The Mamdani effect

In November 2025, this column acknowledged a landmark event that occurred in what is perhaps the most important city in the USA. The title of the piece was ‘The Storm That Broke Over New York’. Zohran Mamdani, a young Muslim immigrant of Indian parentage and dual Ugandan American citizenship, who proudly advertised himself as a ‘Democratic-Socialist ’, had won the election for city Mayor, in the teeth of opposition not just from President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, but also from the grandees of his own Democratic Party, who saw his rise as a real and present danger.

The received wisdom then was that the best way for the liberal mainstream of America to terminate the power of the far right, as embodied by Donald Trump, was for Democrats to move firmly to the centre and away from the supposed excesses of its ‘Woke’ left wing.

Since the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy and the famous ‘House Un-American Activities Committee’ (HUAC) during the Cold War, when many ‘progressive’ American citizens, including Hollywood celebrities, were hounded out of the public space for alleged ‘communist’ sympathies, the word ‘Socialist’ has been equated with ‘Communist’, and has been a pariah label in the political language of the land. People on the right of the political spectrum have been quick to apply the label to their opponents, especially those who show interest in such matters as Workers’ Rights or Universal Health Coverage. The ‘liberals’ of the Democratic Party, on the other hand, have been very careful to separate themselves from the tag, on the assumption that it would lead to public rejection and a termination of their political careers.

It is in this light that the alarm aroused in American power circles by the rise of a man who proudly advertised himself as a ‘Socialist’, can be understood.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has existed since 1982, mostly as a movement within the Democratic Party. Among its most prominent figures is Senator Bernie Sanders, who has contested for public office, including the Presidency, a few times. There has been a dramatic increase in the membership of the organisation since the election of Donald Trump. Most new members are young activists focused on changing the way things are done and targeting issues such as Public Health and the interests of working families. Notable members of the organisation who have achieved political office include outspoken House of Representatives member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. More than two hundred and fifty relatively young members of the organisation have held various political offices at state or national levels. But the one whose presence is now causing the most ripples is Zohran Kwame Mamdani.

Contrary to the predictions and fears of his opponents and rivals, the sky has not collapsed over the city of New York since Zohran assumed office as its Mayor on 1st January 2026. New York is thriving. The billionaires and millionaires have not ‘upped and left’ en masse. The economy has not collapsed. His election promise to make buses free and faster remains in the works. His support for the Palestinian cause, in a city with strong Jewish interests, has not led to fighting in the streets, or significantly eroded his support among Jewish New Yorkers.

His celebrity and influence seem to have increased massively, not just in New York City, but in the whole country. and even abroad.

One of the most remarkable events of the seven months of Zohran’s Mayoralty so far was a visit to Donald Trump’s White House. People had anticipated fireworks, as an egoistic President tried to give a perceived wannabe his comeuppance. It turned out to be a gracious encounter, with Trump praising Mandani as a brilliant young man, and the New York Mayor speaking of his readiness for cooperation.

Political commentators are beginning to revise their commentary on Mamdani. Even the Democratic Socialist movement for which he has become the poster boy is operating with a new swagger. Fox News, the partisan mouthpiece of the Right, is rationalising that the youthful energy suddenly visible in political activism across the nation as the mid-term elections approach may not be all about left-wing ‘Socialism’ that is anathema to America, but a rebellion against the establishment and the familiar ways of running the nation’s politics, whether Left or Right.

But there is a brewing existential crisis in the Democratic Party, which is trying to recapture control of the Senate and the House of Representatives from a Trump-dominated Republican Party in a few months. The party grandees are in an anxious flummox. Tried and tested, middle-of-the-road candidates considered electable by a population weary of the trauma and tribulations of Trumpian times are being challenged at primary elections by young ‘Socialists’, who, they fear, may be rejected by the general population come the elections. A case in point is the battle for a Senate seat in Michigan, between the establishment-backed ‘moderate’ candidate Haley Stevens and a ‘progressive’ Abdul El-Sayed backed by Bernie Sanders, and riding on the Zohran Mamdani can-do wave.

That wave is creating ambivalence between electing a safe and ‘moderate’ alternative to Trump’s people or a ‘progressive’ outlier promising a future that breaks the familiar guard rails of the establishment, including its time-tested patronage system and Jewish lobby. The choice could lead to a bright new world of Universal Health Coverage and life more abundant for the American majority, or risk derailment of the drive to wrest control from Trump and his people.

There is, too, a tantalising international dimension. People are already comparing the script, flair, and promise of Mamdani to Andy Burnham, a ‘leftist’ who this week took over as Prime Minister of Britain, promising ‘progressive’ change that is yet to be defined or funded. It is a change that, like Mamdani’s, could lead to a better life, and a better way of doing things. But just as likely, it could lead to disaster, a right-wing victory, and a return to the old ways.