University of Kwazulu-Natal

The Mamdani Effect How One Victory Sparked A Progressive Political

Bonisiwe Shabane
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the mamdani effect how one victory sparked a progressive political

Experts say Americans are looking for a generational change. Zohran Mamdani's historic election has sparked a lot of conversation about a changing of the guard not only for New York City, but also the entire country, as some experts told ABC News his... Mamdani, a two-term state assemblyman who recently turned 34, campaigned with a progressive message that voters wanted a change from the status quo and that someone like him was attuned to the younger generation's... Grace Smoker, vice president of media strategy at Stu Loeser & Co, a New York- based political media consulting group, told ABC News that the mayor-elect will likely not be the only candidate under... "It's absolutely a nationwide movement," Smoker said. Zohran Mamdani's historic election has sparked a lot of conversation about a changing of the guard not only for New York City, but also the entire country, as some experts told ABC News his...

Mamdani, a two-term state assemblyman who recently turned 34, campaigned with a progressive message that voters wanted a change from the status quo and that someone like him was attuned to the younger generation's... Grace Smoker, vice president of media strategy at Stu Loeser & Co, a New York- based political media consulting group, told ABC News that the mayor-elect will likely not be the only candidate under... Mamdani clinches the votes of young people, newcomers to NYC. Experts explain why "It's absolutely a nationwide movement," Smoker said. For a generation of American progressives, the political journey of the last decade feels almost mythic — a cycle of insurgency, establishment resistance, partial victories, and reinvention.

It began with tents in financial districts (Occupy), washed through two high-energy Bernie Sanders campaigns, and now seems to be reaching a new phase in the streets and boroughs of New York City, where... But the story isn’t just about elections. It’s about how insurgent politics — driven by younger generations and radical dreams of economic and racial justice — keeps chafing against the very institutions that claim to share its goals: party establishments, legacy... And nowhere is that tension more visible than in the rivalry between Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo — a generational collision that mirrors the Left’s longer struggle with itself and the broader political elite. McPherson’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In the winter of 2011, Occupy Wall Street exploded onto the American political scene with a deceptively simple slogan: We are the 99%. It called bullshit on runaway inequality and corporate capture, gave a language to economic frustration, and kicked off the most sustained left-wing insurgency the U.S. had seen since the 1960s. Occupy’s power wasn’t just its anger — it was its insistence that systemic inequality wasn’t rhetorical, marginal, or niche. It was structural. It was everywhere.

And you didn’t need permission to see it. That message reverberated in the campaigns that followed. A new political era is unfolding, and younger voices are leading the charge. Zohran Mamdani's groundbreaking election victory has sparked a nationwide conversation about the rise of millennial and Gen Z candidates, suggesting a potential generational shift in politics that could extend far beyond New York City. Experts are pointing to Mamdani's success as a signal that younger politicians are ready to reshape the landscape. Mamdani, who recently turned 34 and served two terms as a state assemblyman, ran on a platform emphasizing progressive change and a departure from the political status quo.

His campaign resonated with voters seeking solutions to pressing issues affecting younger generations, such as skyrocketing housing costs. Grace Smoker, vice president of media strategy at New York-based political consulting firm Stu Loeser & Co., told ABC News that Mamdani is unlikely to be the only under-35 candidate making waves in upcoming... "This is truly a nationwide movement," she said, emphasizing the broader trend of younger candidates gaining momentum across the country. The response to Mamdani's victory has been substantial. Run for Something, an organization dedicated to helping progressive candidates under 40 run for local and state offices, reported that 10,000 people signed up for its support services within two weeks after Mamdani's June... Since the following Tuesday, another 2,000 have registered, according to Amanda Litman, the organization's co-founder and president.

"I fully expect these numbers to keep growing as more young people see that winning is possible," Litman explained, highlighting the inspiring ripple effect of Mamdani's success. This surge is not limited to Democrats. Young Republican candidates from the millennial and Gen Z generations are also emerging, seeking endorsements and support from party leaders, including former President Trump. Jonathan Hanson, a political scientist and statistics lecturer at the University of Michigan, told ABC News, "We are already seeing senior members of Congress challenged by younger politicians, and voters are backing them. There is a clear appetite for fresh faces." In mid-July, Erik Clemson signed on to a Zoom call from Honolulu, Hawaii, energized by a mayoral candidate in a city far across the country, to hear how he could run for office himself.

Clemson, a 39-year-old machinist instructor who has a YouTube channel where he explains the economy, had long considered a political run some time in the future, but Zohran Mamdani’s upset victory provided a push... “After I saw Mamdani win the primary in NYC, I decided to stop wasting time and try to learn what I can as soon as I can,” Clemson said. Clemson is one of more than 10,000 people with an interest in running for office who signed up for Run for Something – a progressive political organization that helps younger candidates learn the ropes... He’s part of a surge in young progressives who saw Mamdani’s win in June as hope for a different brand of politics and plan to learn from his example. Co-founder Amanda Litman called it the group’s biggest organic candidate recruitment surge ever. Find this story in your account’s ‘Saved for Later’ section.

In Seattle, Katie Wilson, a transit activist, is leading in the polls against the incumbent mayor after touting her history advocating for reduced fares for low-income residents and youths. In Texas, Senate candidate Colin Allred last week unveiled his “A More Affordable Texas” agenda, which included a ban on price-gouging and restoring tax credits to renewable energy companies to lower utility bills. And in New Jersey, congresswoman and gubernatorial front-runner Mikie Sherrill’s first ad took aim at soaring energy costs, promising that “Day 1 as governor, I’m declaring a state of emergency on utility costs using... This newfound focus on affordability by Democrats has emerged as the animating force behind many of this year’s political campaigns. It coincides with Zohran Mamdani shocking the political world with his 13-point win over former governor Andrew Cuomo in New York’s Democratic mayoral primary. That victory came in a race that began with a focus on crime and public order, with left-leaning candidates disavowing previous progressive stances on policing and quality-of-life concerns.

Mamdani tacked the other way, never deleting tweets calling for the defunding of police. Instead, he focused relentlessly on three campaign promises devoted to lowering costs: free buses, free child care, and a rent freeze on regulated apartments. In February, half of the city’s voters told a pollster that crime and quality of life were their top two concerns; by July, a poll by left-leaning Data for Progress found the top issues... “From the beginning of our thinking about this race we knew that it was time for a politics that was directed to the struggles in people’s lives, a politics where when you set a... “Too often it feels as if politics is an act of imposing a vision on voters as opposed to having a vision that is a reflection of the needs of those voters.” Almost immediately after the primary Mamdani was anointed by both liberals and conservatives as the face of the Democratic Party — by the former because of his charisma and vision for a new kind...

In the months since, he has become something of a counterpoint to Donald Trump in the national discourse, with the two trading barbs from 200 miles away. A YouGov survey the month after the election found that nationally, Mamdani had higher approval ratings than any New York politician except for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Hakeem Jeffries, but, more important, that more Americans... It amounts to proof that Mamdani has already become better known to the voting public than many politicians with far longer tenures in public life. New hopes and new hazards for the NYC Left Without any doubt, Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic Party primary was a referendum on the key class and social struggles of the day—a referendum on late neoliberalism, a world on fire, and the... This was a vote on the experience of the social crisis for the city’s working people: access to housing, affordable food and health care, public transportation and public education.

Mamdani was up against the billionaires and a New York City ruling class that has profited from the one-sided class war in NYC over the last five decades and overwhelmingly backed his once and... Perhaps most significantly, without the broad Palestine movement, the generational energy of the Mamdani campaign cannot be understood. In critical measure, the support for Mamdani is a reaction to a virulent campaign of scapegoating and gaslighting directed at migrants, trans and queer New Yorkers, and most importantly anybody (be they Arab, Muslim,... This has a particularly pernicious tone in NYC, one of the wellsprings of this well funded, bipartisan reactionary politics. For socialists, this is the reality through which all the limitations, contradictions, and strategic challenges of Mamdani’s general election campaign, and likely mayoralty, must be understood. The embrace of his campaign by a broad NYC Left is inextricable from the substantive social, economic, and political struggles being waged within (and beyond) New York City and from the fact that there...

It should go without saying that the revolutionary Left should be stalwart in our active support of these struggles. The urgent task before us, then, is to continue to build the organized movement capable of taking on the forces of capital and political reaction in NYC, a process which requires a serious assessment... Mamdani’s policy goals—most of which we should fight for unconditionally—will be challenging to win. His strategy of reforming the Democratic Party is mistaken, at best, and at worst, a contradictory project that inevitably undermines the fight for reform that is motivating the energy and excitement behind his campaign. Nonetheless, the political space created by Mamdani’s campaign represents an opportunity for coalition and movement building that can—and should—aim beyond the limits of a single election or candidate, at those broader, deeper goals of...

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