young voters and working-class voters with a platform that fights for people, not corporations," Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
Pointing to endorsements of Cuomo earlier this month by former President Bill Clinton and former three-term New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, she charged that "the old guard establishment of the Democratic Party, fueled by billionaires, did everything they could to defeat Mamdani – and they failed. They continue being wrong about everything, and they need to get out of the way and let a new generation lead."
However, ahead of the primary, the moderate Democrat-aligned group Third Way said in a memo they were "deeply alarmed" over the prospect of a Mamdani victory.
"A Mamdani win for such a high-profile office would be a devastating blow in the fight to defeat Trumpism," the group argued.
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