The recent election results offered a ray of hope for millions in America who have been struggling to survive economically and who are appalled by the rising fascism in the country.
There were noteworthy victories in a number of states and cities, but without a doubt the most noteworthy of all was that of Zohran Kwame Mamdani, who was elected mayor of New York City.
In his victory speech, Mamdani spoke of seeing “the dawn of a better day for humanity” on the horizon, and he quoted India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru: “A moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.” Mamdani said that, “In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light.”
Keanu, a young campaigner from the Sunrise Movement, told Democracy Now that Mamdani’s victory marks, “the beginning of a new future for New York City, a future where we have a politics that works for our generation for affordability, fights the climate crisis, fights the billionaire class taking over government, stands up to fascism and stands up for our issues. This is a moment where all of politics is changing, New York City is changing, New York City is standing up and demanding a different future for our world, for our country and our city.”
Mamdani offered a concrete program to address the out-of-control cost of living in the city, especially freezing the rent for rent-stabilized apartments, things like free buses and free child care, and taxing the wealthy and corporations to pay for it. His campaign built a huge movement of working-class people of all colors and ethnicities, and particularly appealed to young people. His supporters coalesced around the demand for dignity and justice for those who built the city, especially immigrants and workers of color. “This campaign was successful because it had a movement behind it and because it spoke to the material needs of people,” said an organizer
The New York race drew national and even international attention, not the least because of Mamdani’s program and the fact that he is a Muslim, an immigrant, and a democratic socialist, and because the race occurred in the context of the ongoing battle against fascism in this country and the demand to end the genocide in Palestine.
The political context of course also included a Trump regime that promotes white supremacy, racial division, anti-immigrant hysteria and Islamophobia, and a government that refuses to take care of people’s basic economic needs in an era of low wages, rising unemployment, growing hunger and skyrocketing prices. Along with this is the splitting within the Democratic Party over the party leadership’s refusal to mount a serious fight against fascism or to stand up for the needs of the working class.
Efforts to divide the movement backing Mamdani were ineffective. As a campaigner who is also on the board of Jews for Economic Justice Action said, “Despite millions of dollars that were poured into this race to scare Jewish voters, so many see how Zohran reached out to so many in the Jewish community across the city saying, ‘you belong here’ and I think people believe it.”
Mamdani’s election was a stunning defeat for the billionaires who poured millions into opposing him. It was also an expression of the people’s demand that government meet their economic needs, and an indicator of how bad the economy is for people. And it was a rejection of genocide and of white supremacy, a rejection of the corporate Democrats, and a repudiation of Trump and of fascism, including a rejection of the attack on immigrants.
A large section of the working class is now unwilling to just accept what they’re given. They put their program forward through Mamdani. His victory showed people were willing to mobilize for big, bold ideas if they’re properly presented.
Both Mamdani and his supporters have indicated they know there is a hard struggle ahead to implement his program. They know the billionaires, much of the media, the corporate Democrats and the state and federal governments will stand in the way. But the people who elected Mamdani seem confident, and we at the People’s Tribune have confidence that the massive movement built through the campaign will stay mobilized to push for its demands to be realized. And we have confidence that similar struggles happening across the country will eventually coalesce into a powerful national movement for democracy, justice, peace and an economy that serves the people, not the billionaires.
(See the transcript of Mamdani’s election night victory speech here.)
