Mamdani sweeps the New York elections with a promise of change against Trump

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT TO NEW YORK"This city belongs to him," Zohran Mamdani proclaimed triumphantly after securing a landslide victory in the New York City mayoral election. The left-wing Democrat, who waged a blistering campaign against the party establishment, has become the mayor of the world's financial capital. With 91 percent of the vote counted, Mamdani garnered 50.4 percent, far ahead of his main rival, former Democratic governor and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, who, despite having Trump's endorsement, failed to surpass 41.6 percent. Turnout was historically high, with the Democrat receiving over a million votes, more than all the other candidates combined.

In his victory speech in Brooklyn, the democratic socialist addressed Trump directly and vowed to counter the president's divisive policies from City Hall: "Donald Trump, I know you're watching. I have three words for you: Turn up the volume." The Republican has simply sent a defiant message to his Truth Social network: "And so it all begins." The result in New York is not only the victory of a charismatic politician, but the seed of a movement that promises to go beyond the figure of Mamdani. Because those who have made the meteoric rise of the new mayor possible are the people and the party's grassroots.

The polls had closed forty minutes ago, and the vote count was being projected on the screens at Bob Note 9 in Brooklyn, where the Democratic Socialists (DSA) had set up one of the parties to follow election night. Many held their beers or mixed drinks in one hand while refreshing the results page with the other. Suddenly, a young man started shouting, "He's won! He's won!" while euphorically showing the live feed. New York TimesThen the loudspeakers announced the victory. Shouts and more shouts and lots of hugs, like a New Year's Eve party.

The song Don't stop believingJourney's song has started playing to celebrate the victory of the unlikely candidate who has turned the preposition despite On his mark. Despite being an unknown a year ago, despite being a socialist in the financial capital of the world, despite being Muslim, despite his lack of experience, at 34 years old Mamdani becomes one of the youngest mayors which has had the most populous city in the United States in over a century.

A feeling of relief

Beyond the euphoria, there's a palpable sense of relief: there's still hope after the presidential debacle and nine months of Donald Trump in power. "My God, it feels like nine years," says Peter, one of the 100,000 volunteers who have been canvassing the streets of New York to spread the Democrat's campaign promises to every corner. "What a relief. It was worth it. I can't believe it, all that work for a year. And tomorrow a new chapter begins. And you know what the best part is? Now other Mamdanis will start popping up in other cities and states. We have to keep fighting to stop Trump."

At the DSA party, the feeling was that a movement was beginning that went beyond Mamdani. Carr and Brendann, before the count even started, were already arriving with Zohran's campaign bags, explaining that they had just joined. "Look, I spend $15 on the subscription to New York Times“Why shouldn’t he do it for that reason?” Brendann jokes. Both are nearing thirty and feel that Mamdani is more than just a politician. “We must remember that politicians can always fail, but this is a movement, and we have to keep fighting once he wins. His becoming mayor isn’t the end, it’s the beginning. And we know that those at the top, and especially Trump, won’t make it easy for him.”

The historic turnout—more than two million people went to the polls—far surpasses the 2021 mayoral election and further reinforces Mamdani’s meteoric rise, especially among his base. The anticipation was not in vain: the contest between Mamdani, Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa promised an outcome that could redefine the city’s power structures.

Mamdani's result, and the large turnout in New York, also underscores the magnitude of the earthquake that He has been shaking up the Democratic Party establishment for months. The city elections, as well as the state elections in Virginia and New Jersey (where Democratic candidates for governor also won), highlight the two possible courses of action to follow leading up to the 2026 legislative elections. They also read as a small referendum on Trump's first nine months.

Following Kamala Harris's defeat in 2024, independent Senator Bernie Sanders reflected: "It shouldn't surprise us too much that a Democratic Party that has abandoned the working class finds that the working class has abandoned it." Mamdani, whose social media campaign has revolutionized political communication, has taken up this analysis. The young candidate has insisted daily on his battery of proposals to make New York a livable city again for the middle and working classes: freezing rents, providing free buses, and creating city-owned supermarkets.

The result has been that many of his voters They said throughout the day that they felt excited and hopeful about their candidate again. The Democratic Party is beginning to recover from the wave of key victories it achieved on Tuesday. Mamdani's triumph is historic in New York, but it still hasn't swayed the party establishment, which was more focused on the outcome of the state campaigns in Virginia and New Jersey. There, Democratic candidates Abigail Spanberger (Virginia) and Mikie Sherrill (New Jersey) also managed to win with more moderate campaigns, but ones that emphasize reducing the cost of living for citizens.

The afterglow of the euphoric night for a party that had been wandering in the wilderness for a year gives way to a new question about the very essence of the Democrats: listen to the movement that brought Mamdani to the New York mayoralty—and follow Sanders' analysis—or return to campaigning about people's material conditions. The Democrats' resurgence has also brought about the crystallization of the two souls within the political party and the challenge of remembering that the fight is in the White House, not in the party corridors.