The Democratic Party takes the Mamdani effect

Special correspondent in New YorkZohran Mamdani has restored hope to the Democratic base and shown that there are still options for finding the path forward for a party that lost its way a year ago. On Tuesday night in Brooklyn, as the vote count continued... It confirmed that the socialist would be the new mayor of New York.It felt like New Year's Eve. Shouts of joy and hugs filled the air, promising a new chapter, summed up in a prescient statement by Mamdani: "We are about to say goodbye to the politicians of the past, those who say it can't be done when what they really mean is that it's not wanted."

The next morning, the Manhattan swarm awoke once again like any other day: men in suits and ties rushing on the subway, tourists looking at Google Maps, and the homeless wandering with wheelbarrows. At midday, among the iconic West Village apartments where Carrie Bradshaw, the protagonist of "Sex and the City," lived, a mother went out to pick up her children from school wearing Zohran pins: "Yes, I voted for him, let's see what happens now."

Near Washington Square, a young woman from California wearing a hat featuring the new mayor expressed her hope that more like him would emerge: "I came to visit my aunt and bought the hat so I could find out who Zohran is, and I love it. Tayla." And it's likely that California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, will also see Mamdani as a rival. Newsom has been campaigning on social media for some time, parodying Trump's behavior to score points for next year's gubernatorial election and with an eye on the 2028 presidential race. Mamdani can't run because he wasn't born in the United States, but he has made it clear that Democrats can only defeat Trump if they engage in politics.

Expectations and realism

Beyond the excitement, there was also a certain dose of realism. Constance, sitting with a friend on one of the benches in Washington Square Park, anticipates that not everything will be so easy. "You have to aim for the stars to reach the moon. Surely there will be promises he keeps 100%, but he'll go much further than any other politician." The young woman, a Bronx resident, said she had experienced Mamdani's campaign "as a love letter to New Yorkers." "It really touched me, because you could tell he understood the problems of the people here." She also stated that she now felt more motivated to continue "the work": "We have to make sure he keeps his word."

On Instagram, the algorithm offered some curious results. Suddenly the reels The platform was flooded with profiles of candidates for the seats that will be up for grabs in the upcoming elections. midterms that They replicated Mamdani's same communication styleNatural videos looking directly at the camera, with a touch of humor, all filmed on the street—no stuffy studios. "Congratulations, Mayor Mamdani," said Saikat Chakrabarti, a left-wing Democrat running for one of San Francisco's congressional seats.

Manny Rutinel, seeking to flip one of Colorado's seats in the Capitol from red to blue, gave a similar introduction. Osman Salahuddin, a congressman from Washington state, was also gearing up to retain his seat. "Hey, I know what you're thinking: another young, racialized congressional candidate. I'm not Zohran, my name is Osman Salahuddin, I'm a representative from Washington state, and I'm running again this year to keep my seat."

The Mamdani Effect

Experts are trying to understand the keys to the success of the man who, on January 1, is set to become New York City's first Muslim mayor. "Rather than dragging the party to more left-leaning positions, I think Mamdani's tactics, in terms of how he runs his campaign, could probably be copied by other, less left-leaning candidates," Georgetown University political scientist Jonathan Ladd explained to ARA. "He didn't focus so much on foreign policy or issues like security. He wanted to talk about the cost of living and prices in New York." While acknowledging the Mamdani effect on the party, Ladd is skeptical that there will be a major narrative shift in the lead-up to next year's midterm elections. "Although New York voters are probably much further to the left now than they used to be, I don't think this will apply nationally."

The extent of the Mamdani effect, which has mobilized the electorate, has shaken the establishment The Democratic Party's success, which has provoked Donald Trump, will also depend on the success of its policies. "Much of its trajectory and its ability to demonstrate that these types of policies are worth pursuing will depend on how they work. And only time will tell," Ladd asserts. However, while the political scientist doesn't see a candidate ideologically similar to Mamdani in the presidential race, he does acknowledge that the more progressive faction of the Democratic Party has gained a visible figurehead. "He will probably end up as Bernie Sanders' heir."

Friday Political A poll conducted in mid-October was published asking voters who the leader of each party is. While within Republican ranks there was no room for doubt about who the party leader is, in the Democratic Party the most frequent responses were, in this order: "I don't know," "Kamala Harris," and "Nobody."

That the more progressive wing has a clear point of reference, while the party establishment remains without a visible figurehead, could strengthen this shift. In a way, the campaigns of the candidates for governor of Virginia and New Jersey were already a reaction to the 2024 defeat. Both Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill focused their message on the cost of living and won. They did so from more moderate positions, but at the center there was Independent Senator Bernie Sanders' analysis the day after Harris' defeat: "It shouldn't surprise us too much that a Democratic Party that has abandoned the working class discovers that the working class has abandoned it."