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Time Magazine
a day 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.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Minneapolis Democrats endorse democratic socialist for mayor over incumbent
A Democratic socialist member of the Minnesota state senate won his party's endorsement for the Minneapolis mayoral race over the incumbent, giving momentum to the progressive left's political rise. Omar Fateh, a state senator from Minneapolis's southside, beat Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, who served as mayor during the George Floyd protests and through the pandemic. Fateh gained momentum after Zohran Mamdani, also a democratic socialist and state lawmaker, won the primary for New York City mayor. Fateh was first elected to the state senate in 2020 and won re-election in 2022. He was the first Somali American and Muslim elected to the chamber. He chaired the higher education committee and advanced a plan for free college for families who make less than $80,000. 'I am incredibly honored to be the DFL endorsed candidate for Minneapolis mayor,' Fateh said after the endorsement win, referring to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, the Democratic party in Minnesota. 'This endorsement is a message that Minneapolis residents are done with broken promises, vetoes, and politics as usual. It's a mandate to build a city that works for all of us.' Frey's campaign contends that the endorsement process in Minneapolis was flawed and an electronic voting system didn't properly count all votes. He is planning an appeal to the state party, multiple local news outlets reported. It is not unheard of for an incumbent to lose the party's endorsement in the city – Frey came in second in his two prior runs for the office and still won the elections. In the endorsement process for Minneapolis races, local delegates vote for which candidate they want to endorse, then narrow down until a candidate tops 60% of the vote. In the first ballot this weekend, Fateh got 43% of votes to Frey's 31%. The tabulation took longer than expected, and some questioned whether all votes were actually included in the eventual tally, Axios Twin Cities reported. Frey's supporters left the convention, and the remaining delegates voted by a show of hands, giving Fateh the win. 'I want to thank everyone who showed up to support my campaign,' Frey said after the endorsement loss. 'This election should be decided by our entire city, not by a handful of delegates.' The city uses ranked-choice voting, and the general election is this November. After Mamdani's win in June, Fateh posted a video in a similar style, talking about his plans for affordability, defending the city against Trump and public safety. 'Everyone keeps asking me, Omar, why aren't you doing more videos? As a state senator with a second full time job and a kid on the way, I just haven't been able to find the time,' he says while walking through the city. Like Mamdani, Fateh focused on affordability and has emphasized that he is a renter throughout his campaign – topics he has been committed to as state senator as well. There are some Minnesota twists: 'We'll shovel sidewalks, build shelters, and finally reopen public spaces,' he wrote on X about his platform. 'I'm here to fight for the people this city's left behind.' Fateh has been attacked with racist and Islamophobic comments by rightwing commentators in recent weeks. Charlie Kirk, the leader of Turning Point USA, claimed there has been an 'Islamic takeover' in the country and shared Fateh's video, saying people need to 'commit to stopping all third world immigration'. Fateh was born in Washington DC.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Will Zohran Mamdani help or hurt New York's economy?
Zohran Mamdani campaigned for the Democratic nomination for New York mayor on the promise that he would make the largest city in the United States an affordable one. The 33-year-old Democratic socialist proposed plans that would transform the city – including a free bus programme and freezing rent increases on rent-stabilised apartments – paid for by a heightened income tax for millionaires and an increase in the corporate tax rate. Those promises catapulted him to ultimately win the mayoral primary 12 points ahead of his next closest competitor, Andrew Cuomo, who had been endorsed by the likes of former President Bill Clinton. McKayla Lankau, a 25-year-old tech worker, had canvassed for Mamdani's campaign. She lives in Bushwick, a Brooklyn neighbourhood which Mamdani won by a 79-point margin, and said housing was among the many economic policies that emboldened her to vote for Mamdani. 'I believe that if people are living a better life in a more affordable community, we all will, and Zohran's campaign fulfilled that from my perspective,' said Lankau. As the cost of living rises and US President Donald Trump continues a rightward march as he shapes political discourse, many voters feel Democratic leaders have offered little more than symbolic gestures and strongly worded statements. Mamdani, a three-term state assembly member, presented something different– a campaign centred around grassroots organising over big donors, detailed policies over vague slogans, and the kind of charisma and gravitas that defined other change candidates like Barack Obama's successful presidential bid in 2008 or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's surprise win of the House of Representatives in 2018. Affordability was central to Mamdani's message – and it resonated. But Mamdani also faces another side of New York – the ultra-wealthy investor class. They are the ones who have made New York City known as the epicentre of global finance and commerce. They are a powerful force to be reckoned with, and they are not happy. 'They are mad that they lost, and they're used to getting their way. They're used to setting the rules…. Mamdani ran a transparent, clear campaign and New Yorkers showed up in droves to support it,' political strategist Adin Lenchner of Carroll Street Campaigns told Al Jazeera. Some investors and lenders are threatening to pull out of deals amid fears of new taxes and regulations. Michael Comparato, a managing director at Benefit Street Partners, said he walked away from a $300m hotel investment in New York. 'The financial capital of the world could be in the hands of a socialist. Hard to fathom,' he posted on LinkedIn. Comparato did not respond to requests for comment. While Democratic socialism – an ideology that believes in shifting power from corporations to workers within the framework of a capitalist democracy – is different from socialism, that sentiment echoed across the city's financial power players. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said he was 'gravely concerned' about Mamdani's rise, warning that the city would become 'economically unviable'. He pledged to support a more 'centrist' candidate. Pershing Square, his firm, declined to comment. 'The fear isn't about economics, I think it's about power,' Lenchner said. 'That doesn't mean the policy is unsound. I think affordability is economic growth.' Mamdani's funding proposals are ambitious but not unprecedented. He would raise the city's corporate tax rate to 11.5 percent – matching New Jersey next door – up from the current corporate tax rate of up to 7.25 percent. Fortune 500 firms like Johnson & Johnson and Prudential Financial base their headquarters in New Jersey despite its higher rate. Mamdani's campaign estimates this would generate $5bn annually. Historically, higher rates haven't driven business away. In the late 1990s, private sector employment grew at an annualised pace of 2.6 percent, while wages and private sector salaries increased by 9.6 percent. 'I think there's a lot of exaggeration here on the part of the wealthy investor class on how much this is going to economically harm New York,' Daniel Wortel-London, professor of history at Bard College and author of The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, told Al Jazeera. Mamdani also proposes a new tax of an additional 2 percent on individuals earning more than $1m. That is projected to raise another $4bn annually. Today, earners who make $1m already pay a combined federal, state and local tax burden of about 46 percent (37 percent of that is the federal income tax set by the federal government). Currently, the marginal local rate for someone making $40,000 (3.82 percent) is nearly identical to a millionaire's (3.88 percent), due to New York City's flat local tax structure for anyone making more than $50,000 annually. Still, Mamdani can't unilaterally change tax policy. Any adjustments would require approval from Governor Kathy Hochul. Wortel-London says that shared priorities between Mamdani and Hochul – such as expanding childcare – could create opportunities for collaboration, including on free bus service proposals that would also need state buy-in. The state already raised personal income taxes on millionaires in 2021 under then-Governor Cuomo, pushing rates to 46 percent (when state, local and federal income taxes are combined), the highest in the country. Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital and a former Trump White House communications director, warned in a podcast with journalist Katty Kay that Mamdani's platform could accelerate the migration of wealthy residents to states like Florida. Scaramucci did not reply to a request for comment. To an extent that is true, according to the Citizen Budget Commission, a New York-based nonpartisan think tank. Because of the millionaire migration, the city missed out on $2bn of tax revenue that ended up going elsewhere. As per the data, the net negative migration for the highest income earners was highest in 2020 and 2021 – when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak and could have been a major contributing factor behind the move, as was the case all over the country with people moving out of cities – and began trending back towards historical rates in 2022. With the exception of that period, high-income earners did not leave at a significantly higher rate before or after. However, just because millionaires are moving out doesn't mean that new ones aren't moving in. According to a Henley & Partners report, New York has gained more new millionaires than any other city in the world – up 45 percent from 2014 to 2024. 'Most high earners really don't relocate just to avoid taxes. They certainly don't really relocate across the country. Most high-earners are staying in the city for prestige or their family or a culture. I think there have been scares before. We've seen it when [former Mayor] Bill de Blasio got in. They were also worried about tax hikes, and they didn't leave in droves,' Wortel-London said. Rather than courting the ultra-wealthy, Mamdani's economic pitch is aimed at small businesses, which employ the majority of New Yorkers. He plans to appoint a 'Mom-and-Pop Tsar' to cut red tape, streamline permits, reduce fees and fines (including not charging first-time offenders), and increase funding for small business support agencies by 500 percent. His platform promises to cut business fees in half. How realistic are the plans? Nowhere is Mamdani's message more resonant than in housing. As rents skyrocket, nearly half of New Yorkers say they've considered leaving the city, according to the think tank, the 5boro Institute. His campaign promised to freeze rent increases on rent-stabilised units, which account for about 28 percent of New York's housing stock, which is important to voters like Lankau, who currently lives in one. These are typically buildings built before 1974 with six or more units. While some newer buildings opt in, they do so in exchange for tax breaks. Under the current law, rent increases are approved annually by the city's Rent Guidelines Board, an independent panel appointed by the mayor. Mayor Eric Adams, the incumbent, approved a combined 9 percent hike in his first three years in office, followed by another 4.5 percent earlier this month. If elected, Mamdani would appoint new members to this board and seek to reverse course. But the proposal has drawn criticism. The New York Apartment Association (NYAA) – a pro-landlord group that backed Cuomo – says a freeze could worsen the city's housing shortage. Landlords, they argue, may choose to leave apartments vacant rather than perform costly repairs that can't be recouped through rent increases due to a 2019 law. As a result, tens of thousands of rent-stabilised units are currently vacant. 'Freezing rents will just accelerate the distress and physical decline of these buildings,' NYAA CEO Kenny Burgos told Al Jazeera. Mamdani's platform doesn't currently include a proposal to address these vacancies or to cap rent increases on market-rate apartments directly. But to elevate pressure on the housing market, which does indirectly impact the cost of market-rate apartments, the campaign has proposed building 200,000 new affordable units over 10 years – tripling the city's current pace. His housing plan also includes overhauling zoning laws, eliminating parking minimums, and supporting mixed-use development. 'I think those two, hand in hand, [freezes on rent-stabilised units and plans to build more housing] would be the kind of holistic programme that would make New York more affordable,' Lenchner said. It remains unclear whether Mamdani would adopt policies proposed by Brad Lander, the third-place primary finisher who endorsed him. Lander had proposed converting some city-owned golf courses into housing. Lander did not respond to a request for comment. Mamdani also wants to raise the city's minimum wage to $30 per hour by 2030 – up from $16.50. A Cornell University study estimates a true living wage in New York would be $28.54, meaning Mamdani's proposal would exceed that. It would also tie future increases to inflation and productivity metrics. Even so, the gap between 'living' and 'comfortable' is wide. A SmartAsset study found that a New Yorker would need to earn $66 per hour to live comfortably. Mamdani hopes to relieve some of that pressure through policies like universal childcare, free bus service and a public grocery store option. The city-run grocery store plan would start with one location in each borough to address food deserts. Much similar to city-owned hospitals or public housing, it would not replace the private sector but augment it. Regardless, this proposal has sparked backlash from John Catsimatidis, the Republican megadonor and owner of Gristedes, a local grocery store chain. He threatened to close his stores if Mamdani wins. Catsimatidis, who donated over $500,000 to Republicans this year, according to Federal Election Commission records, did not respond to a request for comment. Grocery costs remain politically sensitive. The latest Consumer Price Index shows grocery prices are up 2.4 percent over last year. Mamdani also wants to make city buses permanently free. He championed a successful pilot programme in the State Assembly, which boosted weekday ridership by 30 percent and weekend ridership by 38 percent. Making that permanent would require cooperation from state leaders and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which is state-run, and might require some concessions on his part. 'The kind of momentum and energy behind this campaign makes a powerful case in arguing before Albany to make those kinds of investments, giving him that kind of public mandate to pressure state lawmakers to move this kind of proposal forward,' Lenchner said. This, however, comes as the MTA is under additional pressure from the federal government. The US Department of Transportation recently threatened to withhold funding over New York's congestion pricing plan, a toll on cars entering parts of Manhattan during peak hours, designed to fund transit improvements. The political calculus Like any mayor, Mamdani wouldn't govern in a vacuum. He'd have to navigate complex City Council dynamics, work with borough presidents and contend with powerful interest groups. Democrats have struggled across the country because they have such a broad coalition, suggesting little conviction on policy positions which has turned off their base. Even if Mamdani's proposals are seen as more 'radical', he enters negotiations with a clear starting point and non-negotiables – something Republicans mastered a decade ago when they embraced it and Democrats still have not figured out, Lenchner suggested. 'It's hard to think in recent memory of a campaign that spoke with such clarity about its objectives, about its convictions, about its moral clarity, and about its practical policy objectives,' Lenchner added. To win in November, he'll need to expand his coalition, particularly among Jewish and Black voters where he underperformed. In a city still defined by finance, Mamdani will also have to show he can hold Wall Street accountable without alienating it. His campaign appears to be trying. The Partnership for New York City – a business group representing more than 300 top firms – hosted a meeting between Mamdani and executives, at the campaign's request, which according to reporting from the outlet The City, went well and attendees left feeling that he was 'willing to listen' and 'find solutions to the city's challenges that will work for all' but they were sceptical if he was genuine. Mamdani's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Why is the Indian far-right attacking New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani?
Zohran Mamdani's historic win in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor shook up the political establishment. A Democratic Socialist assembly member from Queens, Mamdani ran on a campaign pushing progressive policies such as a citywide rent freeze, taxpayer-funded childcare and "fast and free" public buses. New Yorkers of all faiths rallied around the 33-year-old, and on 25 June he secured a stunning political upset, defeating his main rival, the political heavyweight Andrew Cuomo. Despite being a relative unknown before the primary election, and polling as low as one percent in February, Mamdani's campaign mobilised a coalition of voters, including many from New York's 600,000 strong South Asian community. But since his shock win, some within the Indian-American community have put a target on his back, making it abundantly clear they don't want, and will never vote for, a Muslim candidate. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Last week, at a packed event in Queens, New York, a far-right Hindu activist pulled out the knives for the progressive candidate. Kajal Shingala, also known as Kajal Hindusthani, a keynote speaker at the event, called Mamdani a "jihadi zombie" and said New York would become another Pakistan if he was elected mayor in November. Listed as one the top 10 purveyors of hate speech in India, Shingala's social media accounts are rife with Islamophobic content, where she labels Muslim men as terrorists, rapists and "love jihadists" - a conspiracy theory that Muslim men are trapping Hindu women into marriage in order to convert them to Islam. Her comments at the event, which were met by a round of applause from the hundreds of attendees - organised by the Gujarati Samaj and supported by a coalition of different Hindu groups such as the Vaishnav Temple of New York and the Brahman Samaj of New York - were a prelude for her to bring up the 2002 Gujarat riots which Mamdani described as a "mass slaughter" of Muslims at a mayoral forum. India's current Prime Minister Narendra Modi was chief of minister of Gujarat at the time, leading to Mamdani calling him a "war criminal". Modi was banned from entering the US for nearly a decade for failing "to control the persistent violation of rights of life, liberty, equality, and dignity of the people of the state". Despite this, the Gujarati Samaj sought to cultivate strong ties with Modi, with its vice-president, Manikant Patel, saying back in 2012, while the ban was still in place, that he was in "constant contact" with Modi before he became Indian prime minister. Lies and conspiracy theories Shingala later said that electing Mamdani would mean that New York - supposedly like London under Mayor Sadiq Khan - would become another Pakistan and Hindu businesses would be under threat. Since becoming mayor of London, Khan has faced a deluge of criticism from right-wing commentators, including Islamophobic abuse, despite the murder rate going down, an increase in public transport infrastructure and free meals for public primary school children. Shingala spent most of her speech warning about the threat Muslims pose to the community and encouraged the attendees to learn self-defence to protect themselves from marauding Muslims, to boycott Muslim products, to protect their daughters from Muslim men who sought to lure and oppress them, and to produce more Hindu leaders to protect Indian and Hindu interests. Sunita Viswanath, executive director of Hindus for Human Rights, told Middle East Eye that Shingala was using the event to extend her hateful rhetoric "from India to the US". "It pains me that such extreme messages find platforms with mainstream cultural organisations like Gujarat Samaj," she said. 'The Hindu nationalist attacks on Mamdani are a predictable display of depraved bigotry' - Audrey Truschke, Rutgers University-Newark She added that recent Carnegie Institute data revealed that "the majority of Indian Americans - even Hindu Americans - do not support such hate. This is why opportunistic hate mongers like Kajal Hindustani have to huddle in closed door private events. We in Savera and Hindus for Human Rights will continue our work to unite across all our differences to fight hate together." New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who will run as an independent against Mamdani, was originally billed to be the guest of honour according to flyers advertising the event. Without explanation, however, he pulled out of the event. According to reports, he received a letter last Thursday signed by more than two dozen interfaith organisations asking him to withdraw and assert that such bigotry has no place in New York. New York Focus reported that the president of the Gujarati Samaj, Harshad Patel, organised a fundraiser for Adams' re-election campaign at his home last week, which the mayor was supposed to attend. Mamdani's deputy press secretary, Zachary Nosanchuk, told MEE that the "event is not on the mayor's public schedule, and he is not set to attend." Neither the mayor's office nor the Gujarati Samaj would answer MEE's questions as to whether Adams attended the fundraiser at Patel's house. String of attacks Shingala's attacks were the latest in a string by Hindu nationalists who have weaponised his ethnic and religious identities to smear him. The Ugandan-born state assemblyman and his family identify as Muslim, which has led to many accusing him of being a jihadi. But it is his criticisms of Modi that seem to have incensed politicians on both sides of the political divide in India, who have derided him as anti-Indian. Former actress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarian Kangana Ranaut - who has almost 3 million followers on X - shared a post on 25 June that falsely accused Mamdani of once leading "a mob of protestors in Times Squre calling Hindus as bastards and heaping abuses upon Lord Rama, who is worshipped by Hindus. A true scumbag." Mamdani, in actual fact, was speaking out about the construction of the Ram temple on the site of the former 16th century Babri mosque in Uttar Pradesh, which was destroyed by far-right Hindu mobs in 1992, triggering Hindu-Muslim riots which led to the death of 2,000 people, mainly Muslim. Ranaut's comment above the post she shared said: "He [Mamdani] sounds more Pakistani than Indian… whatever happened to his Hindu identity and now he is ready to wipe out Hinduism, wow!! It's the same story everywhere." Across the political aisle, Indian parliamentarian Abhishek Singhvi, of the Indian National Congress party, also attacked Mamdani. "When Zohran Mamdani opens his mouth, Pakistan's PR team takes the day off. India doesn't need enemies with 'allies' like him shouting fiction from New York," he wrote on X on 26 June to his 305,000 followers. Although most of the vitriol against Mamdani originates from India, MEE has found that there are also a growing number of Indian-Americans - influenced by right-wing politics in India - who have sought to smear him. During Mamdani's primary election campaign, a group called Indian Americans for Cuomo - who are based in New Jersey rather than New York - spent thousands on Cuomo's campaign. They paid for a radio slot on an Indian radio station rubbishing Mamdani, as well as for a banner to fly over New York with the line: "Save NYC from Global Intifada. Reject Mamdani." The group's authorised representative is Satyanarayana Dosapati, who has also organised a pro-Trump rally in Pennsylvania as well as being involved in pro-BJP politics in India. New Yorkers won't be duped by the far right Amid the attacks, scholars and analysts have differed over the impact the Hindu right wing poses to Mamdani's election ambitions. Audrey Truschke, a history professor of modern India at Rutgers University-Newark, told MEE she doesn't think New Yorkers will be influenced by the "depraved bigotry" of right-wing Hindu forces. "The Hindu nationalist attacks on Mamdani are a predictable display of depraved bigotry, especially anti-Muslim hate," she told MEE. "I doubt New Yorkers will be fooled by such execrable, anti-pluralistic sentiments." She said: "I do hope the attacks [on Mamdani] serve as a wake-up call to the harms of far-right Hindutva ideology and groups who promote such intolerance in American society." 'If you are on the left of progressive politics, you get targeted' - Manan Ahmed, Columbia University David Ludden, emeritus professor of history at New York University, said the attacks on Mamdani by right-wing Hindus and pro-Israel factions were rooted in ethnonationalism. "Claiming Mr Mamdani is anti-Hindu or anti-Indian has the same Islamophobia logic as claiming he is antisemitic or anti-Israel, and is equally far-fetched and baseless," he said. "Ideologically, Hindutva and Zionism are both based on the populist claim that one ethno-religious group owns national territory, where it has exclusive rights to livelihood, wealth, and resources,' he added. 'Politically, Modi and Netanyahu regimes are allied against enemies they identify with Islam, whom they claim threaten national survival, to justify violence, expulsion, even genocide, in defence of the nation." Ludden explained that both ideologies derive from early 20th century British imperial policies that carved the empire into national territories and made them fertile ground for "racist imperial ideologues, and for global Islamophobia today". Trump backlash Just like in India, support among Hindu nationalists for US President Donald Trump is strong. The US president's right-wing politics, his stance on immigration and his denigration of Muslims have appealed to India's far-right, whose rhetoric is predicated on ethnonationalism. During his first term, Trump ran on an anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim platform. He controversely implemented a "Muslim ban" and in 2019 appeared at a mass rally in support of Modi in Houston where he told the 50,000 strong crowd that the Indian leader was "one of America's greatest, most devoted and most loyal friends". Since Mamdani's primary win, Trump has repeatedly accused the Democratic Socialist of being a communist, with little to no push-back from the Democratic Party. "The Democrats have crossed the line," Trump wrote on Truth Social after his primary win. "Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming Mayor. We've had Radical Leftists before, but this is getting a little ridiculous." Later, during a dinner at the White House for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump reiterated to a reporter that Mamdani was a communist. "I think he's going through a little bit of a honeymoon right now, but he might make it. But, you know, it all comes through the White House. He needs the money through the White House. He needs a lot. He's going to behave... He better behave. Otherwise, he's going to have big problems," Trump said. "It's a philosophy [communism] this country is not ready for, and never will be," he added. Why is The New York Times so afraid of Zohran Mamdani? Read More » Manan Ahmed, a professor of history at Columbia University said that amid the alliance between pro-Trump and Hindutva forces the attacks served what he called a global fascist movement. "The Hindutva support for Trump, and Trump's focus on Zohran as a communist or as a socialist or as anti-Israel means that the Hindutva interest in Zoran goes up," he said. As well as anti-leftist sentiment, he said there was a constellation of interests in which Mamdani's candidacy had became fertile ground for right-wing figures and groups - including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Hindu America Foundation (HAF), Trump and Modi - to advance their agenda such as anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment. He said that BJP or Hindutva groups had a history of attacking prominent figures from the diaspora whose politics contrast with the divisive type of politics they are invested in, as a means to "shape the cultural conversation on both ends". He cited figures like the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who faced attacks by UK-based versions of BJP and Hindutva groups. He pointed to similiar dynamics in the US where both former US vice-president Kamala Harris (who is half-Indian) and Seattle Assembly councilwoman Kshama Sawant, who spearheaded a resolution to ban caste discrimination in the city, have been subject to attacks. Sawant was also denied a visa to India earlier this year. Ahmed added that the reason that support against Mamdani could be "operationalised so quickly" is because the Hindutva infrastructure in the US has been established for a while. "That's the reason someone in New Jersey can hire a plane to fly a banner," he added. According to Ahmed, far-right ethnonationalists don't want a candidate who may challenge them "If you are on the left of progressive politics, you get targeted," he said. "Obviously, if it is a Muslim subject, they have added language, but that language can be just as easily tailored if the person is not Muslim. "That's why it's important to understand the relationship between the ADL and the Hindutva ecosystem. The ADL can target a Jewish person who takes an anti-zionist stance just as easily as the ADL can target a Palestinian or someone who's taking a stance for Gaza, even if they're not Jewish." Punjabi and Sikh support Fahd Ahmed, the executive director of community social justice organisation Desis Rising Up and Moving (Drum), told MEE that he didn't believe that Hindutva supporters will have much influence on electoral politics in New York due to the demographic make-up of the city. He said the number of Indian Hindus who formed the working-class South Asian communities in New York City was "limited" and those who did exist were in neighbourhoods that are further out such as Flushing and Fresh Meadows. Ahmed added it was important to distinguish between Indian Hindus - who were influenced by right-wing politics - and Hindus from other cultures who were not. "We have lots of Hindu members who are from Guyana, Nepal, and even from Bangladesh," Ahmed said. "All of those people have been very deeply involved in supporting Zohran, doing work on the ground, knocking doors, making calls, talking to their neighbours, talking to their co-workers, and things like that." 'They have their own hesitations around Hindutva forces' - Fahd Ahmed, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) He said that Indian New Yorkers, who were largely Punjabi and Sikh, were also supportive of Mamdani. "They have their own hesitations around Hindutva forces, coupled with Zohran himself being partially of Punjabi origin. He was involved in the taxi workers' strike, so the enthusiasm for him in that community where people know him is pretty high." Ahmed added that young professional Indian Hindus who had moved to New York and were living in hip parts of Brooklyn or Manhattan were also supportive of Mamdani and had volunteered with Drum. "They're not a very large number, but they turned out for the election at pretty high rates. I think it's fair to say that they turned out in support of Zohran." Overall, he said Hindutva forces were largely present outside of New York City in New Jersey, Long Island and Westchester, which is why he hadn't seen much right-wing mobilisation for the primary election. As we edge close to the November election, Ahmed said Mamdani's Muslim and Indian heritage, along with his strong pro‑Palestine positions and criticism of Hindu nationalism, rendered him an outlier in the race and a major target. "Whether it's Zionist or Hindutva forces, they want to make sure that they're never critiqued," he said. "Having somebody in office that is doing that is a threat to them."
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Minneapolis Democrats endorse democratic socialist for mayor over incumbent
A Democratic socialist member of the Minnesota state senate won his party's endorsement for the Minneapolis mayoral race over the incumbent, giving momentum to the progressive left's political rise. Omar Fateh, a state senator from Minneapolis's southside, beat Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, who served as mayor during the George Floyd protests and through the pandemic. Fateh gained momentum after Zohran Mamdani, also a democratic socialist and state lawmaker, won the primary for New York City mayor. Fateh was first elected to the state senate in 2020 and won re-election in 2022. He was the first Somali American and Muslim elected to the chamber. He chaired the higher education committee and advanced a plan for free college for families who make less than $80,000. 'I am incredibly honored to be the DFL endorsed candidate for Minneapolis mayor,' Fateh said after the endorsement win, referring to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, the Democratic party in Minnesota. 'This endorsement is a message that Minneapolis residents are done with broken promises, vetoes, and politics as usual. It's a mandate to build a city that works for all of us.' Frey's campaign contends that the endorsement process in Minneapolis was flawed and an electronic voting system didn't properly count all votes. He is planning an appeal to the state party, multiple local news outlets reported. It is not unheard of for an incumbent to lose the party's endorsement in the city – Frey came in second in his two prior runs for the office and still won the elections. In the endorsement process for Minneapolis races, local delegates vote for which candidate they want to endorse, then narrow down until a candidate tops 60% of the vote. In the first ballot this weekend, Fateh got 43% of votes to Frey's 31%. The tabulation took longer than expected, and some questioned whether all votes were actually included in the eventual tally, Axios Twin Cities reported. Frey's supporters left the convention, and the remaining delegates voted by a show of hands, giving Fateh the win. 'I want to thank everyone who showed up to support my campaign,' Frey said after the endorsement loss. 'This election should be decided by our entire city, not by a handful of delegates.' The city uses ranked-choice voting, and the general election is this November. After Mamdani's win in June, Fateh posted a video in a similar style, talking about his plans for affordability, defending the city against Trump and public safety. 'Everyone keeps asking me, Omar, why aren't you doing more videos? As a state senator with a second full time job and a kid on the way, I just haven't been able to find the time,' he says while walking through the city. Like Mamdani, Fateh focused on affordability and has emphasized that he is a renter throughout his campaign – topics he has been committed to as state senator as well. There are some Minnesota twists: 'We'll shovel sidewalks, build shelters, and finally reopen public spaces,' he wrote on X about his platform. 'I'm here to fight for the people this city's left behind.' Fateh has been attacked with racist and Islamophobic comments by rightwing commentators in recent weeks. Charlie Kirk, the leader of Turning Point USA, claimed there has been an 'Islamic takeover' in the country and shared Fateh's video, saying people need to 'commit to stopping all third world immigration'. Fateh was born in Washington DC.
