Socialist on brink of leading center of American capitalism

Socialist Democratic New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani is ahead in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, which was held on Tuesday.

With 88% of the vote counted, Mamdani was leading the contest with 43.5% of the first-choice votes, while disgraced former Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo lagged behind with 36.3% according to projections from the Associated Press.

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was in a distant third with 11.4% of the first-choice votes, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams notched 4.1% and former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer received 1.7%, according to AP projections.

New York City notably conducts its primary elections using ranked-choice voting (RCV). Since no candidate is likely to receive a majority of the first-choice votes, the results will be tabulated via RCV, with calculations expected by July 1. However, Mamdani on June 13 made a cross-endorsement deal with Lander, who encouraged his supporters to rank the socialist second, further shrinking Cuomo’s already narrow path to victory.

If his lead holds, Mamdani is set to face incumbent Democratic Mayor Eric Adams — who skipped the Democratic primary and is running for reelection on a pair of independent ballot lines — as well as the Republican nominee, anti-crime activist Curtis Sliwa, in the November general election. Unlike the primary contest, the general election to lead the nation’s largest city will not use RCV.

Political strategist Adam Weiss told the Daily Caller News Foundation before the primary that Adams has a chance of defeating Mamdani in November.

The controversial socialist politician has served as a member of the New York State Assembly for the 36th district in Queens since 2021 and has drawn criticism from some Jewish leaders over his anti-Israel views. The far-left state lawmaker has notably pledged to introduce a variety of free programs in New York City if he is elected mayor, including free buses, free childcare, city-run grocery stores, and increasing the minimum wage to $30.

Additionally, Mamdani has repeatedly promoted reducing the role of local police in New York City, leading the New York Times editorial board to write in a June 16 op-ed that they think he “minimizes the importance of policing.”

“Unfortunately, Mr. Mamdani is running on an agenda uniquely unsuited to the city’s challenges,” the editorial board wrote. “He is a democratic socialist who too often ignores the unavoidable trade-offs of governance. He favors rent freezes that could restrict housing supply and make it harder for younger New Yorkers and new arrivals to afford housing. He wants the government to operate grocery stores, as if customer service and retail sales were strengths of the public sector.”

Additionally, the Chicago Tribune editorial board warned readers against voting for Mamdani in the Democratic mayoral primary in an op-ed published Monday, stating that “far-left candidates do not make for effective or popular municipal executives in today’s stressful economy.”

“Mamdani wants to freeze rents, open city-owned grocery stores, provide bus service for ‘free,’ tax corporations and the 1%, and increase the minimum wage to $30, among other left-wing positions that differ greatly from Cuomo,” the outlet’s editorial board wrote. “Most of Mamdani’s ideas are shared (at least in principle) by [Democratic Chicago] Mayor Brandon Johnson, and many of them are popular in blue cities. But experience has taught us here that far-left candidates do not make for effective or popular municipal executives in today’s stressful economy.”

Ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary, Mamdani received endorsements from some progressive leaders, including Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

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