by Tyler Johnson

In our country, we’ve come to know the news as a cycle of proliferating madness. It can make the most minuscule events seem like the end of the world, and the most dangerous of people seem like strong leaders. Lately, there’s one man that media across the board seem to be going after. Fox News, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, just to name a few, have taken aim at state assemblyman and mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

The Democratic Socialist seemingly emerged from nowhere with a strong base of support and the rhetoric to stand against the other Democratic nominees in the New York City mayoral primaries. This is where he first started making waves for those outside of the city. Mamdani stood on stage and grilled Andrew Cuomo on a plethora of issues that plagued the former governor’s reign.

Cuomo’s stint in office was fraught with controversy. From sexual harassment allegations to hospital overcrowding during COVID to misappropriation of city funds for his own personal use, it’s a surprise he even had the courage to run again. In the Democratic primaries, Mamdani was the hardest on Cuomo, calling him out for many of the issues that arise with the idea of another term. It’s this type of aggressive rhetoric that we must show to politicians who have failed us. We can’t settle for corruption to fight corruption. 

One of the biggest issues that arose in the primary debate was that of Israel. In the most viral moment of the debate, the candidates were asked where they would go on their first trip outside of the city. Mamdani was the only person to insist he’d remain in New York, while almost every other candidate answered Israel, as well as Canada and the Caribbean.

This may be one of the most pivotal moments in American history regarding our relationship to Israel and the ongoing genocide, especially after Mamdani has come out on top in the primaries. He has been one of the key voices addressing the ethnic cleansing with its true moniker of a genocide. At the same time, he has maintained a good relationship with the Jewish population of New York, even being backed by “Jewish New Yorkers for Peace.”

In a country in which the consensus among politicians is that the conflict is “complicated,” a voice that assesses the situation for what it is might be the change we need. Beyond just this issue, Mamdani is gaining support for his rent control, public transport, and city-owned grocery store policies.

Do not get it twisted. These are Socialist policies, but they are not scary policies. The media and many establishment politicians have critiqued them for being good on paper but not realistic. Of course, we can’t say for sure that this will all come to fruition, but the plan that Mamdani lays out is quite strong.

Taxing millionaires and big corporations is a working-class dream. As we’ve seen across the country, even in Republican areas, people are tired of the 1% hoarding their wealth that they will never be able to entirely spend. This isn’t a baseless claim, either. Senator Bernie Sanders — who paved the way for this generation’s Democratic Socialist s— has been making waves across the country in his “fight against oligarchy” tour.

On the YouTube channel “More Perfect Union”, Sanders was followed around West Virginia as he interacted with the mostly Republican population. The reaction was astounding; the same problems that Mamdani is trying to address in New York are found all over the U.S. Billionaire tax breaks, health care, and child care, all in the heart of Trump country.

Simply raising the taxes on corporations to the same level as that in New Jersey, and putting a 2% tax on every dollar beyond that of a million would be fund many of the policies that Mamdani advocates. The argument here is that it would push corporations out of the city.

 In Cornell University Professor Cristobal Young’s book “The Myth of Millionaire Tax Flight: How Place Still Matters for the Rich,” this myth is largely debunked, finding that just .3% of millionaires who do end up moving (which is an astounding 2.4%) do not find themselves in a lower-taxed state. 

These types of policies aren’t unpopular; they’re just demonized by the most elite of businessmen and politicians. The clearest sign of the policies not being unpopular is the fact that Mamdani did indeed win the Democratic primaries. Establishment Democrats are scrambling to cope with this. Cuomo and former mayor Eric Adams are both now running as independents against the nominee with a pathetic imitation of Mamdani’s campaign.

They cannot seem to catch on like Mamdani is, and why is this? People do not trust Cuomo or Adams. With Cuomo’s previously mentioned controversy and Adams’ history of bribery allegations, these are not politicians who are known to be trusted. Adversaries of Mamdani say that these two candidates are “more experienced,” but the question is, what are they more experienced with? 

Cuomo is shown to not be able to understand the word “no” not just from his sexual harassment scandals, but from his inability to back down when he loses an election. He fumbled the COVID-19 pandemic, understating the amount of nursing home deaths by a whopping 50%, and then using state funds to write a book about how great he handled the situation.

Adams, on the other hand, has been shown to be an incompetent and untrustworthy candidate. In 2024 the mayor found himself indicted on five corruption charges, which would be later  dismissed by Trump’s Justice Department. This corruption ended in the resignation of multiple federal prosecutors who had taken on the case.

The Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, has little chance of making any real headway in this race — albeit more than Adams. Probably the most absurd out of the candidates, he wears a red beret and insists that putting feral cats in rat infested areas is the solution to the pest problem. Of course, there’s more to him but those two peculiarities sum up the substance of his campaign.

Due to there being four main candidates, the vote may be more split then we’ve ever seen in the city, but frequent polls show Mamdani dominating the field. It seems he represents everything we’ve lost in this country and much we’ve dreamed of. 

A government that provides. Not a copy-paste centrist who provides marginal benefits to the working class, while giving the rich more tax cuts. Not a faux-populist who takes advantage of the working class to jumpstart an authoritarian regime. Zohran Mamdani isn’t just the future of New York, he’s the future of America. 

While the old guard dies off, remaining more loyal to AIPAC than American people, Mamdani pushes the left forward. He provides a framework for which the new left can emerge. With Governor Hochul’s support it’s clear that Democratic Socialism is going to be a consistent voice in politics. The only question now is if it can get nationwide working class voter support.

Editor’s Note: For an alternate take on this year’s election, check out Parker Vibbert’s column tomorrow.