Last night, Zohran Mamdani broke the bounds of what the world thought was possible.
Zohran Mamdani achieved a historic victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of the biggest city in America — and your support helped make it happen. If you’re ready to elect more young progressives, please donate to Leaders We Deserve right now. Then I hope you’ll read the rest of this email.
We didn’t just beat Andrew Cuomo last night. We beat $30 million in spending by the same billionaires who backed Donald Trump AND a political and media establishment that told us this race was unwinnable. Zohran ran on a bold, progressive vision, and proved that young, people-powered candidates can WIN, even in the biggest city in the country.
Leaders We Deserve was the single largest outside spender for the campaign, investing $300,000 in a Zohran-affiliated SuperPAC. But more than that, we hit the streets. I was in NYC alongside Zohran’s team, knocking doors, talking to volunteers, and watching this remarkable movement cross the finish line.
I got to see firsthand the relentless positivity that Zohran brought to this campaign. People believed in this movement. They showed up. Every time I passed someone on the street with a Zohran sticker, it turned out to be another volunteer. This campaign was not just impactful, but was JOYFUL. It won not because it had Republican billionaires on its side. Zohran won because he had tens of thousands of volunteers on his side who all believed he could win even when most counted him out. Those volunteers won this campaign.
Races like this show us what limits us as a country and a party is not how hard we can work or how many doors we can knock, it's how big we can dream so we have a message compelling enough that people will go door knocking in 100 degrees or keep phone banking or working the polls. Thank YOU for helping us take one step closer to making our dream a reality for so many Americans, especially young Americans looking at this race for any reason to hope and not give up.
This is what happens when you give young people a candidate to believe in, and it’s why we’re not stopping here. This win is a symbol of Democratic voters’ deep desire to turn the page on a failed status quo and the leaders who created it.
We launched Leaders We Deserve because we were tired of being told to wait our turn. Last night proved we don’t have to. We can run now. We can win NOW.
Our mission is simple: help young, bold leaders win power and transform what’s possible in American politics to combat the hopelessness so many have that represents the greatest threat to Democracy. The establishment has never been weaker than they are now. Leaders We Deserve has more incredible young candidates running for state and federal office across the country — and with your help, we’re going all-in to help them win.
Let’s make this the cycle we change everything.
ALSO: Special shout out to the monthly small dollar donors who came up to me at the election party for Zohran! Without people like you we could not do this work.
In solidarity,
David Hogg
