Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander Prove that Better Things Are Possible

Hope is back on the menu, folks. The doomers have been on a Steph Curry-like heater lately, but last night, New York City proved that America still has plenty of fight left in it. New York City had a choice between a democratic socialist and a Democratic establishment sex pest endorsed by multiple presidential sex pests, and they overwhelmingly voted for the lefty to represent the Democratic Party in the mayoral election. New York City has roughly 6.6 million registered Democrats and only 2.8 million registered Republicans, which means that the next mayor of New York City is going to be a democratic socialist. This is happening.

And it may not have happened without the alliance of Brad Lander, the only other candidate to eclipse double digits (11.3 percent) after Zohran Mamdani (43.5 percent) and Andrew Cuomo (36.4 percent). New York was presented a very stark choice between a bold future rooted in the politics of America’s youth or a return to the Democratic establishment’s preferred status quo of better things aren’t possible, and nearly 55 percent of New Yorkers chose the way forward.

Lander and Mamdani cross-endorsed each other, providing a clear contrast to the self-defeating lefty war from the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. The snake emoji circular firing squad helped Joe Biden consolidate a tepid majority behind the establishment’s begrudging backing. It was remarkably similar to how they finally ran to Cuomo’s side when yet again, no other good option to represent the Democratic elite’s politics emerged. Ranked choice voting obviously has a huge effect on this difference between 2020 and the New York primary, as being ranked second is still a big win in New York, while second place in the race for president just earns you the title of best loser. Our political system incentivizes politicians to work against each other even if their interests are aligned, which is one of the many reforms we must pursue in a world where better things are possible. Ranked choice voting in New York incentivized Lander and Mamdani to work towards a common goal: don’t rank Andrew Cuomo.

Which was a de facto endorsement of Mamdani, just like the New York Times Editorial Board’s exhortation to not rank Mamdani was an endorsement of Cuomo. Polls showed that this was a two-man race about a month ago, and Brad Lander spent the entire last month rhetorically annihilating Andrew Cuomo every chance he got. Putting a trusted Democratic voice the city has heard for the last fifteen years in the race was invaluable to Mamdani’s victory, as it provided evidence for the core thesis of his campaign: that we can all come together to build a better world than the one promised by the elite who delivered this one to us.

“GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE”

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— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog.lol) June 24, 2025 at 8:26 PM

♥️

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— Julia Carrie Wong (@joolia.bsky.social) June 24, 2025 at 8:53 PM

In the words of Nelson Mandela: it always seems impossible until it’s done.

My friends, it is done. And you are the ones who did it.

I am honored to be your Democratic nominee for the Mayor of New York City.

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— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social) June 24, 2025 at 11:54 PM

The way forward is a left-liberal alliance. The Democratic centrists who destroyed the party brand are welcome to keep running their same milquetoast candidates nobody on this planet is excited to vote for, but their influence is clearly dwindling. The Very Serious scolds in the Democratic party who warn that democratic socialism is a certain loser on the national stage have proven themselves to be this era’s biggest losers. They lost to Donald Trump. Twice. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came out of nowhere to take out Nancy Pelosi’s second-in-command in the House. The best candidate they could mount in perhaps the most important mayoral election in the country was a disgraced reheated politician who didn’t even live in the city he aimed to govern. The Democratic Emperors Have No Clothes, and everyone can see it.

There is one way forward for hope: a liberal-left alliance pledging to take power back from the plutocracy. New York City is unique in a lot of ways, but its role as a global melting pot makes it our most American city in so many more. This is generally what the political landscape in America looks like right now.

Fascinating…

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— Mike Masnick (@mmasnick.bsky.social) June 24, 2025 at 8:56 PM

The wealthy elite still pursue a politics of the status quo because they are the only ones it benefits. America voted for change in November, and New York City voted for change last night. This is nothing new, as hope and change were promised to us at the turn of the century after a disastrous Republican administration that allied with feckless Democrats to help accelerate America’s decline. That the voting public is still demanding hope and change nearly two decades later is yet another indictment of the Democratic Party and the man who failed to deliver it.

But decline is a choice. The Democratic establishment chooses to be this pathetic. Especially the shambolically cynical New York Democratic establishment. Any machine that produces Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries atop the Democratic Party is one that deserves to be dismantled, and there is real hope that could be accomplished to some degree. Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander helped launch the most ambitious effort yet to challenge the mighty New York machine, backed by a majority of the city’s voters, while polls show that if she wants it, Chuck Schumer is just keeping his Senate seat warm for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The staid New York machine that has so much power over the Democratic Party is crumbling in front of our eyes.

This is no time for doomerism. It’s functionally no different from the Democratic establishment’s better things aren’t possible stance or the Republican Party’s deluded belief that God himself is telling them to burn it all down to serve their own id. We can win against both of these forces, because they are fundamentally weak. The Democratic Party is so weak that you can practically use it as a synonym for that word at this point, and the rage and aggression stemming from the GOP fascists can only grow from a scared belief where they know their ideas do not have popular support.

But the left-liberal alliance’s ideas do. Polls have long shown that money in politics is perhaps the most salient issue to reach as many voters as possible, and establishment Democratic politicians have given it lip service for years while governing in a way that benefits those donating to their campaigns. They have lost all credibility on that subject with voters, but Bernie Sanders’ insistence on repeating the same five lines to great effect over and over and Elizabeth Warren’s favored activity of grilling bank executives in the Senate has branded the left as the coalition that stands against the plutocracy. People want someone to do something about the wealthy elite encroaching on our fundamental freedoms, and they have proven this century that they are willing to vote for a lot of different candidates promising a new way forward–ranging from Barack Obama to Donald Trump to Zohran Mamdani. Any politician running on a platform of protecting the status quo now is a politician begging to lose.

So take heed establishment Democrats. You threw your entire weight behind a sex pest schlub who got 36.4 percent of the vote. Look in the mirror. This is who you are and how the majority of the country sees you. Polls and elections prove that the only thing more unpopular than Donald Trump right now is the Democratic brand, and a left-liberal alliance just obliterated it in America’s largest city. This alliance is American democracy’s greatest hope, and frankly, I would bet on it to win the future over either of the alternatives.