There is a changing of the guard when, in a New York City Democratic primary for mayor, a former Democratic governor who is a Catholic of Italian descent loses by almost 10 percent to a 33-year-old Muslim, anti-Semitic immigrant from Uganda. After Zohran Mamdani soundly trashed 67-year-old Andrew Cuomo last week, moderate establishment Democrats found themselves left in the wake of the youthful progressives who had taken over their party’s leadership. This occurred even though Catholics and Jews together make up approximately half of NYC’s population, while the NYC Muslim population is only ten percent or less.
Also, if Andrew Cuomo was the best establishment Democratic candidate available, that wing of the party is bankrupt! Cuomo was carrying so much baggage from his stint as Governor to be a viable candidate, especially among women voters. Too many women accused him of harassment, causing him to resign! If he became New York City’s mayor, he would be presiding over a series of insoluble problems that his past actions as governor had caused. Not a winning combination, especially with his built-in facial frown.
Voters tend to vote for likeable candidates!
The progressives’ energy for Mamdani was supplied by fellow Socialists, New York Democratic Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Independent Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. Current Mayor Eric Adams will be running as an independent, and the Republican candidate is still to be determined. Unless some miracle candidate emerges, the Democratic nominee should be favored to win.
Mainline Democrats Bill Clinton, Chuck Schumer, and Hakeem Jeffries congratulated Mamdani on his win without endorsing him outright. Did any of them want to be tied to city-owned supermarkets in NYC? Arrest of Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu? Support of an avowed Socialist?
Should Mamdani win in such a high-profile Democratic position, the party will be forced to acknowledge for the first time that progressives were now the heartbeat of the party. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is under assault, and Nancy Pelosi is no longer the Democrats’ leader in the House. Bernie and AOC have been taking their progressive act to crowded stadiums around the country, while any moderates left in the Democratic party have disappeared.
California’s Governor Gavin Newsom shed his progressive rhetoric for more moderate platitudes to make himself a suitable 2028 presidential candidate; however, his progressive policies, which caused an exodus from California, will make a successful nationwide campaign in 2028 very difficult. National voters will be hard-pressed to forget the mismanagement of the fires in Los Angeles in January by Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, or their fiddling while violent, foreign flag-waving protests raged against the deportation of criminal immigrants.
Kamala vowed to “Fight-Fight-Fight”, but she has not shown up yet for the bout. The Democrats have still not found a unified message for the party, except for “Resistance” against whatever President Trump proposes.
Some Democratic consultants argue that the party needs to communicate its message better. None of them has been courageous enough to state that the party needs both a better message and a better messenger. Mandani may be a fine communicator, but is Socialism a reasonable alternative for our divided country? If Mamdani wins the election for NYC mayor, would he then be the face of the new Progressive Democratic Party?
Have a great 4th of July!
TW3
John Whitmore Jenkins
July 3, 2025
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