Zohran Mamdani has scored a yuuuge win in the Democratic Party primary for New York City Mayor! Unofficial results show Mamdani winning 56% to 44% for Cuomo. As Michael Lange noted, Zohran forged a new coalition and even after last Tuesday's first round results, Mamdani had “won more first place votes (432K) than Eric Adams won total votes (404K) through all rounds of ranked-choice-voting.”
This is a movement victory
We are proud that SURJ NYC endorsed Mamdani and asked members to rank Zohran #1 in addition to ranking four other candidates and to not rank Cuomo. SURJ NYC had never before endorsed a political candidate, but we reached our decision easily because of Mamdani’s compelling vision and because a consensus candidate and ranked-choice strategy was emerging across a broad array of movement organizations and union locals. Our chapter organized canvassing teams to knock doors with the Mamdani campaign and Working Families Party, and we phone banked SURJ NYC members to rank Zohran #1, not rank Cuomo, and text their people. We are proud to be among the many, many organizations that collectively engaged over 50,000 volunteers to make over 2.3 million calls and knock on over 1.6 million doors to propel Zohran to victory!
We also know that this is not the end of the road in the race for NYC Mayor. Mamdani is the Democratic Party nominee and will also be on the Working Families Party line in November. He will face Republican Curtis Sliwa, Independent Eric Adams, former federal prosecutor Jim Walden, and possibly Andrew Cuomo again (insert undead joke here). Republicans, corporate media, and Israel-lobby-funded Democratic electeds will continue to smear Mamdani. The bipartisan billionaire class will pour massive amounts of dark money into the race in an attempt to defeat him. We do not know how the race will shape up or what the needs will be, but we will be in it to win it!
We need all of us!
For this month’s SURJ NYC chapter meeting, we are hosting a mass meeting in Central Park! Join July 12th: think food, fun, and friends!
Summer to Grow: Join SURJ NYC to Turn Up the Heat
July Chapter Meeting in Central Park!
Saturday, July 12th, 2-4pm
Do you know someone who is excited by Zohran’s win but has not taken action? Invite them! Someone who is a bit unsure about Mamdani and could find support in community? Invite them so they meet others who have moved to active support for a vision for an affordable NYC.
More on this movement moment
Zorhan Mamdani’s Win Could Change Everything, writes progressive political strategist Waleed Shahid. Mamdani “ran on a clear and grounded message: freeze rents, make buses free, build public grocery stores. His stance on Israel and Palestine wasn’t buried, and it wasn’t isolated. It was part of a broader argument about dignity, housing, and whose voices matter.”
Liza Featherstone writes that Zohran Mamdani’s Canvassing Operation Is What Democracy Looks Like. CAAAV Voice executive director Sasha Wijeyeratne details how Mamdani’s stunning city-wide coalition of working-class, immigrants, and young leftists and progressives was built on many years of organizing in Asian communities. And Heba Gowayed writes in The Guardian that Zohran Mamdani has the Palestinian protest movement to thank for his win.
Ginia Bellafante highlights how Zohran and NYC Comptroller Brad Lander shared a vision, a public bromance, and a ranked-choice strategy. The highest ranking Jewish elected official in NYC, Lander proved himself a consummate mensch: “We are not going to let anyone divide Muslim New Yorkers and Jewish New Yorkers,” said Lander “our safety, our hopes and our freedoms are bound up together.” In the On the Nose podcast, Jewish Currents staffers Peter Beinart, Arielle Angel, Mari Cohen, and Alex Kane break down how Mamdani bested the Pro-Israel machine.
Onward,
SURJ NYC