Meet Mitchell Berman, a Democratic challenger taking on Bryan Steil for Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District
Berman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he is joining the Democratic primary for the seat because the working class needs a better advocate to fight for them. Berman is set to face Randy Bryce in the Aug. 11, 2026, primary election.
"Right now people are struggling. Bryan Steil has made a lot of promises and he had four terms to come through on them. And he hasn't," Berman said, adding that he knows what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck because he worked three jobs to put himself through college.
Berman, a board certified emergency nurse, said one of his top issues is affordability, noting that Steil's vote for President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced Medicaid and food assistance programs many Wisconsinites depend on.
Democrats across the country are making the legislation a focal point of 2026 midterm campaigns.
About one in five Wisconsinites receive health coverage and services through Wisconsin's Medicaid programs, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
If elected to office, Berman said his main goal is to focus on "kitchen table issues" that "resonate" with people across the district, which includes access to affordable health care, child care and groceries.
"I think that working in nursing really transitions well into being a representative in Congress. My sole job as a nurse is to identify problems and take care of people," Berman said. "As a nurse, I'm the last line of defense for the patient ... I'm the patient's advocate. In the same way a representative in Congress is fighting for their constituents."
While Berman has never run for public office prior to this race, he has been an active community member at the local level.
In 2024, Berman filed a suit in Racine County Circuit Court alleging the Raymond School District's board violated open meeting laws. As part of a resulting settlement, board members conceded that a board retreat in December 2022 violated state law.
Berman told the Racine County Eye in December 2024 that the case is a "reminder of the indispensable role community members play in holding elected officials accountable."
Earlier this year, two Wisconsin Elections Commission complaints filed against former Raymond School officials by Berman related to election integrity were dismissed.
WEC determined both do "not raise reasonable suspicion" under state law, writing in its closure letter that Berman 'has not done anything more than make a general allegation, unsupported by details or evidence, that the affidavits submitted by signatories who wished to have their signatures removed from the recall petition contained false information."
Republican Party of Wisconsin spokeswoman Anika Rickard told the Journal Sentinel Berman has entered the race after these complaints were dismissed to "determine which political activist is more radically left" in the Democratic primary.
"Steil is running for reelection, and he will win. Just like last cycle when Peter Barca was propped up by millions of dollars in out-of-state dark money, and Steil still won by more than 10 points," Rickard said.
Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District and 3rd Congressional District, represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, are considered the most competitive in Wisconsin.
Aides to Steil and Bryce did not respond to a request for comment.
This story will be updated.
Anna Kleiber can be reached at akleiber@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mitchell Beman launches bid for Steil's Wisconsin Congressional seat
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Newsweek
28 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Map Shows Democratic Plan for New California Districts
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. California Democrats have unveiled a proposed congressional map that would reshape political boundaries across the state and could give their party up to five new seats. "Earlier today, the DCCC submitted a proposed congressional map to the legislative public portal with collaborative input from stakeholders and legislators. We anticipate this proposal will have widespread support both among California office holders and various stakeholders across the state," Julie Merz, the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement on Friday. "We will not stand by as Republicans attempt to rig the election in their favor and choose their voters. It's increasingly clear that Republicans will do anything to protect their narrow majority because they know they can't win on their disastrous legislative record which has raised costs and rips away health care for millions, all to give the ultra-wealthy a tax break," she continued. Why It Matters Redistricting, usually done once a decade after the Census, is being pushed mid-cycle in response to President Donald Trump's call for Texas to send "five more Republicans" to Congress. Trump urged Texas Republicans to redo the state's districts to help the party. Democrats, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, say they are "fighting fire with fire" by proposing new districts that could benefit their party. The move could reshape the 2026 midterms, where Democrats are hoping to retake the House and Senate. What To Know The proposed California redistricting plan targets five Republican representatives: Doug LaMalfa (District 1), Kevin Kiley (District 3), David Valadao (District 22), Ken Calvert (District 41) and Darrell Issa (District 48). LaMalfa's rural district would lose many Republican voters and extend west to more Democratic coastal areas. "If you want to know what's wrong with these maps—just take a look at them," LaMalfa wrote on X on Friday. "How on earth does Modoc County on the Nevada and Oregon Border have any common interest with Marin County and the Golden Gate Bridge? Voters took this power from Sacramento for just this reason. This is naked politics at its worst." Kiley's redrawn district would add Democratic-leaning Sacramento County and cut out much of the Eastern Sierra. "Make no mistake, I will win reelection to the House regardless of the proposed changes to my district," he said in a news release. "I fully expect that the beautiful 3rd District will remain exactly as it is. We will defeat Newsom's sham initiative and vindicate the will of California voters." Kiley has opposed gerrymandering, introducing legislation to block mid-decade redistricting. Meanwhile, Democratic Representative Ami Bera, who represents California's 6th congressional district, is weighing options to continue representing Sacramento, possibly by running in District 3. A redistricting map of California that Democrats have submitted. A redistricting map of California that Democrats have submitted. California State Assembly "I have had the honor of representing the Sacramento region in Congress since 2013. I intend to continue representing the Sacramento region in the next Congress," Bera said in a statement posted on X. "Right now, we must stop Donald Trump and Texas Republicans from gerrymandering their way to a House majority in 2026. I look forward to supporting this ballot initiative to level the playing field and fight back against Donald Trump's destructive agenda." Newsom said he would call a special election on November 4 to let Californians decide whether to adopt new congressional districts, a move that would bypass the state's independent redistricting commission. He said the proposal included a trigger clause, meaning it would take effect only if Texas or another Republican-led state advanced its own redistricting plan. California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher criticized the proposed redistricting plan, calling the maps "rigged" and drawn "in secret to give Democrat politicians more power by dismantling the independent commission Californians created." He argued that the plan discarded years of public input, saying, "These maps shred the fair, transparent process voters demanded" and amount to "a rigged scheme cooked up behind closed doors." Gallagher accused Democrats of rushing the plan to meet a deadline, saddling taxpayers with a November special election and leaving "no real opportunity for public input." He added: "This is a mockery of democracy. If they can neuter the commission here, they can neuter it anywhere. Californians should choose their representatives, not the other way around." Newsom has also received criticism from Democrats. Jeanne Raya, a former Democratic member of the commission, voiced concern about transparency. "Somebody's going to be drawing maps, whether behind a real door, a virtual door," she said. "There will not be that transparency that is written into the independent commission's work and voters will suffer for that." Several good-government groups also oppose the governor's proposal, arguing that it politicizes redistricting and undermines the independent commission. Newsom defended the plan, saying it remained transparent because voters would have the final say. Unlike California's proposal, he said, the Texas plan would not go before voters. "We are talking about emergency measures to respond to what's happening in Texas and we will nullify what happens in Texas," Newsom said at a news conference alongside Texas Democrats. "We will pick up five seats with the consent of the people and that is the difference between the approach we're taking and the approach [Texas Republicans are] taking." Other Democratic-led states, such as New York and Illinois, are weighing new redistricting efforts but face legal obstacles or limited opportunities to gain seats. Meanwhile, Republican strongholds such as Ohio, Indiana, Florida and Missouri are seen as having greater potential to expand their representation through redistricting. What People Are Saying Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote on X on Friday: "I'm getting ready for the gerrymandering battle." California Governor Gavin Newsom said during a news conference earlier this month: "We have the opportunity to de facto end the Trump presidency in less than 18 months. That's what's at stake." Julie Merz, the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: "We applaud Governor Newsom and legislative leaders for their commitment to put this measure in front of voters, which not only levels the playing field against corrupt Republican efforts in Texas, but also reaffirms Democrats' commitment to redistricting reform and the use of fair, nonpartisan redistricting commissions nationwide." What Happens Next If lawmakers finish the plan by August 22, California voters will decide on November 4 whether to approve maps that would apply in 2026, 2028 and 2030—contingent on Republican-led states redrawing their lines first. Since 2010, California's maps have been drawn by an independent citizen commission.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Inside the Rise of Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani between meetings in Manhattan on July 14 Credit - Dina Litovsky for TIME It's not easy to move around New York City as Zohran Mamdani anymore. Like when the 33-year-old Democratic nominee for mayor leaves a union meeting to walk to his Manhattan campaign office, as he did one Monday morning in July. Within a block, a phone--wielding crowd forms and follows. 'Oh my God, hello,' someone blurts. People clap. Cars honk. Traffic down Fifth Avenue comes to a standstill as a plumber's van stops and a guy hops out to shake Mamdani's hand. There is some heckling. 'Antisemitic!' someone shouts. But mostly it is star treatment, in multiple languages and from all generations. All this is new: the adulation, the notoriety, the xenophobic death threats that have prompted an entourage of men with spaghetti earpieces. Before 2025, basically no one knew who Mamdani was. Over the course of eight months, the democratic socialist and backbench state assemblyman went from local long shot to likely mayor of America's biggest city. Suddenly he is a main character in national politics—the ubiquitous subject of cable news segments, a lightning rod on the left and right. Senior Democrats have weighed in for and against him. President Donald Trump has pioneered a dark new birtherism by questioning his immigration status and floating his possible arrest. (Mamdani, who would be the city's first South Asian and Muslim mayor, was born in Uganda and became a U.S. citizen in 2018.) To many progressives, his style of politics—principled, pocketbook-focused, and online—was an electrifying answer for a moribund party. Mamdani says he wants to be a mayor who breaks down barriers between politicians and the public. 'I think the most important thing is that people see themselves and their struggles in your campaign,' he tells me during an hour-long interview in mid-July in a windowless conference room in his Manhattan campaign office. 'And I think the larger struggle for us as Democrats is to ensure that we are practicing a politics that is direct, a politics of no translation, a politics that when you read the policy commitment, you understand it, as how it applies to your life.' In interviews with more than 30 lawmakers, political figures, supporters, friends, and critics, Mamdani emerges as both more interesting and more complicated than the caricatures suggest. He is a very eloquent, very young man who is both less experienced than his predecessors and more gifted than almost any of his peers at connecting with the party's voters. He is an ideologue interested in creative solutions, less radical than painted when you dig into his policy proposals and yet more sincere in his left-wing ambitions. He is a movement politician who won by being in touch with the streets, and who must now cloister himself inside as he prepares for the business of governing, not betraying the people by not failing them. If that all seems like a tall task, it's worth remembering Mamdani's master class in the June Democratic primary. He started in single digits, introducing himself via viral videos and cross--borough walkabouts, from conservative precincts to immigrant neighborhoods to mosques, pitching free buses, rent freezes for regulated units, and universal childcare. In the world's financial capital, he wore the mantle of democratic socialism; in the jurisdiction with the largest Jewish community outside Israel, he refused to back away from criticism of that country's war in Gaza. He amassed an army of 50,000 volunteers, who helped knock on 1.6 million doors. In the end, his multicultural coalition trounced Andrew Cuomo, a former governor and scion of a New York political dynasty boosted by more than $20 million in super-PAC spending. He looked, in the words of one of his opponent's own advisers, like 'one of the best political athletes I've ever seen play the game.' Read More: Mamdani Delivers Decisive Victory in Democratic Primary. The prospect of Mamdani's mayoralty scandalized many of New York's power brokers, some of whom vowed to stop him in the November general election. It also alarmed many national Democrats, who see Mamdani's politics—his past support for defunding the police, his criticism of Israel and defense of the Palestinian cause, his proposals for city-owned grocery stores and higher taxes on the wealthy—as a dangerous step left for a party searching for its footing in the Trump era. 'Tackling the city's challenges will require top-notch management and fresh approaches,' James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, tells me, 'rather than the same old ideas like raising taxes and restricting rents.' In the meantime, Mamdani's shoe-leather primary campaign has given way to his indoor era. As a newcomer now in training for one of America's toughest jobs, he lives life in 15-minute increments, working to assure skeptics that he's ready and reasonable and won't send businesses fleeing to Florida. In conference rooms and on calls, he is exploring the boundaries of what it means to be mayor, even saying 'it's an open conversation' whether he'd move into Gracie Mansion. It appears he will get the choice. Recent polling shows Mamdani with double-digit leads over Cuomo and incumbent mayor Eric Adams, both of whom are running on independent ballot lines. How the nation's financial and cultural capital fares under his leadership would be Exhibit A in the fight for the Democrats' future. At stake is the trust of voters thousands of miles from Midtown, for whom Mamdani would be a test case—another failed figurehead of a major Democratic city, or the leader who can get people believing in government again. In 2021, Mamdani was a newly minted state assemblyman looking to make his mark in the halls of power. He had swept into Albany on the currents of racial-justice protests and pandemic activism. But now he was stuck on Zoom. Forging connections was a challenge. Albany is always a cipher for newcomers, a 'place of an asymmetry of information,' says Elle Bisgaard-Church, Mamdani's then chief of staff, who later became his primary campaign manager. Even understanding how to file legislation, she says, 'was something that we had to learn from scratch.' Mamdani was serious about using the perch to help working people. He put Bisgaard-Church through four hiring interviews, including one with New York City Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) reps. But in a world where it can take a decade to get a committee chair, the road to making change would be long. Mamdani was eager to change the script, leveraging skills learned in his brief but varied pre-political life. Zohran Kwame Mamdani was raised in Uganda, South Africa, and New York by public-facing parents: Mahmood Mamdani, a scholar of postcolonialism who landed at Columbia University, and filmmaker Mira Nair, an Academy Award nominee who has directed such luminaries as Denzel Washington. 'In a sense he does come from a showbiz family,' says Amitav Ghosh, a Man Booker Prize–shortlisted writer and friend of Nair's. From his father, Ghosh says, Mamdani took 'his very deep commitment to social justice,' and from his mother, an 'incredible energy' and 'fine aesthetic sense.' His charmed upbringing instilled the stage presence that aided an amateur rapping career, plus opportunities like working on music in his mother's film Queen of Katwe and getting celebrities Madhur Jaffrey and Lupita Nyong'o to appear in his music videos. The family moved to a Manhattan apartment for Columbia faculty when Mamdani was 7. According to Mamdani, the university chipped in half the cost of his enrollment at the progressive Bank Street School for Children, where elementary tuition now runs north of $60,000 per year and gym contests would end in ties even when one team had clearly 'come out on top,' Mamdani says. For high school he enrolled at Bronx Science, one of the city's most rigorous public schools, where he ran for student-body vice president, promising fresh juice. These extremes in education were an example of Mamdani straddling the city's divides. He both tutored and received tutoring for standardized tests. 'To be a New Yorker is also to live in multiple worlds at once,' he says. 'There is no one part of New York City more New York City than another.' Mamdani's political education came in the world of progressive activism. He co-founded a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Bowdoin, a small liberal-arts school in Maine. After graduation, he toggled between organizing and music, and cut his teeth working on losing campaigns for left-leaning city candidates. He also spent a formative year and change as a foreclosure-prevention counselor at the Queens housing organization Chhaya Community Development Corporation. Executive director Annetta Seecharran remembers Mamdani as creative and committed, bringing a 'very positive, can-do energy' to a job that requires patient engagement to help vulnerable people stay in their homes. In 2020, Mamdani ran a campaign for state assembly focused on issues like 'housing as a human right' for the kinds of vulnerable people he'd recently advised. He beat a five-term incumbent in a Queens district that included hip Astoria cafes as well as public-housing complexes. As a junior figure in state government, he quickly became part of a progressive ecosystem nudging the Democratic caucus left. In April 2021, Mamdani joined a 'sleep-out' in the capitol's so-called War Room to push for higher taxes on the wealthy and easier access to housing relief. He and a handful of other young lawmakers came prepared with sleeping bags and a tent, trying to pressure the party leaders negotiating the $200 billion state budget mostly behind closed doors. 'It was part of an impatience with the nature of politics as it was,' says Mamdani, 'and wanting to break out of the manner in which these issues are discussed and closer to the way in which they will actually be felt by New Yorkers.' In the end, the state budget did include some tax hikes on the rich—more than what then governor Cuomo had proposed, but much less than the tens of billions of dollars Mamdani and his progressive allies had called for. Later that year, Mamdani took direct-action protest a step further, joining a 15-day hunger strike to support debt-ridden taxi drivers struggling to make payments on the wildly expensive 'medallions' that allow them to legally pick up passengers. 'Throughout that entire process, he treated us as equals,' says Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. Mamdani helped liaise with senior politicians like U.S. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer in successful negotiations for a city-backed relief deal for drivers. After two weeks without food, he left the protest in a wheelchair. He settled into the Albany routine, which could sometimes feel like being 'freshmen in college,' says Jabari Brisport, a newly elected state senator and fellow democratic socialist who became Mamdani's roommate. The two shared single hotel rooms with two double beds, trading notes on their new jobs and entertaining themselves after long days. 'He likes his TikToks,' Brisport said. Sometimes Mamdani would indulge in reality-TV shows like Love Island. A practicing Muslim, Mamdani regularly attends Friday prayer services, and in the evenings during Ramadan, Brisport recalls, he would prepare for the coming fast with a big scoop of peanut butter. Mamdani was learning how to manage relationships and build legislative narratives. He launched a 'Fix the MTA' campaign to overhaul the behemoth Metropolitan Transportation Authority through frozen fares, free city buses, and better subway service. He cajoled potential allies and threw himself into promotion, with a slick website and campaign-style videos featuring relatable commuters. 'His strengths were mobilizing public support on behalf of policy,' says Queens state senator and deputy majority leader Michael Gianaris, Mamdani's partner on the campaign, 'which is a very rare trait.' The pair ended up winning a pilot program for one free bus route per borough in 2023—a modest but tangible victory that became a key part of Mamdani's mayoral campaign. Friends and foes alike have scrutinized this episode as an example of how he might govern: working the inside and outside games for big progressive moon shots and, in this case, landing something creative and concrete, if not complete. 'We've been guided by the principle that you put the stake as far to the left as possible—of course, within some reason, and grounded in the actual material stuff,' says Bisgaard-Church. 'But that, as a negotiating position, is the starting place.' Yet the bus pilot was also an example of Mamdani's learning curve. There were limits, he found, to what you can achieve outside the real negotiating rooms. The pilot did not get expanded or even renewed in 2024. A state lawmaker with knowledge of the matter says that Mamdani had complained to the Democratic assembly speaker, Carl Heastie, about a part of the state budget he feared would lead to higher rents. The budget was not yet close to finalized, this lawmaker told me, and it included other tenant protections. The showdown ended with Mamdani casting a largely symbolic no vote on the budget bill, and his bus pilot disappearing. Both Heastie and Mamdani deny the lost pilot was punishment for Mamdani's protests. Certainly the state transportation authority was lukewarm on the pricey program. In an interview, Heastie praises Mamdani as knowledgeable and honest. Asked how Mamdani changed in Albany, the Bronx power broker says the young socialist learned 'that you can't always let the perfect be the enemy of the good.' For example? 'This year,' Heastie notes, 'he voted for the entire budget.' Just days after Donald Trump's second presidential win in November, Mamdani donned his dark suit and tie and went to parts of Queens and the Bronx that had seen surprising shifts toward the Republican. Extending a microphone to people on the street, Mamdani asked about their reasons for voting for Trump. The answers would form the spine of his campaign. High rent. Elevated prices. La comida. Gaza. The snappy Trump-voter video went viral, helping Mamdani introduce himself to voters through the prism of policy. He cut more videos: talking 'halal-flation' with street-cart workers, jumping into the wintry ocean off Coney Island to dramatize 'freezing' the rent. They were a marked shift from the doom and gloom enveloping the party. Mamdani seemed intent on having fun. Some of this was natural for a digital native. Mamdani also credits his wife Rama Duwaji, 28, an illustrator and animator with work in the New Yorker. 'She has before this campaign been someone that has taught me how to better use social media,' Mamdani tells me. 'Mostly just thinking about Instagram, how I am very much a millennial.' Signs of momentum were apparent early. At the campaign's first big canvassing event in mid-December, primary field director Tascha Van Auken noticed something strange happening. Even raw recruits said they'd had a great experience—a far cry from the typical slammed doors. Over and over, Van Auken recalls, canvassers reported that 'talking about affordability really resonates.' The canvassers themselves were also becoming a weapon. Door-knocking is central to New York City races that demand retail politics, and progressive challengers often boast about their volunteers. But Mamdani was doing it on a different level. Read More: The New York Socialist Mayor Who Came 100 Years Before Mamdani. The operation was unleashed not just on his far-left base but also new and more moderate voters. There was always going to be a section of the electorate that would not stomach old tweets like 'Taxation isn't theft. Capitalism is,' and his posts supporting the 'defund the police' movement. Yet the city must consult the state on tax changes, and during the campaign Mamdani notably backed away from the 'defund' position, promising to sustain the NYPD's head count and praising its current technocratic commissioner. He spent more time channeling the economic insecurities of a broad group of New Yorkers into simple policy slogans like 'fast and free buses.' He framed such ideas as common sense, not Leninist. Supporters noted they had precedent: the billionaire former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg once discussed free mass transit, an experiment that has been tried in jurisdictions as distant as Boston (which has multiple free bus routes) and the entire country of Luxembourg. He also had the good luck to run against the right primary opponent. Cuomo was attempting a comeback after resigning in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations (which he denied) and questions about an undercount of COVID-era nursing-home deaths. The former governor embodied a Democratic establishment voters were increasingly leaving behind. Cuomo ran what one former aide called a 'grim and joyless campaign,' relying on name recognition, TV ads, and old relationships with organized labor. Mamdani's campaign, meanwhile, was direct messaging people on Insta-gram and basking in supporter-made T-shirts. His connections in elite New York circles helped land the support of local icons like Alison Roman of cookbook fame and model Emily Ratajkowski. Opponents scoffed, not realizing that Mamdani was experiencing a virtuously reinforcing cycle of vibes, field, and message: the names brought attention, which brought volunteers to knock on doors of people who thought groceries cost too much. Something was happening in an electorate angry at Trump and willing to give a newcomer a chance. 'We came out of the pandemic with the kind of spiritual malaise in the country that I think is unaddressed by the 10-point policy plans that everybody's got,' says Patrick Gaspard, a senior national Democrat informally advising Mamdani. Once he got traction, Mamdani didn't let up. In their Albany hotel room, Brisport had to ask him to take a curfew of 11:30 p.m. and cut the never-ending strategy calls. On top of the door knockers, there were 100 policy volunteers alone; the campaign launched voter-education outreach in languages like Urdu and Bangla. Seasoned New York pols recognized the force of his message. 'I think FDR would recognize him,' says former mayor Bill de Blasio. 'The whole campaign was about affordability.' The Friday before the election, Mamdani made an hours-long trek down the spine of Manhattan, dapping up pedestrians and outdoor diners. 'Every time that we walked on the street in the last couple of weeks, it was bedlam,' says state senator Gustavo Rivera. At Mamdani's primary-night party in Queens, the two cop cars closing down the quiet street soon seemed like an omen. Mamdani and his team crash-wrote a victory speech in which he hit a new register compared with the early fun videos. 'A life of dignity should not be reserved for a fortunate few,' he said, framed by the words Afford to Dream. 'I will never hide from you,' he promised. 'Your concerns will always be mine.' A few weeks later, Mamdani found himself on a dais on the 27th floor of Rockefeller Center, looking out at some 150 CEOs and high-ranking members of the business world, talking about the power of the World Cup. It was one of many stops on what might be called his Don't Worry Tour, which also included visits with Jewish groups, Black businesspeople, and unions. The tour is Mamdani's attempt to allay fears about the unabashedly left-wing candidate. Financier Bill Ackman pledged to 'take care of the fundraising' for a centrist opponent. But many more sober-minded skeptics were concerned Mamdani was unprepared to manage 300,000 municipal employees, let alone a city of some 8.5 million people. 'In order to be an effective mayor,' says Charles Lavine, Mamdani's veteran state assembly colleague and president of the New York Chapter of the National Association of Jewish Legislators, 'it's going to require a lot more than merely a theatrical bent.' Mamdani tried to answer the suspicions by showing up. He would wear his suit. He'd clasp his hands and smile warmly. He'd spend close to an hour with the family of NYPD officer Didarul Islam, killed by a mass shooter in Manhattan. He would listen, and reassure, and say that he'd be a mayor 'for everyone who calls this city home.' Few events got as much attention as the closed-door one with the CEOs, hosted by the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit business leadership group. In a conference room floating above the city and stocked with a spread of cookies, fruit, and cheese, Mamdani was not swarmed for selfies upon entry, as he usually is these days. He did a fireside chat and Q and A, during which he was grilled about his thoughts on the 'globalize the intifada' brouhaha. These three words had threatened to derail the close of his primary campaign when he was asked in a podcast interview with the Bulwark about the pro-Palestinian phrase—which he maintains he does not use—and declined to condemn it, saying he was 'less comfortable with the idea of banning the use of certain words.' Outrage ensued. Democrats like Rahm Emanuel and Josh Shapiro criticized him. The phrase, which one of his top Jewish allies says can be interpreted as 'open season on Jews,' became shorthand for the broader concerns about Mamdani's record of Israel criticism. He has supported the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested for war crimes. The day after Hamas' terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, Mamdani's response mourned the dead but quickly turned to criticism of Israel's actions. He has often talked about the problem of anti-semitism and the need for anti-hate-crime funding, and his campaign attracted Jewish supporters—including many on board with his advocacy for Gaza—but during the primary he stuck more or less to his original take on 'intifada.' To the CEOs, however, Mamdani said he would discourage the use of the phrase—a small but pointed evolution in language. In our interview, Mamdani frames the shift as the consequence of listening to New Yorkers, including Jewish leaders, as well as a rabbi who said the phrase evoked memories of bus bombings in Haifa. 'The job of the mayor is to deliver for New Yorkers,' he says. 'And it's also to take care of New Yorkers.' Mamdani has walked this tightrope throughout his post-primary appearances. A less-parsed example was his comment about being excited for the economic potential of the World Cup, for which the greater New York area will be a host next summer. 'He saw an opportunity to use that the same way the Bloomberg administration used the failed Olympics bid, to look at the infrastructure of the city,' says Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the Partnership for New York City, referencing the former mayor's efforts to land the 2012 Games and build housing and new transportation ahead of them. Mamdani has embraced the idea of using a major event like this to achieve 'virtuous growth' in other settings, even name-checking Bloomberg's business-friendly deputy mayor and establishment favorite Dan Doctoroff in our interview. With examples like these, Mamdani has signaled an interest in making government work better, much like the nascent 'abundance' movement among Democrats eager to cut red tape to build new housing and infrastructure. 'Democracy is not just under attack from authoritarianism from the outside,' Mamdani tells me. 'It's also under attack from a withering faith on the inside of its ability to deliver on these material challenges in working-class people's lives.' For some national Democrats, the Don't Worry Tour will never be enough. Their concern is Mamdani's very presence in office, which would punctuate the party's leftward turn in major cities and give ammunition to Republicans eager to paint them as outside the mainstream in the 2026 midterms. 'A socialist is not the face of the Democratic Party,' says Long Island Representative Laura Gillen. The irony is that Mamdani's victory was the kind of affordability-focused, podcast-conversant campaign Democrats have called for after 2024. Mamdani's performance as mayor would be scrutinized for portents of the Democrats' future. Potential lessons abound. To progressives, his rise is the product of his policies. Centrists who loathe those policies praise his style. Republicans are all too eager to cast him as the face of the opposition. And for some Democratic leaders with an eye on 2028, the question is not whether a Mamdani clone should be the next Democratic standard bearer—historically unlikely—but whether the party can win in other places not by emulating his ideology but by borrowing from his tool kit. Despite his growing national profile, Mamdani remains focused on local issues. On his core pledge to freeze rents for the city's approximately 1 million regulated units, a board controlled by the mayor decides the increases each year. De Blasio's administration imposed rent freezes three times. Yet housing experts raise concerns about buildings with lots of regulated units where the costs of maintenance couldn't be covered by bumps on the other apartments. 'The concern is that that could really lead to lower-quality buildings,' says Vicki Been, a top housing official under de Blasio and faculty director at the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. Even de Blasio cautioned that a freeze was 'doable' but 'each year should be evaluated unto itself.' Mamdani has committed to four years of no increases, pointing to broader ways to help landlords, like reducing water bills. Read More: How Mamdani Plans to Fix New York City's Housing Crisis. Some of his campaign issues cross ideological boundaries, such as universal childcare starting at 6 weeks. It is an expensive proposition; Mamdani's campaign estimated a price tag of $5 billion to $7 billion. It is also an issue where Mamdani's position aligns with New York's more moderate Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul. The city has led the way before with universal pre-K in the de Blasio administration, while Mayor Adams embraces a childcare pilot program for low-income children 2 and under. Mamdani appears eager for the negotiation. 'There are real questions of phasing in and stages,' he says, 'but they cannot be used as a means by which to avoid reaching the milestone.' In preparation, Mamdani's team has reached out to Bloomberg. He has picked the brains of former NYPD chiefs, and conferred with leaders as varied as state Democratic Party leader Jay Jacobs (who found Mamdani 'anxious to work with everyone'), former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, whom he praises as 'one of the inspirations for me in this moment.' He is still adjusting to his new reality. 'I already miss being outside,' he tells me. 'I now go to cemeteries a lot between meetings,' he adds, 'because they are parks without people.' One day in mid-July, Mamdani opted for the train en route to a musicians' union event. Such trains are the city's public forum, and soon the nominee was swarmed once more on the uptown R. A kid with shaking hands approached: 'Mr. Zohran, can we get a photo?' Someone claimed Mamdani must know her. Someone else offered him their priority seat. Four stops later, the train deposited him near Times Square, and Mamdani was out in the street again, walking by a woman passed out on the sidewalk, a thicket of competing hot-dog and falafel stands, a building security guard who shouted 'I voted for you!' from across the street. It was the complex and ever changing tapestry of New York, and also a totem of the kind of politics that Mamdani said he wants to practice: 'one that is in person, that is in public, that is with people.' —With reporting by Simmone Shah Contact us at letters@ Solve the daily Crossword
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The Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for Aug. 16
Planes whizzing around the city for the annual Chicago Air and Water Show are a sign that summer is winding down. But before the planes came dark skies and tons of rain, with several parts of the Chicagoland under flash flood and severe weather warnings. But enough about the weather — let's recap what else happened this week. Chicago Public Schools students return to the classroom Monday as school leaders continue to hammer out the district's budget. At Wednesday's school board meeting, CPS CEO Macquline King presented a balanced budget that divided members, who must pass a spending plan by the end of August. Plus, the University of Chicago announced that it will pause admissions for Ph.D. and master's programs across several schools amid mounting financial strains. The city of Chicago is facing its own budgetary problems, with the city's chief financial officer speaking Tuesday about how new state actions could help. But City Hall did score a win when the mayor and Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2 reached a tentative contract agreement following years of bargaining. Both Republican and Democratic state politicians headed to Springfield this week for their party's day at the Illinois State Fair. The politicos weren't there merely to catch the Snoop Dog show and take in the butter cow, but also to give stump speeches, talk nationwide redistricting efforts and gear up for the 2026 midterms. Meanwhile, the Texas House Democrats who fled to Illinois last week said Thursday that they plan to return to Austin after lawmakers adjourn their current special session and California Democrats introduce their retaliatory map designed to neutralize the Texas GOP's efforts. From the crime and public safety beat, another corrupt Illinois politician is going to serve time, the Cook County state's attorney's office declined to charge the officers who shot and killed Dexter Reed during a March 2024 traffic stop and the Chicago police officer who fatally shot Officer Krystal Rivera earlier this year was stripped of police powers after being accused of battery against another female officer. Chicago is the subject of more threats from President Donald Trump. After mobilizing National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., to help fight crime, the president suggested doing the same in the Windy City. Trump also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska on Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. It's been a little more than a week since the latest round of U.S. tariffs took effect, but it's difficult to interpret the impact they've had on the economy. While the stock market soared to historic highs this week, the latest report from the consumer price index showed the cost of some everyday goods is climbing and the Federal Reserve announced that, across the board, inflation was unchanged. Back home, the Chicago Bulls are preparing to get back out on the court, releasing their schedule for the 2025-26 season, which starts on Oct. 22, and across town, the Sky notched their 11th loss in 12 games, as injured star Angel Reese sat out for a sixth straight. Things aren't much better for Chicago area baseball fans. The Cubs are falling further back from first place in the NL Central, the White Sox are 44-78, and Clarendon Hills suffered a stinging defeat in their opening game of the Little League World Series, losing 16-1. But you know who had a good week? Swifties. The pop star announced her 12th studio album, 'The Life of a Showgirl,' late Monday and appeared on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's 'New Heights' podcast Wednesday to discuss the upcoming record. Now let's get to it. Can you guess who said what this week? Take the Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz to find out. Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.
