Latest news with #DemocraticSocialist
Washington Post
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Is a Mamdani repeat coming to the Midwest? A democratic socialist is getting a boost in Minnesota.
The Democratic Party in Minneapolis over the weekend endorsed a democratic socialist over the two-term incumbent in the city's mayoral race, the latest indicator of increased momentum for the progressive left in local races across the country. Delegates of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota's most populous city on Saturday threw their support behind state Sen. Omar Fateh, who defeated Mayor Jacob Frey, at the party's convention. The endorsement comes less than a month after Zohran Mamdani, also a democratic socialist and state lawmaker, won the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York.
CNN
21 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Andrew Cuomo launches his rebrand: More vertical videos and selfies, less ‘being nice'
People in sports Social media Food & drinkFacebookTweetLink Follow Andrew Cuomo says he's done being nice. In the 10 days since announcing he would pursue an independent bid for New York City mayor, Cuomo has acknowledged the mistakes that led to his stunning Democratic primary loss to state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. And he is trying to prove he can turn the race around before November by rebooting his campaign. Cuomo is trying to demonstrate that he's going to be a different candidate as he hopes to keep donors on board and appeal to Democrats and independents who might be uncomfortable with backing Mamdani, a democratic socialist. Some of his changes are easy to spot. Others are subtler. Cuomo was hard to find in the primary, often dodging reporters who wanted to ask about the sexual harassment allegations and complaints about his handling of Covid-19 that preceded his resignation as governor. Now, he's doing on one-on-one interviews with the city's press corps at traditional campaign spots like subway stations. He's also sitting for podcast interviews where he's explaining what he thinks he did wrong in the primary. Long known for his brash style, short temper and bullying tactics, Cuomo said he had adopted a 'softer' approach during the primary campaign that did not work. 'So much for being nice, that's what I say,' Cuomo told Stephen A. Smith during a recent podcast interview. Cuomo said he'll bring back more of his old style. Perhaps most importantly, he said, he'll call out what he describes as unrealistic ideas from Mamdani, who has proposed freezing hikes on rent-controlled apartments, opening city-run grocery stores and making public buses free. 'Those slick slogans that sound good – everything free. Free buses, free education, free food, everything free. BS, everything is free? If it sounds too good to be true, it isn't.' Cuomo told Smith. Cuomo did attack Mamdani's ideas as unrealistic during their primary debates. Cuomo has a lifelong history with Democratic politics. He is a son of Gov. Mario Cuomo, who joined President Bill Clinton's Cabinet before being elected New York attorney general and then governor three times. 'Mamdani is on the Democratic line but he's a socialist. I'm on the independent line but I am a Democrat. The politics nowadays are topsy-turvy; that's what we're seeing in this election,' Cuomo said on Smith's podcast. It will be an uphill battle given the city's overwhelming number of Democratic voter registrations and Mamdani's popularity among young New Yorkers who were central to his candidacy. Despite having a significant share of the establishment support that has started to line up behind Mamdani, Cuomo is now dismissing that same establishment as reactionary. 'A lot of the voters are knee-jerk; 'I vote for the Democrat.' A lot of the Democratic institutions, the unions, etc., they just knee-jerk go with the Democrat,' Cuomo told Smith. Notably, some key establishment Democrats have not endorsed Mamdani, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who represents a Brooklyn district. After Cuomo said he would 'hit the streets' and meet voters 'where they are' in his campaign relaunch video, more footage has popped up on his campaign feeds. There is even a hint of trial and error. A recent video was quickly panned in the comments and subsequently reposted by Mamdani supporter accounts who mocked the audio quality of the video because it drowned out Cuomo's voice. Newer videos show Cuomo wearing a wireless microphone as he makes small talk and asks voters what their concerns are. The videos specifically show him speaking with New Yorkers inside restaurants and diners, chatting with a butcher on the Upper West Side, walking the streets of Staten Island by way of the Staten Island ferry, sampling prosciutto, visiting senior centers and the inside of restaurant kitchens. The choices of people in the video seem intentional. So far, the videos showcase Cuomo before his target voters – upper middle class, White ethnic New Yorkers in parts of Manhattan and Staten Island, as well as older Black voters. Great day in the Bronx talking to New Yorkers about the housing crisis and how we can work to make the City more affordable for all 'We're talking about our problems; one of the big ones is affordable housing,' Cuomo says in a video as he walks around Co-Op City in the Bronx. The sprawling, 15,000-unit housing cooperative is the largest in the nation and home to mostly Black New Yorkers. Mamdani's team – credited by both allies and enemies for its use of social media – has brushed off what it sees as an attempt at mimicry. 'We got him making man on the street videos with a guy in carhartt. By next week, he'll be sipping adeni chai and eating khaliat al nahl,' the campaign wrote in a post on X. (Adeni chai is Yemeni milk tea; khaliat al nahl is an Arab pastry.) Cuomo previously tried to present himself as the only leader who could protect the city during President Donald Trump's second term in office. Now, as he looks to November and trying to draw conservatives to his independent bid, that message appears to be in the back seat. Instead, Cuomo has focused his attacks on incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, describing him as 'unelectable,' and on Mamdani, casting his potential mayoralty as a time that will ruin New York. 'It would be devastating to New York City, and it would take a decade to recover,' Cuomo told Smith. While Cuomo attacks Adams, he is also pushing a proposal that would require any independent and the Republican nominee to drop out by September and endorse whoever is polling highest. So far, Adams and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa have refused that idea, setting up a split contest that could benefit Mamdani by dividing his opposition.
CNN
21 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Andrew Cuomo launches his rebrand: More vertical videos and selfies, less ‘being nice'
Andrew Cuomo says he's done being nice. In the 10 days since announcing he would pursue an independent bid for New York City mayor, Cuomo has acknowledged the mistakes that led to his stunning Democratic primary loss to state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. And he is trying to prove he can turn the race around before November by rebooting his campaign. Cuomo is trying to demonstrate that he's going to be a different candidate as he hopes to keep donors on board and appeal to Democrats and independents who might be uncomfortable with backing Mamdani, a democratic socialist. Some of his changes are easy to spot. Others are subtler. Cuomo was hard to find in the primary, often dodging reporters who wanted to ask about the sexual harassment allegations and complaints about his handling of Covid-19 that preceded his resignation as governor. Now, he's doing on one-on-one interviews with the city's press corps at traditional campaign spots like subway stations. He's also sitting for podcast interviews where he's explaining what he thinks he did wrong in the primary. Long known for his brash style, short temper and bullying tactics, Cuomo said he had adopted a 'softer' approach during the primary campaign that did not work. 'So much for being nice, that's what I say,' Cuomo told Stephen A. Smith during a recent podcast interview. Cuomo said he'll bring back more of his old style. Perhaps most importantly, he said, he'll call out what he describes as unrealistic ideas from Mamdani, who has proposed freezing hikes on rent-controlled apartments, opening city-run grocery stores and making public buses free. 'Those slick slogans that sound good – everything free. Free buses, free education, free food, everything free. BS, everything is free? If it sounds too good to be true, it isn't.' Cuomo told Smith. Cuomo did attack Mamdani's ideas as unrealistic during their primary debates. Cuomo has a lifelong history with Democratic politics. He is a son of Gov. Mario Cuomo, who joined President Bill Clinton's Cabinet before being elected New York attorney general and then governor three times. 'Mamdani is on the Democratic line but he's a socialist. I'm on the independent line but I am a Democrat. The politics nowadays are topsy-turvy; that's what we're seeing in this election,' Cuomo said on Smith's podcast. It will be an uphill battle given the city's overwhelming number of Democratic voter registrations and Mamdani's popularity among young New Yorkers who were central to his candidacy. Despite having a significant share of the establishment support that has started to line up behind Mamdani, Cuomo is now dismissing that same establishment as reactionary. 'A lot of the voters are knee-jerk; 'I vote for the Democrat.' A lot of the Democratic institutions, the unions, etc., they just knee-jerk go with the Democrat,' Cuomo told Smith. Notably, some key establishment Democrats have not endorsed Mamdani, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who represents a Brooklyn district. After Cuomo said he would 'hit the streets' and meet voters 'where they are' in his campaign relaunch video, more footage has popped up on his campaign feeds. There is even a hint of trial and error. A recent video was quickly panned in the comments and subsequently reposted by Mamdani supporter accounts who mocked the audio quality of the video because it drowned out Cuomo's voice. Newer videos show Cuomo wearing a wireless microphone as he makes small talk and asks voters what their concerns are. The videos specifically show him speaking with New Yorkers inside restaurants and diners, chatting with a butcher on the Upper West Side, walking the streets of Staten Island by way of the Staten Island ferry, sampling prosciutto, visiting senior centers and the inside of restaurant kitchens. The choices of people in the video seem intentional. So far, the videos showcase Cuomo before his target voters – upper middle class, White ethnic New Yorkers in parts of Manhattan and Staten Island, as well as older Black voters. Great day in the Bronx talking to New Yorkers about the housing crisis and how we can work to make the City more affordable for all 'We're talking about our problems; one of the big ones is affordable housing,' Cuomo says in a video as he walks around Co-Op City in the Bronx. The sprawling, 15,000-unit housing cooperative is the largest in the nation and home to mostly Black New Yorkers. Mamdani's team – credited by both allies and enemies for its use of social media – has brushed off what it sees as an attempt at mimicry. 'We got him making man on the street videos with a guy in carhartt. By next week, he'll be sipping adeni chai and eating khaliat al nahl,' the campaign wrote in a post on X. (Adeni chai is Yemeni milk tea; khaliat al nahl is an Arab pastry.) Cuomo previously tried to present himself as the only leader who could protect the city during President Donald Trump's second term in office. Now, as he looks to November and trying to draw conservatives to his independent bid, that message appears to be in the back seat. Instead, Cuomo has focused his attacks on incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, describing him as 'unelectable,' and on Mamdani, casting his potential mayoralty as a time that will ruin New York. 'It would be devastating to New York City, and it would take a decade to recover,' Cuomo told Smith. While Cuomo attacks Adams, he is also pushing a proposal that would require any independent and the Republican nominee to drop out by September and endorse whoever is polling highest. So far, Adams and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa have refused that idea, setting up a split contest that could benefit Mamdani by dividing his opposition.
CNN
21 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Andrew Cuomo launches his rebrand: More vertical videos and selfies, less ‘being nice'
Andrew Cuomo says he's done being nice. In the 10 days since announcing he would pursue an independent bid for New York City mayor, Cuomo has acknowledged the mistakes that led to his stunning Democratic primary loss to state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. And he is trying to prove he can turn the race around before November by rebooting his campaign. Cuomo is trying to demonstrate that he's going to be a different candidate as he hopes to keep donors on board and appeal to Democrats and independents who might be uncomfortable with backing Mamdani, a democratic socialist. Some of his changes are easy to spot. Others are subtler. Cuomo was hard to find in the primary, often dodging reporters who wanted to ask about the sexual harassment allegations and complaints about his handling of Covid-19 that preceded his resignation as governor. Now, he's doing on one-on-one interviews with the city's press corps at traditional campaign spots like subway stations. He's also sitting for podcast interviews where he's explaining what he thinks he did wrong in the primary. Long known for his brash style, short temper and bullying tactics, Cuomo said he had adopted a 'softer' approach during the primary campaign that did not work. 'So much for being nice, that's what I say,' Cuomo told Stephen A. Smith during a recent podcast interview. Cuomo said he'll bring back more of his old style. Perhaps most importantly, he said, he'll call out what he describes as unrealistic ideas from Mamdani, who has proposed freezing hikes on rent-controlled apartments, opening city-run grocery stores and making public buses free. 'Those slick slogans that sound good – everything free. Free buses, free education, free food, everything free. BS, everything is free? If it sounds too good to be true, it isn't.' Cuomo told Smith. Cuomo did attack Mamdani's ideas as unrealistic during their primary debates. Cuomo has a lifelong history with Democratic politics. He is a son of Gov. Mario Cuomo, who joined President Bill Clinton's Cabinet before being elected New York attorney general and then governor three times. 'Mamdani is on the Democratic line but he's a socialist. I'm on the independent line but I am a Democrat. The politics nowadays are topsy-turvy; that's what we're seeing in this election,' Cuomo said on Smith's podcast. It will be an uphill battle given the city's overwhelming number of Democratic voter registrations and Mamdani's popularity among young New Yorkers who were central to his candidacy. Despite having a significant share of the establishment support that has started to line up behind Mamdani, Cuomo is now dismissing that same establishment as reactionary. 'A lot of the voters are knee-jerk; 'I vote for the Democrat.' A lot of the Democratic institutions, the unions, etc., they just knee-jerk go with the Democrat,' Cuomo told Smith. Notably, some key establishment Democrats have not endorsed Mamdani, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who represents a Brooklyn district. After Cuomo said he would 'hit the streets' and meet voters 'where they are' in his campaign relaunch video, more footage has popped up on his campaign feeds. There is even a hint of trial and error. A recent video was quickly panned in the comments and subsequently reposted by Mamdani supporter accounts who mocked the audio quality of the video because it drowned out Cuomo's voice. Newer videos show Cuomo wearing a wireless microphone as he makes small talk and asks voters what their concerns are. The videos specifically show him speaking with New Yorkers inside restaurants and diners, chatting with a butcher on the Upper West Side, walking the streets of Staten Island by way of the Staten Island ferry, sampling prosciutto, visiting senior centers and the inside of restaurant kitchens. The choices of people in the video seem intentional. So far, the videos showcase Cuomo before his target voters – upper middle class, White ethnic New Yorkers in parts of Manhattan and Staten Island, as well as older Black voters. Great day in the Bronx talking to New Yorkers about the housing crisis and how we can work to make the City more affordable for all 'We're talking about our problems; one of the big ones is affordable housing,' Cuomo says in a video as he walks around Co-Op City in the Bronx. The sprawling, 15,000-unit housing cooperative is the largest in the nation and home to mostly Black New Yorkers. Mamdani's team – credited by both allies and enemies for its use of social media – has brushed off what it sees as an attempt at mimicry. 'We got him making man on the street videos with a guy in carhartt. By next week, he'll be sipping adeni chai and eating khaliat al nahl,' the campaign wrote in a post on X. (Adeni chai is Yemeni milk tea; khaliat al nahl is an Arab pastry.) Cuomo previously tried to present himself as the only leader who could protect the city during President Donald Trump's second term in office. Now, as he looks to November and trying to draw conservatives to his independent bid, that message appears to be in the back seat. Instead, Cuomo has focused his attacks on incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, describing him as 'unelectable,' and on Mamdani, casting his potential mayoralty as a time that will ruin New York. 'It would be devastating to New York City, and it would take a decade to recover,' Cuomo told Smith. While Cuomo attacks Adams, he is also pushing a proposal that would require any independent and the Republican nominee to drop out by September and endorse whoever is polling highest. So far, Adams and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa have refused that idea, setting up a split contest that could benefit Mamdani by dividing his opposition.
Time Magazine
2 days ago
- Business
- Time Magazine
The Socialist Mayor Who Came 100 Years Before Zohran Mamdani
A young charismatic socialist politician runs for mayor in New York on a platform of lowering costs and improving quality of life for its lower classes. He challenges the corruption of the incumbent administration, eschews the mainstream media, and mobilizes voters alienated by both the Republican and Democratic establishment. He promises affordable transit and city-run groceries, scoring a shocking victory and becoming a national icon. That might sound like what has played out in New York City over the last month, as Zohran Mamdani has become a political sensation since winning the Democratic mayoral primary. But it's actually the story of what happened in Schenectady in 1911, when voters elected George Lunn mayor, a post he'd go on to hold for four terms. Over a century divides these two political stories. Yet, the history of Lunn's career offers pointers for how Democratic Socialist Mamdani can harness his political skills and newfound celebrity to make sustainable change, overcome attacks from the political opposition, and have a long, successful career. In 1911, Schenectady was one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S.; from 1900 to 1910, its population had increased nearly 130%, from 31,682 to 72,826. Like so many cities across the northeast and Midwest, this boom stemmed from rapid industrialization, most especially the growth of General Electric. G.E.'s hunger for labor, along with the needs of the American Locomotive Company, the city's other main employer, drew thousands to Schenectady, most notably and visibly working-class immigrants from Italy and Poland. Schenectady was a bustling, vibrant small city, but it was also bursting at the seams—the city's growth had outpaced its housing stock, its school system, its streets and sewers, and its 19th century administrative structure. The city's working-class residents found it difficult to afford transportation on streetcars and lived in crowded and unhealthy neighborhoods with no access to parks or playgrounds. Amid the rapid growth, politically connected businessmen couldn't resist the temptation to line the pockets of local politicians to ensure that they would profit from public contracts for building roads and schools. Read More: Zohran Mamdani's Upset Is a Seismic Moment for the Left Enter Lunn, a young Protestant minister who grew up in Iowa and Nebraska where he was imbued with a sympathy for the common people from the populist teachings of William Jennings Bryan. Lunn traveled east to do graduate work in economics and theology and was called to the elite First Reformed Church in Schenectady in 1904. The dynamic and popular preacher discomfited many in his parish with his increasingly pointed critiques of inequities and corruption in the city. In 1909, he resigned, and started his own working-class congregation and weekly newspaper—and increasingly found an affinity with the city's small but vocal Socialist Party. Socialism was on the march, it seemed. Hundreds of party members had been elected to city and state offices across the country, and a Socialist administration had just started running Milwaukee. While a critique of the capitalist system infused their messaging, these Socialists also aimed to provide public services and reduce the cost of living for working-class urban Americans. Their success inspired Lunn. In 1911, he declared himself the Socialist candidate for Mayor, with an ambitious platform. Lunn promised to provide low-cost necessities—groceries, coal, and ice for the pre-electric era iceboxes—by starting city-run businesses to compete with private merchants who exploited their poor customers. Additionally, he pledged to run an efficient, professional, and honest government in contrast to the corruption rife in both the Democratic and Republican parties in Schenectady City and County. In a four-way race (Democratic, Republican, Progressive, and Socialist), Lunn prevailed, bringing with him a Socialist majority on the City Council. One of his working-class supporters told a reporter, 'People got mighty sick of voting for Republicans and Democrats when it was a heads I win, tails you lose proposition.' This voter remarked that people wondered why the gap 'between the pay envelope and the grocer's and butcher's bills' was getting so tight. Lunn's message was attractive because he 'had a way of kind of harnessing words to ideas that had been running around loose in a lot of folks' minds.' Lunn, in his campaign, promised to 'go on, step by step… and demonstrate that we are fit to rule.' And so he did. The most 'socialist' parts of the new mayor's agenda never came to full fruition; local businesses challenged the city-run ice and grocery stores he launched and courts found them to be illegal. The city-run ice store shut down, while the grocery store became a co-op and then collapsed. Yet, undaunted, Lunn's 'sewer socialism' succeeded in other ways. After a court fight, the city-run coal dealership he created was reorganized as a quasi-private enterprise. It sold coal below the cost charged by local dealers and, in doing so, may have forced them to lower their prices. Among Lunn's other achievements, the city built a more robust public health system that led to a decrease in infant mortality, expanded the school system and provided free textbooks for students, created a Municipal Employment Bureau to undercut the exploitation of recent immigrants by private employment agents, and constructed a network of city parks that persists to this day. Lunn also rid the city of the 850 privies still fouling its soil and the Mohawk River by completing a long-stalled sewer system. Residents who opposed the extension had obtained an injunction to prevent the city from cutting down a tree in the way of excavation. Lunn went out with an axe, cut it down himself, paid a fine, and the pipe went in. Despite his socialist ideology, Lunn also won praise from business interests, including the management of G.E., for his emphasis on administrative efficiency. He reorganized city government, implemented a transparent bidding process for city contracts, and appointed a number of non-Socialists to important administrative posts. Even though economics were his focus, Lunn didn't shy away from the culture war issues of the day. He fervently supported women's suffrage, which at the time had had a losing track record in New York State. Read More: How Zohran Mamdani Plans to Fix New York City's Housing Crisis Despite his robust platform, however, Lunn's flavor of socialism disappointed his more radical colleagues, including a young Walter Lippmann. Before becoming one of the preeminent political commentators of the mid-20th century, Lippmann was a hair-on-fire Socialist, who came as a young Harvard grad to work as Lunn's personal secretary. He left after four months, disappointed with the decidedly non-radical flavor of the mayor's socialism: 'I have often thought of the slashing articles the Socialists in Schenectady would write about the present administration if they weren't responsible for the administration,' he griped. Lunn's moderation wasn't enough to placate Schenectady's more conservative political powers either. The other three parties formed a fusion ticket in 1913 to try to beat Lunn. They succeeded, in part because the mayor was distracted by affairs beyond Schenectady—most especially his arrest at a rally for strikers affiliated with the radical International Workers of the World union in nearby Little Falls. But the opposition couldn't wipe out Lunn's charisma or his accomplishments in improving the quality of life in the city through 'good' government. That enabled Lunn to return to the mayor's office again in 1915. But he was soon ejected from the local Socialist Party for refusing to allow the Party to dictate appointments to city jobs. Lunn then rebranded himself as a progressive Democrat. He went on to serve a term in Congress, two more terms as Mayor, a stint as Lieutenant Governor under Al Smith, and then, finally, 17 years as the head of New York State's Public Service Commission. He retired in 1942. What lessons can Mamdani learn from Lunn's successes and failures should he win the general election campaign in New York City? He's hoping to run a vastly larger and more complex political, economic, and social entity than the Schenectady that Lunn led. Even so, Lunn's career makes clear the importance of making a tangible difference in residents' lives. Lunn's brand of reform disrupted the corrupt and complacent, empowered talent without regard to political allegiance, and relentlessly focused on the common good of his constituents. His track record in Schenectady produced visible, tangible achievements, and even his failures, such as the city-run ice business, nonetheless signaled where Lunn's values lay in ways that resonated with working class voters. Like Lunn, Mamdani will undoubtedly come under attack from the opposition, but if he can harness his considerable charisma and communication skills to make people's lives better, he too can overcome them and leave a lasting mark. Andrew Morris is professor and chair of the Department of History at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.
