Well, with 95% of the votes in, Zohran Mamdani will become New York City’s 111th Mayor when he is sworn in on Jan. 1, 2026. The polls, the real polls, and the betting odds were all right. Betting markets, Kalshi put it at 93%, Polymarket at 94.6% and Marist University and Beacon Research polls all had a big win for the newbie socialist assemblyman from Astoria, Queens.
The fear that by not dropping out, Republican Curtis Sliwa would tip the election proved a mirage. For Andrew Cuomo, it was déjà vu all over again, to quote Yogi Berra. Or maybe it was like father like son. When Andrew Cuomo ran his father Mario Cuomo’s primary campaign for mayor in 1977, his dad lost with 45% of the vote. The winner in that race was Mayor Ed “how am I doing” Koch. By many accounts, it was a poorly run and, according to Koch, a dirty campaign.
Fast forward to today, and Andrew Cuomo finishes with about 41% of the vote. And as far as running an efficient campaign, fuggedabout it. Cuomo started out running like it was 1977. Mamdani and his people ran like it was, well, 2025, with a little touch of Jimmy Carter’s local hands-on with the people stuff.
The first debate was a political disaster for the anti-Mamdani forces, and no one ever recovered. Former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill said, “All politics is local.” Perhaps an exaggeration, but when someone asked the candidates about Israel, they all fell over themselves in a love fest. Clearly, there was no country as great. God bless Bibi Netanyahu’s war on terror. Well, as it turns out, for most voters under 35, Bibi Netanyahu has all the voter appeal of leprosy.
Mamdani deflected the question, saying he didn’t care about other countries and wrapped himself in the flag of the City of New York. Trump cornered the market on America First to victory, and Mamdani was determined to corner the market on New York First. Never mind how impossible most of the promises made were. It was an appeal to people fed up with politicians not focusing on their fears, concerns, and needs.
In the 1970s, New York City politicians lived or died by the three I’s: Italy, Ireland, and Israel. Brochures might use green, white, and red for Italian voters, green, white, and orange for the Irish, and blue for the Jews. Well, the children of most of those people have moved out of the city, and by and large, that older generation is long dead. This isn’t your father’s Democrat Party. A New Yorker cartoon cleverly makes the point about the exodus of the old-time Democrats. The young guy in the voting line says, “He got my vote when my in-laws threatened to leave the city if he wins.”
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As for the money boys, the billionaire brigade didn’t make a dent. At a minimum, 26 billionaires funded the opposition, including former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who gave $8.3 million, the Lauder family, who gave $2.6 million, and Hedge fund mogul Bill Ackman, who gave $1.75 million. And the angriest billionaire of all is Donald Trump, who warned of federal funding cuts if Mamdani wins.
Well, Mamdami has won, and the sky may well fall in on New York City. But in a city with its 300,000 municipal workers and a $115 billion budget, it may take a long time for a collapse to trickle down. And while his policies may be nutty, being a socialist doesn’t make you a bad manager per se. Years ago, when Bridgeport, Conn., elected socialist Jasper McLevy, people were shocked when he cut costs and balanced the budget. And truth be told, for the last four years, New York City under Mayor Eric Adams has been on autopilot more often than not. Let’s see what happens now.
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