America is used to political drama, but a Democratic Party upset in New York has stunned some life into even the most cynical insiders.
Zohran Mamdani – a self-described democratic socialist (the “S-word” is long considered kryptonite in US politics) and a relatively inexperienced member of the New York State Assembly – has defeated former state governor Andrew Cuomo to be the Democrats’ chosen candidate for the mayoral election in November.
Cuomo was ousted in a sexual harassment scandal four years ago, and had been working towards a comeback. But in securing this win, 33-year-old newcomer Mamdani hasn’t just shut out a titan of New York politics – he’s given the Democratic Party its first real jolt of energy since it lost the White House last year.
Mamdani’s victory wasn’t an “ABC” (Anyone But Cuomo) victory. For those outside the US – or even outside New York – Mamdani is a new name. He’s the son of Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair, and grew up partly in East Africa before settling in the city. Elected to the state Assembly in 2020 – New York’s lower elected house, closest to the UK’s devolved governments, Mamdani is part of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and represents a gentrifying slice of western Queens.
He speaks the language of renters, immigrants and low-income workers – not in abstract policy terms, but with urgency and clarity. And that’s what made this campaign take off. His platform focused on freezing rent, expanding tenants’ rights, offering free buses, mostly paid for by a hefty new tax on the wealthy – solutions often dismissed by the establishment as too radical.
Mamdani ran a serious and organised campaign that beat its opposition with door-knocking, community trust and conviction. It’s a sign that the progressive movement is finally maturing: no longer just shouting from the sidelines, it’s now winning tough fights with party machinery.
The race also confirms my theory about something deeper in the current political mood. American voters, across ideological lines, are desperate for someone to “flip the f***in’ table”.
I came up with that phrase while working on Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign last year, and I keep returning to it. People didn’t vote for Donald Trump because they admired his criminality, racism or misogyny – they voted for him, despite all that, because he was the only candidate who promised to break the system.
Working people don’t care who flips the table – Trump or Mamdani – as long as someone does.
I’m incredibly proud to have worked on the Harris campaign, but we struggled to articulate a path to improving the lives of voters who feel locked out, left behind and lied to. The system isn’t working, and they didn’t see change in our campaign. Whether it’s the populist right or the democratic left, these people will rally behind whoever makes them feel heard. In 2024, that was Trump. Now, it’s Mamdani.
Of course, Mamdani is not without controversy. He drew national attention for his past support for the Palestinian cause, including a 2021 protest chant to “globalise the intifada”. In a city with more Jewish residents than Tel Aviv, this would typically be politically suicidal. But Mamdani has made a sharp distinction between opposing Israeli government policy and antisemitism – a feat that seems to have eluded practically every left-wing politician on the planet (see Jeremy Corbyn). He’s spoken forcefully and repeatedly that Palestinian liberation must also mean protection for Jewish New Yorkers.
As Brad Lander – the Jewish comptroller of New York City, who ran a collaborative campaign with Mamdani to make the most of ranked-choice voting – told Stephen Colbert: “No mayor is going to be responsible for what happens in the Middle East, but there is something quite remarkable about a Jewish New Yorker and a Muslim New Yorker coming together to say: ‘Here’s how we protect all New Yorkers. Jewish New Yorkers and Muslim New Yorkers are not going to be divided from each other.’”
So what did Democrats just do? Whether they realise it or not, they might have finally chosen a direction. Mamdani’s victory won’t sit easily with the party’s corporate donors or centrist strategists – but then we tried their way in 2016 and 2024. Instead, it offers something they’ve lacked for months: a vision.
Mamdani’s win is proof that progressive ideas can win elections, that authenticity beats mediocrity, and that voters want more than messaging – they want someone who lives their struggles and means it when they say they’ll change it. Mamdani has finally done what I’ve advised, hoped and craved someone would: Flipped the f***ing table.
New Yorkers rightly crave a representative who understands what it is like to live in cramped, overpriced apartments and make long commutes on a struggling subway. A Ugandan-born socialist millennial Muslim may just have given the Democrats the shot in their arm that the national party needs.
Pablo O’Hana is a New York-based senior political advisor and campaign strategist, who worked on the Kamala Harris election campaign
