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Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Zohran Mamdani's surprising surge fueled by pocketbook promises, social media savvy
At a recent canvassing event for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in Sunnyside, Queens, a campaign staffer kicked things off by asking how many of the three dozen volunteers on hand were about to go knock doors for him for the first time. Nearly half of the canvassers raised their hands in response. To the surprise of many in New York's political establishment, Mamdani, 33, has leap-frogged other more-established candidates to become the leading progressive running in the June 24 primary. Polls have shown him consistently ranking as the second-place candidate behind front-runner Andrew Cuomo, and some recent surveys even indicate the ex-governor's lead over Mamdani is shrinking. A key factor behind Mamdani's surge is the groundswell of support he has generated from young, left-leaning voters. As of mid-May, his operation had mushroomed to include over 20,000 mostly young volunteers, a bigger field team than any of the other 2025 mayoral campaigns bolster. Waves of newcomers showing up to canvass events has become a trend, especially in recent weeks, according to his team. 'You are our generation's Fiorello La Guardia,' one of the Sunnyside canvassers, a man in his 20s, told Mamdani, a western Queens Assembly member who was up-until-recently a relatively unknown political figure in the city. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, told the Daily News he has indeed borrowed a page from La Guardia's playbook, focusing his candidacy on a set of easily digestible policy proposals: Freeze the rent for stabilized tenants in the city, drastically expand free child care for all residents and make public buses free. To pay for it all, he's proposing to raise taxes on corporations and millionaires. 'It's a fight that Americans across ideologies want to see in this moment,' Mamdani said as he walked away from the Sunnyside canvass to catch a cab to a campaign stop in Brooklyn. 'And what has made me proud to be a progressive for the entirety of my political career has been the sincerity at the heart of these commitments — that you don't just believe in something when it is convenient, but you, in fact, are committed to it and fighting for it if necessary.' Mamdani's momentum is in part born out of a social media strategy that speaks to the sensibilities of younger voters. He typically posts short, oftentimes comedic videos about himself and his policy platform that regularly go viral. In one, he interviewed exuberant Knicks fans outside Madison Square Garden after they beat the Celtics on May 16 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Mamdani, a onetime amateur rapper who went by the stage name 'Mr. Cardamom,' said that was a spur-of-the-moment decision he made while watching the game with a staffer over dinner. 'They won, and we thought, 'Let's go,'' he said in one of several interviews with The News from the campaign trail over the past few weeks. The popularity of Mamdani's populist proposals isn't just rooted in a savvy social media presence. It comes as studies show affordability remains a top issue on New Yorkers' minds, with rents at all-time highs, prices for basic goods like groceries elevated due to President Trump's tariff-heavy trade war and social safety net programs benefitting the city's most vulnerable at risk due to Trump's federal funding cuts. 'I never used to be as far left as a Bernie [Sanders], but those are the only people who are looking out for us,' said Anita Hennessey, a 61-year-old child care worker who told The News she will rank Mamdani at the top of her mayoral primary ballot after speaking to him during a recent campaign stop. Diana Moreno, a 37-year-old Mamdani volunteer, told The News in between knocking doors on a recent weekend while carrying her newborn baby, that too many New Yorkers are thinking of leaving the city because they can't afford to stay. 'Things are too expensive here, and this is exactly why I'm supporting this campaign because so many working people like myself, especially couples who have kids, like the couple that I was knocking the doors of, they're not staying, they're leaving,' Moreno said. 'As directly and as effectively as Zohran, I don't see other candidates speaking to the needs of working New Yorkers the way that he is.' Doug Muzzio, a veteran New York politics expert and pollster, said Mamdani has broken through in a much more effective way than other progressive mayoral hopefuls like Brad Lander, Zellnor Myrie and Adrienne Adams because he's not using 'the traditional language and ideas.' 'He's thinking outside the box and he's offering positions that are outside the perceived mainstream,' Muzzio said. 'People have been surrounded by mainstream candidates their whole lives, and here's a fresh voice, a fresh face and a fresh attitude, while the rest of them are stale.' Mamdani said his own personal situation is a factor driving his policy agenda. He lives in a rent-stabilized apartment with his wife in his western Queens district and they're likely looking to have children. 'We want to have a kid, absolutely, sometime in the next few years, and knowing that it will cost $25,000 to take care of that child is one that makes it a much more difficult decision than it should be,' Mamdani said. The son of an award-winning filmmaker-author couple, Mamdani at the same time acknowledged he grew up in relatively privileged circumstances and hasn't personally experienced the sort of financial turmoil he argues many New Yorkers are now facing, 'I was lucky in that I did not feel the same kind of betrayal that working class New Yorkers have felt … and yet I know that it can be make or break,' said Mamdani, who'd become the youngest mayor in modern city history if elected. Other voters expressed openness to Mamdani's pitch, but worried he's not breaking through to enough of the Democratic electorate. 'I like him … I just don't think a lot of people know who he is,' retired Department of Correction worker Sheryl Watts said before listening to Mamdani speak to the congregation she's part of at the Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Springfield Gardens on a Sunday morning last month. Mt. Pisgah's pastor, Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood, whose church is in a section of Queens that voted overwhelmingly for Mayor Adams in the 2021 election, urged Watts and other congregants to keep an open mind about Mamdani. 'I heard in this man something I have not heard in the other candidates,' Youngblood told congregants as Mamdani stood besides him. 'Do not count him out as just any other candidate, because he is not.' It's one thing to promise rent freezes and free child care. But skepticism around how Mamdani would make good on his pledges is prevalent in some corners of the electorate, as he'd have to overcome serious fiscal, legislative and regulatory obstacles to enact his platform. Critics are especially skeptical of Mamdani's ability to pull off his promises because he has no experience as a government executive and has only gotten three bills passed into law during his four years in the State Assembly. 'How are you going to pay for things?' Leslie Gevirtz, a 72-year-old retired journalist, asked Mamdani while walking by the Sunnyside canvass, prompting him to text her a link to his seven-page taxation policy plan. Gevirtz wasn't convinced. 'That's what bother me,' she told The News of what she saw as Mamdani's half-baked blueprint for how to bankroll his proposals. To make city buses fare-free and provide fully subsidized child care for all New Yorkers between six weeks and 5, Mamdani has proposed to increase taxes on millionaires and corporations in the city to generate $10 billion in new annual revenue. Such increases would need support from Gov. Hochul, who has been hard pressed to back tax hikes and is unlikely to soften that stance as she faces what's expected to be a tough reelection race next year. The Democrat-controlled state Legislature, which would also need to sign off on any tax hikes, could be more amenable. The Assembly and the Senate included proposals for tax hikes on millionaires and corporations in their initial budget bids this year — but Hochul blocked both. 'It's a non-starter for the governor,' a high-ranking state legislative source told The News of the concept of tax increases in 2026. Mamdani has said he's confident in his ability to negotiate with Albany stakeholders and told The News he's willing to compromise on aspects of his agenda if that's what it would take to get them through. For example, he said he's open to dialing back his proposal to jack up income taxes by 2% on city residents earning more than $1 million per year. 'If we were to get to a point where 1% is what it looks like in the first year, that allows us to begin so much of this platform,' said Mamdani. The push to freeze rent on all stabilized tenants for at least four years is perhaps Mamdani's most actionable plan. Increases on stabilized tenants are set by the Rent Guidelines Board, which is made up of mayoral appointees. So Mamdani could make good on his freeze vow simply by stacking the panel with members who commit to enact no rent increases. The stabilized landlord lobby is vehemently opposed to a freeze, arguing it'd make it impossible for small property owners to maintain their buildings. That lobby would invariably fight tooth-and-nail, including by filing lawsuits, to block any rent freeze. Amid rising tensions across the city over the war in Gaza, Mamdani has accused Israel of conducting a genocide as part of its war against Hamas, which has left more than 50,000 Palestinians dead. Israel launched its offensive after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. He has also at times described himself as an 'anti-Zionist,' voiced solidarity with Palestinian civilians and said recently he believes in Israel's right to exist as a state 'with equal rights for all,' as opposed to a Jewish state. Mamdani's stance on the issue has become a major focus on the campaign trail, with moderate-leaning figures, including Mayor Adams and Cuomo, accusing him of aligning with antisemitic ideals. Mamdani, who is Muslim, has dismissed those accusations as false and politically motivated. He says he's committed to fighting antisemitism, pointing to a commitment he made in his public safety plan to increase funding for hate crime violence prevention in the city by 800%. Still, tensions boiled over recently when a heckler wearing a 'Make America Great Again' cap tried to bum-rush Mamdani while shouting 'antisemite' at him as he was speaking at a Working Families Party rally in Brooklyn's Fort Greene Park with Lander, Myrie and Adrienne Adams. 'I know typically the advice is just to keep going,' Mamdani said as the heckler was in the middle of interrupting him before being removed by organizers. 'But to be the first Muslim elected official to run for mayor, it means dealing with the most ridiculous [comments], and these are some of the ones that we're hearing in this moment.'
New York Post
a day ago
- Business
- New York Post
Andrew Cuomo NYC mayoral campaign dealt another blow, loses out on $1.3M total over off-limits ad from PAC
Andrew Cuomo was dealt another blow by the city's campaign finance watchdog, which dinged him another $675,000 Friday over suspicions his mayoral campaign improperly coordinated with a super PAC. The New York City Campaign Finance Board has now denied the former governor a total of $1.3 million in public matching funds — which could hamper the frontrunner as the June 24 Democratic primary approaches and surging socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani nips at his heels. The ex-gov first lost out on around $622,000 in matching funds last month when the CBC said it believed a TV ad was created by 'Fix the City' — the super PAC supporting his candidacy — in coordination with his campaign. Advertisement But the PAC continued to run the potentially off-limits ad, leading to the latest sanctions. 'Shortly after (the last CFB meeting), Fix the City reported spending an additional $675,419.75 to continue airing the same ad,' said board member Richard Davis at the Friday morning meeting. 3 Former Governor Andrew Cuomo lost out on 675K, In the latest round of matching funds. Facebook/Andrew Cuomo Advertisement 'The board continued an investigation on this matter and, based on the findings thus far, continues to believe that the expenditure was not independent of the Cuomo campaign,' he said. The board also opted to dock that money from Cuomo's spending cap — reducing the amount he's able to spend on his own campaign advertisements to around $6.7 million from nearly $8 million. The limitation comes at possibly the worst time for Cuomo's political comeback bid, with just over three weeks to go to the primary, and Mamdani closing the gap between the two to single digits, according to a PIX11/Emerson poll this week. A source close to the thrice-elected Democratic gov's team told The Post the campaign's goal has been to 'survive' the primary by banking on Cuomo's name recognition, rather than try to mobilize a new voter base like some of the lefty candidates. Advertisement 3 Former Governor Andrew Cuomo's lead in the primary has been decreasing according to recent polls. Robert Miller Cuomo will still receive $1.3 million in matching funds, bringing his campaign total to around $7.3 million, according to his team. At the same time, Mamdani, who hit his fundraising max in March, has roughly $4.5 million on hand as the primary hits the final stretch. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who had yet to qualify for the city's generous one-to-eight matching funds program, received the highest payout Friday, bringing in over $2 million for her campaign. Advertisement The payment is a much-needed injection of cash into the speaker's campaign that has been handicapped by her late entry into the crowded field of Democrats, where she has so far failed to break out. 3 the ad by 'Fix the City' was found to have not operated independently from Cuomo's campaign. Fix The City Fellow mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie, who initially sounded the alarm on the allegedly coordinated Cuomo ad to CFB officials last month, lauded the board's move Friday. 'I applaud the Campaign Finance Board for heeding my calls to investigate Andrew Cuomo's campaign finances, and fining him for breaking the rules. While this news is troubling, it is not surprising,' the state senator said of the continued probe in a statement. Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo's camp, slammed the 'unfounded position' of the board and brushed off any suggestion of financial concerns. 'We look forward to making that clear and receiving the full matching funds to which the campaign is entitled. In the meantime, our campaign's momentum continues unabated.'
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
Could Andrew Cuomo Lose NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary To Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani?
On "Forbes Newsroom," Emerson College pollster Matt Taglia discussed a recent poll about the NYC mayoral election, showing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) in the lead of the Democratic primary, with a sudden surge of Democratic Socialists of America member candidate Zohran Mamdani. Watch the full interview above.
New York Post
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Never mind winning NYC's mayoral race — here's what sources believe Andrew Cuomo really wants
Andrew Cuomo is leading the Democratic primary race for mayor of New York City — but he may just be angling for a way to get back into politics so he can run for national office, analysts and political rivals say. 'I did hear that he is running for mayor so that he can run for president in 2028,' a former politician from Queens, who knows Cuomo well, told The Post. Political strategist Hank Sheinkopf believes Cuomo likely has presidential ambitions, but was not sure that a mayoral win in New York would help the former governor. 7 Andrew Cuomo's rivals say that his real ambitions are to run for president in 2028. Stephen Yang 'He's always been ambitious so it wouldn't surprise me,' Sheinkopf told The Post this week. 'But what mayor of New York has ever been elected president of the United States?' Rival candidate Scott Stringer, a former Manhattan borough president and New York City comptroller, speculated that Cuomo likely has an ulterior motive. 7 Andrew Cuomo told Al Sharpton that only death could keep him from fulfilling his mandate if he were to be elected mayor of New York City. Andrew Cuomo/ Instagram 'Nobody really thinks he wants to … be mayor,' Stringer's campaign said Wednesday. But Cuomo's campaign told The Post he is committed to the job he doesn't yet have. 'Andrew Cuomo is fully focused on the mayor's race and getting the city he loves back on the right track after 12 years of mismanagement,' said Cuomo rep Rich Azzopardi. 'There's much work to be done and New Yorkers know he has the experience and the record of results to do it.' 7 Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani is inching up in the polls in the New York City mayoral race. Robert Miller During a candidates' forum organized by civil rights leader Al Sharpton last month, Cuomo brushed aside a question about whether he would promise to serve a full term if elected mayor. 'No. What if I die?' the 67-year-old replied. 'Short of death, I commit.' But it wouldn't be the first time that Cuomo had changed his mind. This week he rolled out a proposal to boost the city's minimum wage to $20 by 2027 — after having struck down the move when he was governor of New York. 7 Former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, now running in the Democratic primary for NYC's mayoral race, said that nobody really thinks that Andrew Cuomo wants to be mayor. Paul Martinka And after dismissing a proposal by former Mayor Bill de Blasio to institute a universal 'pre-K' program in city schools in 2014, Cuomo has now promised to make the program 'truly universal' if he is elected mayor. Such measures are likely efforts to counter the rising poll numbers of socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, Cuomo's closest rival, Sheinkopf said. The latest PIX 11/ Emerson College poll has Mamdani, a Queens state Assemblyman, trailing Cuomo for 10 rounds of ranked-choice voting before being eliminated with a nine-point spread, 54.4% to 45.6%. 'Mamdani has fresher ideas, and this may be a close race,' Sheinkopf said. 7 New York City Comptroller Brad Lander's campaign for mayor slammed Andrew Cuomo for being an opportunist. LP Media Political strategist Jamal Simmons said he doesn't know if Cuomo would run for president, but it's conceivable that the mayor's office could be a stepping stone to a national run. 'In 2020, Cuomo was Donald Trump's chief antagonist,' Simmons, a former communications director for Kamala Harris, said. 'I imagine a lot of people will like the idea of him running for president because he's a tough guy who might prevail against Trump.' 'In some ways, I didn't need to do this at this point in my life,' Cuomo said at a candidate screening in March for the 504 Democratic Club, in audio obtained by Politico. 'I don't need a title. I don't need any of this stuff. Matter of fact, governor versus mayor, I think governor's a better title. But anyway, I want to make a difference.' 7 Andrew Cuomo was treated like a rock star at a recent Democratic Queens County luncheon where he was swarmed by fans, seeking photos and autographs. Andrew Cuomo/ Instagram The 504 Democratic Club, which represents the disabled, ended up endorsing New York City Comptroller Brad Lander for mayor. 'Andrew Cuomo has proven time and time again he's only in this for himself — he has zero interest in fighting for New York City's working people or actually doing the job of mayor,' said Dora Pekec, a spokeswoman for Lander's campaign. 'New Yorkers won't be fooled by his pathetic efforts at redemption — which will fail miserably, just like his entire life's sad attempts to live up to his father's legacy.' But it's his father's legacy that is helping him with some constituencies. Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo is still remembered fondly among Democratic organizations in Queens where the Cuomo family is from. 7 'People were hugging and kissing him, and taking his picture,' a source said of Cuomo at the Democratic Queens County luncheon. Andrew Cuomo/ Instagram And at a recent Democratic County luncheon in the borough, candidate Cuomo was apparently greeted like a rock star. 'When he came into that room you'd think that Jesus had arrived,' said the former pol, who was at the event. 'People were hugging and kissing him, and taking his picture. There must have been more than 500 people there.' Cuomo resigned from the governor's job in 2021 following numerous allegations of sexual harassment as well as criticisms that his administration had hidden thousands of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home patients.
Fox News
a day ago
- Business
- Fox News
Biden cover-up scandal could usher in new era of Republican dominance
This is the season of President Donald Trump, the Republican Party, conservatism and the MAGA movement. The Democratic Party is in dire straits. They sit at 21% approval in some polls. They have reduced themselves to defending illegals, gang members and other forms of criminality and corruption. They present no new ideas, just obstructionism. And with each issue they embrace, such as opposing cuts in federal spending or defending the waste, fraud and abuse of USAID or other federal agencies, for that matter, only drives them further down in the polls. They are also the party of antisemitism, repellent to most Americans who cherish our longtime friendship with the Jewish state. They have no answers to the ills afflicting Americans. Meanwhile, Trump and his Republican Party have a corner on the marketplace of ideas. From the border to inflation, the GOP has it all over the Sad Sack Democrats. Democrats must hate getting up in the morning. The newspapers and cable television only bring them more bad news, from the new charges against Andrew Cuomo, former Democrat governor of New York, to fresh revelations about the scandal of COVID-19 and the alleged criminality of Dr. Anthony Fauci, former chief medical advisor to the president, to Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar's complete indifference to the murder of two young Israelis in Washington at the Israeli Embassy. Democrats must be asking themselves, "What fresh hell is this?" Of course, the story with the most damaging, long-term effect is the cover-up of former President Joe Biden's incipient mental state. Were we a constitutional republic during his time? Or were we governed by a devious cabal armed with an autopen? Even worse, the entire Democratic Party establishment was in on the cover-up and conspiracy of defending an emperor that not only had no clothes, but apparently wasn't even governing in the first place. The GOP is on offense, a good place to be in politics. Meanwhile, the Democrats are in a fox hole, fighting off incoming, completely on the defense. This all has long-term consequences. Just as President Abraham Lincoln kicked off a long period of Republican governance beginning in 1860, just as FDR and the Democrats initiated a long period of Democratic governance beginning in 1932, Trump could be kicking off a long period of Republican governance. Republicans are in motion. Trump is in motion. He knows politics is motion. During the Lincoln era, Republicans reminded voters of the "bloody shirt" to drive home to them it was Democrats, the party of slavery, who instigated the Civil War. Republicans will, in the future remind voters of the Biden cover-up by yelling, "Deceitful Democrats!" Watergate was indeed just a "third-rate burglary" compared to this culture wide scheme to deceive. The tea leaves were already appearing before this earthshaking scandal surrounding Biden. Look at the facts: Hispanic men shifted in large numbers toward the Republicans in the last election. So too did African American males. So too did young voters. White Americans held firm in almost all categories. Democrats often delude themselves. Case in point is the growing vegetative state of Biden. And I am sorry, Minnesota's Caspar Milquetoast governor Tim Waltz is not the answer to recapturing the male vote. The irony is that the insider establishment told themselves an old, old, old man, who was on the wrong side of all the issues, could win until it became screamingly obvious he could not. They then told themselves a lightweight do-nothing vice president, chosen for her race and sex and not for her intellect, could win. Ironically, she was chosen as Biden's insurance plan meaning there would be no way anyone would turn to Kamala Harris if and when Biden faltered. Everybody knew she was completely unqualified to be president. Lord Acton once cynically said, "The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Maybe so, but the Democrats, as decided by the voters, are indeed unfit to govern. The GOP controls the majority of governorships. The GOP controls the majority of state legislatures. And, in 23 states, the GOP has total control. The other states are at best mixed. Conservatives control the Supreme Court. Beyond the growing powers of Trump are the issues that favor the GOP, abortion is now off the table as conservatives acted on their federalism instincts and the Supreme Court sent the matter back to the states where behavioral issues like marriage, adoption and the death penalty belong. Anybody who looks beyond the point of their own nose has to see this massive Biden cover-up is not only the greatest scandal in American history, but it will have significant ramifications for our future. Liberal historians' credibility is shot. Jon Meacham, Michael Beschloss and others like them have no more authority. This has a significant impact on the future. True journalists will not be turning to them for comment as they are seen simply as liberal lackeys, especially Meacham who authored Biden's "Nuremberg Speech," denouncing half of America, one of the two worst speeches in presidential history, ranking with President Jimmy Carter's now notorious "Malaise" speech. The liberal media, too, is headed for the ash heap of history. Where will CNN's and MSNBC's ratings be in a year? Their viewership may be higher in Beijing than in Peoria. And, ironically, CNN anchor Jake Tapper, just as his book is topping the charts, has destroyed his credibility by being part of the original cover-up as a Biden apologist. Of course, the story with the most damaging, long-term effect is the cover-up of former President Joe Biden's incipient mental state. Were we a constitutional republic during his time? Or were we governed by a devious cabal armed with an autopen? Vindicated are the very few reporters who asked tough questions about Biden's mental competency. No longer does two plus two equal five. Which means the future is very bleak for the Democratic Party. They are a pariah party for now and the foreseeable future. They have reaped the whirlwind.
