<<<SHOULD THE COMMONSENSE MAJORITY OPPOSE ZOHRAN MAMDANI?>>> 

John,

No Labels has long been focused on making Congress work. So, you may wonder why we are suddenly so focused on the New York City mayoral race. The answer is that this race has profound national implications that could shape our national politics, and Congress for years to come.  

If Zohran Mamdani wins in November, it will mark the most significant electoral victory for the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the radical movement Mamdani has been a member of since 2017. It would represent not just a shift in the city’s leadership, but a green light for a rapidly growing movement to run more candidates up and down the ballot in 2026.  

The DSA was once marginal presence in American politics. Before 2016, it had just 6,500 members and barely any elected officials. That changed virtually overnight following Bernie Sanders’ surprise success in the Democratic presidential primary. Sanders is not himself a DSA member, but he gave democratic socialism credibility and visibility at the same time President Trump was serving as a perfect boogeyman for the left. By 2021, DSA membership had grown to nearly 80,000. Before 2016, the DSA had fewer than 10 elected officials in the country. As of this year, it has more than 200, 90% of whom took office after 2019. 

Most of these officials hold relatively low-profile offices on city councils, school boards, and state legislatures. Many of them are concentrated in a few states, like California, New York, Illinois, Minnesota, and Colorado. So, it would be easy to dismiss them as fringe figures.  

But today’s state legislators and city council members are tomorrow’s mayors, governors and members of Congress. 

The DSA has bold ambitions. As we laid out in a recent No Labels article, the DSA’s strategy is a coordinated, long-term campaign to run DSA-aligned candidates on Democratic Party ballot lines and to pull it towards advancing an explicitly socialist agenda. A Mamdani victory would be proof of concept that the strategy can work in one of the most powerful and visible offices in America. 

The DSA is not just “far left.” Its policy platform is a collection of every failed collectivist idea in history – like nationalizing industries – with a sheen of militant cultural progressivism. And we do not have to wonder how DSA-aligned leaders will govern. In St. Louis, a DSA-backed mayor slashed millions from the police budget while the city led the nation in per capita murders. City residents got so fed up, they voted her out this April by a crushing 64%-36% margin.  

We have also seen what happens in other cities, with mayors who may not be DSA members, but embrace many of their radical ideas. In San Francisco, public safety collapsed so severely that stores had to lock up everyday items like toothpaste and laundry detergent. In Chicago, schools closed for over a year during COVID, long after most of the country had moved on, hurting low-income families most. San Francisco also voted out its radical mayor earlier this year. Chicagoans are stuck with their mayor until 2027, even as his approval rating has dipped under 10%.  

The DSA does not want to reform American institutions; it wants to dismantle them. Aside from nationalizing industries, they want to abolish prisons, disarm police officers, and even extend voting rights to non-citizens.  

Some have tried to wave off the consequences of a Mamdani victory in November. Conservative columnist George Will said recently that he hopes Mamdani wins, calling it a chance for a “confined experiment” with socialism that serves as a cautionary tale for other cities. But in today’s political environment, no experiment stays confined for long. The moment Mamdani takes office, the message will go out: This platform can win. This is the future. And the DSA’s growing army of candidates and organizers will press even harder to reshape the Democratic Party in that mold. 

We know how this movie ends: higher crime, worse services, and even deeper divisions in our politics. If it happens in our country’s largest city, it will not stop there. A Mamdani victory would be a loss for New York, the Democratic Party, and anyone working to elevate commonsense leaders at a time when America needs them most. I talked about this further on Fox 5 New York this week. You can view the clip here.

No Labels cannot afford to sit this one out, and we hope you will not either. 

Ryan Clancy 

Chief Strategist

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