Zohran Mamdani's victory shows Democrats can still win – if they are authentic

After weathering months of attack ads, racist smears and outright Islamophobic vitriol, Zohran Mamdani has secured a spot in the history books by becoming the first Muslim and first South Asian to be elected New York mayor.

His comfortable win in the Big Apple, driven largely by the huge enthusiasm and turnout of younger voters, will present something of a conundrum for Mr Mamdani's Democratic Party, which failed to fully embrace the charismatic millennial even as it become clear he had a lock on City Hall.

The hemming and hawing from top Democrats who worried their man was too progressive on key issues highlights the party's identity crisis as it continues to dissect what went wrong in 2024, when it lost control of the White House and Congress to President Donald Trump and the Republicans.

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Instead of embracing Mr Mamdani and his populist vision of a more affordable New York, the Democratic establishment buried its head in the sand as its own candidate climbed ever upwards in opinion polls. Even on election day itself, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York wouldn't say who he voted for.

Former president Barack Obama, who also did not endorse Mr Mamdani, couldn't even muster a direct congratulations for his victory, instead issuing generic praise “to all the Democratic candidates who won tonight”.

Inconveniently for grey-haired Democrats like Mr Schumer and Mr Obama who want to move their party further towards the centre, Mr Mamdani's victory supports the argument that backing more progressive candidates might win back young voters who felt abandoned by the party.

My own view is that it would be unwise to try to view Mr Mamdani's victory as too much of a national bellwether. New York City is liberal, diverse and young and Democrat victories by centrists in Virginia and New Jersey show there can be no one-size-fits all approach for the Democratic Party.

Instead, it should stop obsessing about whether it wants to be centre-left or left of centre and take a page from Mr Mamdani's playbook and learn to present a clear vision that speaks to would-be voters.

Kamala Harris lost last year in large part because she was trying to be all things to all people. She grew so terrified of saying anything that might upset one voting bloc or another that she sounded muddled and confused, an empty mash-up of nothing sentences that meant little to anyone.

Mr Mamdani on the other hand didn't shy away from controversy. He condemned Israel's “genocide” in Gaza and called himself an anti-Zionist. He has called the New York Police Department “racist” and promised free childcare, buses and city-run grocery stores.

Such positions alienated millions of New Yorkers but resonated with millions more, and in today's America we have grown accustomed to polarising figures winning, just ask Mr Trump.

He has never once apologised for any of the inflammatory things he has said. Having conviction in your messaging, even if half of America finds it outrageous, is more appealing than presenting a milquetoast platform of workshopped compromises.

Speaking of the US President, he may inadvertently have helped Mr Mamdani when he this week delivered a backhanded endorsement to Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor who resigned four years ago amid multiple sexual harassment claims.

Mr Trump is deeply unpopular in his native New York so any attack on Mr Mamdani seemed to only further galvanise his supporters. On Tuesday, the President doubled down in his attacks by claiming Mr Mamdani is a “Jew hater”, fuelling a barrage of right-wing fury and renewing calls for the Uganda-born South Asian to have his US citizenship revoked.

Many on the right claim Mr Mamdani is an anti-Semitic Muslim radical who supported the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 and wants to impose Sharia on New York. It's not true of course and Mr Mamdani embraced his heritage, campaigning in Urdu and Arabic.

The immediate challenge for Mr Mamdani will be living up to his lofty campaign promises. Free stuff and cheaper prices is a vote winner, but any failure to deliver will be judged harshly. Just ask Mr Trump, whose promised “Golden Age” of unmatched prosperity is floundering.

Voters on Tuesday seemed to punish his inability to deliver on lofty promises, with Democrats sweeping the board in several statewide races.