John,
Most No Labels supporters do not live in New York City. But everyone in our movement should pay attention to what happened there on Tuesday.
Thirty-three-year-old Socialist Zohran Mamdani appears to have won the Democratic mayoral primary, making him the frontrunner to become the next mayor of the largest city in the United States. Soon, he may be among the most prominent faces of a national Democratic Party that voters were already concerned was too dominated by the left.
Mamdani’s policy agenda reads like a parody of bad liberal governance, but it is all-too real. Among other things, he wants New York City to implement rent controls, and launch government-run grocery stores, something you will not find most anywhere else in the developed world. But you will find it in Cuba. And in North Korea.
He previously called for defunding the police and has, knowingly or not, served as an apologist for the Iranian regime, praising Hamas-linked figures in a rap video, refusing to denounce the slogan “globalize the intifada,” and even pledging to have the Prime Minister of Israel arrested if he ever visits New York.
Beyond the policies Mamdani ran on, the positions embraced by the Democratic Socialists of America, the political organization to which he proudly affirms his membership, are even more extreme. Here are a couple, in their own words:
- Establish “a new political order through a second constitutional convention to write the founding documents of a new socialist democracy.”
- “Immediately withdraw from NATO.”
- “Demilitarize the border and end all immigrant detention and abolish ICE.”
Most New Yorkers – and Americans – do not embrace these policies. But Mamdani benefited from a primary system that, in New York and across America, rewards the most extreme candidates. Although turnout in this NYC mayoral primary was higher than 2021, it still only included participation of 1 in 6 registered Democrats, to say nothing of the independents and Republicans who are shut out entirely.
This is exactly what No Labels was built to fight against: the rising power of ideological extremes in both parties. The only way to combat this radicalism is to offer the public a viable alternative vision for how to govern America. That is what No Labels did on Thursday morning in DC.
At 8:30 am in the U.S. Capitol, dozens of Democrats and Republicans came together for our Make Congress Work Bicameral meeting. They spent the next 45 minutes talking about substantive areas where the two parties can, and must, find agreement, ranging from immigration and border security to AI, prescription drug pricing, permitting and regulatory reform, and national security.
One member put it simply: “You have to say no to the extremes… or this place stays on autopilot for ever-worsening conflict.” Another said he had never seen so many members from both chambers in the same room, talking seriously about how to get something done.
There is a clear contrast right now between two models of leadership. One that offers socialist utopian promises and failed policies and another that offers competence, common sense, and courage. If more Americans do not show up, like the voters who sat out this week’s primary, then we should not be surprised when the first model wins.
But we are building a movement to change that. And with your help, we are just getting started.
Ryan Clancy
Chief Strategist
