I suppose you might confuse me with Zohran Mamdani, who shocked the political world recently when he defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to win the Democratic nomination for mayor in New York City.
After all, at first glance, Mamdani and I have a lot in common. But we turned out to be very, very different people.
Mamdani and me
When Mamdani was seven, after he and his parents moved to New York from Africa, he lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, according to West Side Rag, a Manhattan community news site. I grew up on the Upper West Side as well — 75th street and Central Park West to be specific.
He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, while I graduated from the Riverdale Country School, which was located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.
Mamdani, 33, graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, according to his New York State Assembly biography. I graduated in 1970 from Colby College in Waterville, Maine. His major was Africana Studies, mine was Government.
At Bowdoin, Mamdani helped found the college’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. He joined the Democratic Socialists of America, while I was a conservative who read Thomas Sowell, William F. Buckley, Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek.
Neither of us fit into the majority ethos, though we came from different points of view.
Ultimately, Mamdani ran for office and got elected to the New York State Assembly. I went on to graduate school at the University of Connecticut, taught political science at Bucknell College, and went into political handicapping and journalism.
That ends our similarities. Mamdani chose elective office, while I became an analyst who spent decades interviewing thousands of candidates for office.
Two similar paths led to very different political destinations.
While Mamdani has built his mayoral campaign on his socialist views, I have moved significantly toward the political center over the past few decades.
The 2025 mayoral race
Can Mamdani win the mayoral race? I’m inclined to say “no,” but if Donald Trump could get elected president, why rule out the possibility that Mandani could get elected mayor of New York City?
The assemblyman clearly has substantial appeal to younger, progressive voters, and his strong primary showing demonstrated his rhetorical skills, interpersonal appeal, and ability to connect with many voters; he is smart and well-spoken.
Still, Mamdani looks like an albatross around his party’s national neck.
Even if he wins the New York City’s mayor’s race, his high visibility and extreme views could alienate him from mainstream Democrats and swing voters.
The New York City electorate isn’t the same as the national electorate, and the assemblyman’s embrace of “democratic socialism” isn’t likely to resonate positively with important electoral constituencies.
Republicans effectively bombarded voters in 2024 with campaign ads calling the Democrats left-wing socialists.
Mamdani’s socialist views, including his support for establishing government grocery stores and his refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” can only make it easier for Republicans to drive home their message across the country.
The assemblyman also supports raising the minimum wage to $30 per hour, eliminating bus fares and hiking taxes for the rich.
The bottom line
Of course, the field for the mayoral race is still a bit up in the air. Mayor Eric Adams is running for re-election as an independent, and Cuomo has not ruled out a general election run.
Democrats need to keep the national focus on Trump and the Republican Party. The best way to do that is to focus on the economy, the GOP’s unpopular “Big, Beautiful Bill” and Trump’s abuses of power.
Democrats need to find a way to tap the energy that Mamdani’s mayoral candidacy has generated without making him the face of Democrats nationally.
Changing the focus to Mamdani’s agenda is a terrible idea that would put Democrats on the defensive.