Zohran Mamdani

No hot takes, but a few thoughts on political realignment.

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Everyone has an opinion on Zohran Mamdani’s primary win and what it means for the future of electoral politics and for the Democratic Party. I can’t tell you why Mamdani won and wouldn’t trust the snap take of anyone who claims they can. What I can say is that Mamdani’s win and the coalitions that formed to support and oppose him are yet another data point for my theory that the era of partisan politics as we’ve known it is ending.

I knew Mamdani had a good shot of winning because a few weeks ago, when I reached out to friends who know NY politics, all but one believed it was possible. Most of these same folks had told me months ago that when Cuomo entered the race, he would win the primary, and no one would be able to mount a coalition to stop him. So it was notable how many of them now had a wildly different view of the race. However, I don’t think anyone I spoke to thought it'd be this big of a win or that we’d know the results as quickly as we did. Even friends who were bullish on an upset wouldn’t have predicted it would be a rout.

The final week of the race was wild. As establishment politicians like Jim Clyburn and Bill Clinton endorsed Andrew Cuomo, and far-right figures like Laura Loomer and Charlie Kirk opted to troll with their own faux endorsements of Cuomo, characterizing a potential Zohran win as a sign that civilization as we knew it was ending. Today, the same groups aligned with the MAGA Right are melting down over Mamdani’s win, and Cuomo’s donors aren’t accepting the win much better, reportedly encouraging him to stay in the race as an independent. Several prominent NY elected officials, including Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have so far declined to endorse Mamdani.