The Left Is About to Take Power. The Stakes Could Not Be Higher.

Zohran Mamdani's election elevated the US democratic socialist movement into national prominence. His affordability platform proposes universal childcare funded by higher taxes on high-income earners, aiming to shift wealth from the wealthy elite to the working class and set a national example. A blocked agenda would allow opponents to use his failure to weaken the left. The left and progressive movements must pursue a mass politics orientation through Mamdani's tenure and the 2026 midterms. Corporate elites and corporate Democrats failed to defend working-class New Yorkers amid a cost-of-living crisis and lacked an effective counterstrategy. Mamdani's campaign broadened electoral coalitions by engaging Muslim, Southeast Asian, younger Black, and Latino working-class voters.

"Zohran Mamdani's election as mayor of New York City has thrust the US democratic socialist movement into the national spotlight. If Mamdani's triumphant affordability platform-which includes plans to provide universal childcare by increasing taxes on high-income earners-is implemented, it could lead to a significant transfer of wealth from the wealthy elite to the working class and provide a blueprint for socialist leaders across the country."

"Equally, if Mamdani's mission is stymied, the forces banking on his failure will use it as a weapon to try and banish the left everywhere. In other words, the stakes of a Mamdani mayoralty could not be higher. That's why it's so crucial for the left and progressive movements to adopt a mass politics orientation during Mamdani's tenure, the 2026 midterms, and beyond."

Read at The Nation