Will Mamdani be allowed to govern NYC?

It was a jolt to U.S. politics when Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor: a Muslim democratic socialist who seemed likely to rule the nation’s flagship city. Progressives of all stripes cheered the victory of a people-powered, pro-Palestinian campaign rooted in an explicitly working-class platform.

While the significance of the victory shouldn’t be minimized, is the celebration premature? The New York oligarchy sustained a blow, but it’s likely the election has merely awakened them to the real danger. Though they spent millions of dollars against him in the primary, the capitalist oligarchy will not quietly allow Mamdani to enact his program at their expense.

Assuming Mamdani survives the frenzied slander to win the general election, the survival of his campaign platform will remain questionable—freezing rents, raising wages, free transit, free childcare, city-run grocery stores, taxing the rich, etc.

Attempts to implement this platform will further radicalize the New York elite against him and unleash a barrage of serious obstacles to destroy his mayorship.

To overcome these obstacles—both legal and illegal—Mamdani will have to rely on ongoing mobilization and other forms of action—both legal and illegal—from his working-class base, rather than the methods typical of a Democratic Party politician.

Some early warning signs suggest Mamdani is likely to choose the methods of the latter, but time will tell. Zohran’s post victory speech did not thank or even mention the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the backbone of his volunteer base and the organization he has a long history with. Could this imply a drift to the right? Early evidence of AOC’s rightward drift was her distancing herself from DSA.

During his victory speech Mamdani did mention a couple of Democratic Party politicians and said, ominously, that his campaign was “… a model for the Democratic Party, a party where we fight for working people with no apology.”

Many powerful Democrats have congratulated him, but few have endorsed him for the general election. Some may be holding out for concessions on Mamdani’s program in return for endorsement. Many may hope for a rerun of the India Walton election in Buffalo, where she won the primary but was undermined by the Democrats and lost the general election.

Mamdani is better situated to win the general election than Walton was. If he does become mayor, Democrats will keep insisting that he pare back his campaign platform. They’ll demand he give assurances to Wall Street and big business; that he not upset the balance of political and economic power in the city; that he soften his stance on police, that he completely abandon the DSA, etc, etc.

A social movement, class-struggle approach to governing—mobilizing and being accountable to those who put Mamdani in power—is necessary to outflank the Democrats dying to see him fail.

How the U.S. ruling class will respond to a Mayor Mamdani

If Mamdani does become mayor, it’s unclear if he’ll actually be allowed to govern. Given the enormous stakes—hundreds of billions of dollars—a political coup of some kind (before or after he takes power) is not outside the realm of possibilities, not to mention the threats to his personal safety that have already begun but promise to worsen.

The state of U.S. capitalism in 2025 cannot easily tolerate a powerful example of a successful working-class platform, since for 45 years both parties have been in general agreement that every progressive element of the New Deal should be overturned. Thus  the U.S. ruling class will desperately seek to thwart Mamdani’s plans before his program gets exported to other cities.

Already the city’s own ruling class is organizing to prevent his victory in the general election. The New York Times discussed how the super rich appear to be coalescing behind the disgraced current Mayor, Eric Adams.

The article quotes Scott Rechler who is described as “one of the city’s biggest landlords.” Rechler denounced Mamdani’s campaign because New York is “the capital of capitalism.” Rechler’s comment is more than symbolic. It’s a call to action loaded with cash and other forms of power.

Donald Trump, for example, has many investments in the city that prompted him to call Zohran a “communist lunatic” after the primary victory. Trump’s comment, while ridiculous, reminds us that resources from the federal government are likely to be deployed on some level to undermine Mamdani.

For example Trump’s “Border Czar” Tom Homan responded to Mamdani’s pro-immigration approach by saying “President Trump made it clear we’re going to hammer—we’re going to double and triple down on sanctuary cities. So, what you see in New York City today, double it … game on we’re coming.” Trump then threatened to arrest Mamdani if he interfered with federal immigration officers.

Because Trump has been “successful” in threatening universities and states with the withholding of federal funding, it seems inevitable that he will use this approach against Mamdani, especially since New York city is budgeted to use $7.4 billion in federal funds next year.

The city is also dependent on state grants, and the governor, a Democrat, has already been clear that she does not support Mamdani’s program. She has also made clear that she will do her best to oppose his plans to raise taxes on the wealthy.

Another possible attack may come from Wall Street, who may use their control of credit markets to undermine a Mamdani government, just as they did in 1975 when New York was pushed into “bankruptcy” by the big banks, who used their power to degrade New York’s credit rating and push the city down the path of austerity. Credit agencies such as Moody’s could choose to downgrade New York bonds, which could scare away creditors and raise borrowing costs.

Nothing should be ruled out, from endless lawsuits to the NYPD organizing “work slowdowns” that aim to create chaos to other forms of political and economic sabotage.

The NYPD made life miserable for former Mayor Bill de Blasio, and will likely be even more aggressive against Mamdani. If the police and super-rich succeed in sowing some chaos, it’s possible the governor might intervene “in the name of law and order” to legally oust the mayor.

This may seem alarmist, but when you really grab the tiger’s tale the beast lashes out. An explosive backlash from the ruling class has only just begun, and without a real plan to tame the cat, Mamdani and his base is certain to get badly mauled.

The only way Mamdani can avoid such a showdown with the ruling class is if he concedes to most of their demands, i.e., if he betrays the platform he ran on.

But if he actually stays true to fighting for his platform, he’ll need to go far beyond Democratic Party norms and organize effectively and militantly with the New York working class, including the various unions that have endorsed Mamdani, including the New York City labor council. The inevitable lesson will be that the Democratic Party is not a vehicle for real social change, but an obstacle.

Overcoming the oligarchy

Already there are activists, both in DSA and outside of it, who realize that voting for Mamdani won’t be enough to get his program implemented. Class struggle of various sorts—such as work stoppages, rent strikes, mass demonstrations—will be necessary to overcome ruling-class resistance.

The campaign is the time to persuade people to get ready for these fights. The Left needs to make an explicit case for struggle among those who already support Mamdani, including among the thousands who have put in time to get him elected. Those who are already most committed to a Mamdani victory are potentially the most coherent force to agitate for struggle beyond November 4.

The broader working class of New York could well be energized and even radicalized by the oligarchy’s reaction against Mamdani. A rising sense of anger is likely to permeate sections of Mamdani’s supporters as they watch the increasingly hysterical attacks on him and his platform. The Left, whether they are activists in the Mamdani campaign or not, needs to get ready to help the class turn that energy into collective action, into a movement.

Such a movement also needs to develop political independence—the ability to transition from protecting Mamdani’s platform from the rich to pressuring him to follow through on his promises. Without such a counterweight, the pressure Mamdani will get from the rich could easily make him crumble.

If the course of events produces such a movement, the base could organically deepen his platform, bringing new issues to the forefront that they demand he act on, since a working class appetite has historically developed once it’s allowed to eat.

All of this, however, hinges on Mamdani’s willingness to actually fight New York’s ruling class, many of which are powerful members of the Democratic Party Mamdani currently seeks to win over.

To counter the influence of the ruling class, the Left and labor groups supporting Mamdani now will need to maintain their organizing post-election, to keep him focused on the program that won him their support.

Celebrity politicians versus class-struggle politics

Mamdani is a skillful politician with Obama-level charisma, but is he a real fighter?

We’ll see soon enough.

Will the organizations backing Mamdani push him to fight harder and better? We’ll know very soon.

What’s certain is that if a rent freeze is implemented the powerful New York landlords will do more than cry and go home; they will take action to destroy the Mamdani administration.

If Mamdani follows his platform around public safety, the NYPD will do more than sulk; they will be even more vicious than when they undermined the Bill de Blasio mayorship. They will be let off the leash.

If Mamdani’s tax plans are pursued the New York ruling class will do more than publicly slander him. And especially if he actually pursues plans to raise the city’s minimum wage to $30 an hour.

If he continues to speak out against the genocide in Gaza, AIPAC will continue to use their wealth and influence against him.

Political enemies act predictably, which is why Mamdani and his base—within DSA and beyond—must prepare now for a real fight where their only real allies will be the working class and some radicalized sections of the middle class.

There are few good modern examples on how to do this in city government. The best is probably Kshama Sawant, who fought effectively on the Seattle city council against Amazon and the rest of the Seattle ruling class to win real victories for working class people.

Sawant was despised by Democrat and Republican alike, forcing her to rely on militant organizing to achieve her wins. Given that she had no real allies on city council, she and her socialist organization fought far above their weight-class by mobilizing the working class, a process she described well recently on the Bad Faith podcast.

Mamdani talks well about the struggles of NYC’s working class, but he must match their urgency with a campaign serious enough to overcome the resistance of the capitalist elite.

There is no electoral path to socialism—or even social democracy—without unleashing a powerful social movement. If Mamdani wages a real fight against New York’s establishment, the national working class will rally in support.

But if he crumbles under the pressure, lessons must be learned so that a similar path isn’t pursued in the future. In this way the working class can develop the political independence necessary to win the kind of platform it desperately needs.

Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Tempest Collective. For more information, see “About Tempest Collective.”
Featured Image credit: Bingjiefu He; modified by Tempest.