I want to talk a bit about Zohran Mamdani’s inspiring 12-point victory, and why he’s got the billionaire class running scared.

How did Zohran pull off his win? Simple: He campaigned relentlessly on lowering costs for families. He built a grassroots movement so strong that millions of dollars in attack ads couldn’t touch him. On primary election night, Andrew Cuomo conceded.

The people picked Mamdani, but it turns out there are some billionaires and Wall Street CEOs who can’t stand the idea of a mayor who wants them to pay their fair share to create a city that everyone can afford. So the billionaires are dumping millions and millions of dollars into the race, backing either of two deeply flawed candidates: Cuomo and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams.

Maybe we should be asking ourselves why these Wall Street executives are pouring in millions of dollars to stop Mamdani, the affordability candidate.

Cuomo and Adams are tripping over themselves to haul in millions of campaign dollars from billionaire donors. Adams raised $1 million in a single night from donors with ties to big law firms, commercial brokerages, and big real estate developers who could lose their iron-fisted grip on New York in a Mamdani administration.

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman held private auditions for his support, inviting Adams and Cuomo to back-to-back meetings to tap dance for the “hundreds of millions of dollars” he has said he will spend to keep Mamdani out of office.

Let’s be clear: In a democracy, billionaires should not be able to buy our elections and control our politicians. It was corruption when Elon Musk poured millions into Donald Trump’s campaign, and it’s bad for our democracy that Cuomo and Adams are bending the knee to billionaires now. Elected officials should work for their constituents, not use their government offices to hand out favors to a well-connected few.

New York voters spoke clearly in the primary election. They’re telling us they’re ready for a party that fights boldly and unapologetically for working families. It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s also a winning strategy. And Democrats must be ready to deliver.

You don’t have to look very hard to see just how out of touch Adams and Cuomo have become with working people. Adams withdrew from the primary early on, and Cuomo felt so entitled to the nomination that he barely bothered to campaign.

But they’ve both gotten the memo from their wealthy backers to step it up: Adams is attacking Mamdani nonstop, and Cuomo is trying — and failing — to carbon copy Mamdani’s authentic videos.

Meanwhile, Mamdani has charged ahead with plans to make New York more affordable, and he’s showing how to pay for it by taxing the ultra-rich and giant corporations. That may not make Mamdani popular with the richest New Yorkers, but he’s laser-focused on fighting to make New York work for working people. And more Democrats would do well to take notice.

Through our policies and our message, we have got to make it clear that Democrats are the party of working families. That’s what Zohran Mamdani is doing — and I’m proud to endorse him. At a time when people have grown cynical about Democratic promises, showing our willingness to tax billionaires and giant corporations to pay for vital programs — like Mamdani is calling for — strengthens our credibility.

I’ll keep working relentlessly to elect more fighters for the working class like Zohran Mamdani. If you support our grassroots efforts to make America work for everyday people, not just the billionaires, and to build a Democratic Party that fights for us — then chip in whatever you can to support our movement.

Thanks for being a part of this,

Elizabeth