12 hours ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
What the shocking NYC mayoral race means for two of California's biggest politicians
A Democratic Socialist winning New York's Democratic mayoral primary doesn't mean the Big Apple is more progressive than San Francisco. But the victory by 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani over former New York Gov. and political scion Andrew Cuomo, 67, sends a loud message that is reverberating to the West Coast: Democratic voters want candidates with a fresh voice and a more populist economic message.
That could portend bad news for former Vice President Kamala Harris, the epitome of an establishment candidate who is pondering running for California governor next year. She has said she will announce her decision before the end of the summer.
Lorena Gonzalez, president of the 2.1 million-member California Labor Federation, said Mamdani's win taps into the same sentiments she has been hearing from focus groups the federation has been conducting with working-class voters for the past six months across California.
'It's clear that there is a hunger for an economic message that is just not being satisfied by either party,' Gonzalez said Wednesday. 'It's time for the party to step up on economic issues.'
Ludovic Blain, executive director of the California Donor Table, an organization that has invested over $50 million in progressive candidates and ballot measures over the past two decades, said, 'What we saw in New York is an echo of what's been happening around the country, concentrated here in California.' He pointed to progressive mayors being elected in Los Angeles, Chicago and Oakland over the past two years.
While the winner of Democratic primary in deep blue New York City starts with a huge advantage, Mamdani's road will be tougher than many previous primary winners. In the general election, he will face the incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams, running as an independent after federal corruption charges against him were dismissed at the behest of President Donald Trump's Department of Justice. Cuomo also may run as an independent, potentially splintering the Democratic vote.
Warning signs for Harris: 'The NYC mayoral election results are a bad sign for an establishment politician trying to make a comeback like Kamala Harris,' said San Francisco Democratic pollster Ben Tulchin, who has helped to elect California governors (Gray Davis and Gavin Newsom) and a New York mayor (Adams in 2021). Mamdani's win is a 'an encouraging sign for candidates focusing on pocketbook issues, such as (former Los Angeles Mayor) Antonio Villaraigosa, who has been emphasizing the high cost of groceries and gas prices.'
Harris, much like Cuomo, would enter the governor's race with near universal name recognition, deep pockets and likely the backing of the party's establishment. But Cuomo didn't grow his base during the campaign while Mamdani surged.
Mamdani's win was a rebuke of the Democratic establishment: Cuomo was backed by a record-breaking $25 million super PAC, privilege (his father, Mario Cuomo, served two terms as New York's governor) and endorsements from the party's elders like former President Bill Clinton. His super PAC was funded with $8.3 million from billionaire former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, $1 million from DoorDash and $500,000 from investor Bill Ackman, a Trump supporter. The message: Billionaires, Trump supporters and yesterday's leaders are not the path to victory in a blue city in the Trump 2.0 era.
Meanwhile, candidates supported by Run for Something, which backs progressive younger candidates, have won 50 races nationwide this year.
'The next generation of leaders isn't coming — it's already here,' said Run for Something President Amanda Litman. 'Young people have lived the consequences of the gerontocracy's failures and are doing something about it. They've won elections, yes, but they've also won real concessions for the people they represent. Voters are hungry for change. If their leaders don't give it to them, they'll happily find someone else who will.'
Former Barack Obama adviser and San Francisco-based 'Pod Save America' co-host Dan Pfeiffer wrote Wednesday on X: 'What's happening in NYC is a blaringly loud message to those in the Dem establishment who cling to the old politics, recite focus-grouped talking points and are too afraid to say what needs to be said. We have a lot to learn from (Mamdani's) campaign.'
One San Franciscan bolstered by Mamdani's win was Saikat Chakrabarti, 39, who is challenging Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, 84, for Congress in 2026. Chakrabarti, who was a founding software engineer at the tech firm Stripe, led the Justice Democrats progressive group and was chief of staff to New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has not announced if she is running for re-election.
'The next (Mamdani) could be (Chakrabarti) running against Nancy Pelosi,' wrote Cenk Uygur, CEO of 'The Young Turks,' progressive online news show. 'If he beats Pelosi, the old guard of the party will be devastated. Time for a new Democratic Party.'
Gonzalez said being a Democratic Socialist didn't hurt Mandami, just like it hasn't impeded Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, who both endorsed Mandami, from drawing huge crowds across the country this year for their 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour.
'Young people especially don't care (about the socialist label). 'They're not buying into that in the same way that older voters have historically,' Gonzalez said.
It's about the economy — and joy: In a fundraising email to supporters Wednesday, the progressive Justice Democrats group praised Mamdani for campaigning 'on lowering costs for New Yorkers through free buses, a rent freeze, no-cost childcare, city-owned grocery stores, taxing corporations and the 1 percent, raising the minimum wage to $30 by 2030, and more. Surprise! That's what working people want from their leader.'
Adams previewed his general election campaign strategy Wednesday when he slammed Mamdani's agenda Wednesday as the unrealistic promises of a 'snake oil salesman' during a Fox News interview.
In an fundraising email to supporters Wednesday, Justice Democrats contrasted Mamdani with other Democrats, saying he 'notably did not throw marginalized communities like trans youth, immigrants, or Palestinians under the bus like so many in the Democratic Party are so quick to do in an attempt to win elections.' Earlier this year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on his podcast that it was 'deeply unfair' for transgender athletes to participate in girls' sports during a podcast with conservative activist Charlie Kirk — an attempt by Newsom to try to broaden the party's appeal by talking with conservatives, but which offended many core Democratic supporters.
Mamdani appeared as a guest on many podcasts from across the political spectrum without betraying his base.
'Enthusiasm and energy carried the day in New York,' said Graeme Joeck, director of organizing and advocacy for Abundance San Francisco, a centrist group. 'What Zohran offered New Yorkers was positivity, authenticity and energy. And we Democrats are operating with quite the deficit of those characteristics at present.'
