Statement on the Election of Zohran Mamdani as Mayor of New York City

The election of Zohran Mamdani to mayor of New York City is a historic development for working people across the United States. A member of Democratic Socialists of America, Mamdani's victory demonstrates the power of a simple platform of important household issues, as well as the popularity of socialism. Hopefully, the people of this country are beginning to see that the socialist movement stands alone in offering a serious vision to fight the suffering capitalism heaps on us every day. Mayor Mamdani's performance indicates that may be so! But we must remain vigilant.

More broadly, elections across the country went decidedly unfavorably for Republicans. Since the Gilded Age, working people have been able to claw greater liberties and prosperity into their grip through greater access to the franchise of voting and through greater access to the collective power of labor unions. Since falling from their position of uncontested power, capitalists have undergone a tireless effort to take back those victories we won, to water them down, to neuter them, and ultimately abolish them.

This process of anti-worker and anti-democratic repression— the historical development of fascism— has peaked with Donald Trump's re-election and the commitment of Republicans to the collapse of any democratic appearances of this liberal, commercial, capitalist republic. All the while, those few Democrats not in on the spoils of fascism have sat too spineless and gutless to defend anyone from any of the openly violent capitalist terrorism unleashed this past year.

But on the 4th, people cast their votes for whomever they saw as the best defense against antidemocratic capitalist terror. And for now, it worked! The degree to which it worked, only time will tell. But undoubtedly, the efforts of millions have provided a new obstacle to Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, and the rest of this fascist administration. Our eyes are on the future of the election system in the United States, which certainly has a shadow hanging over it today.

Unapologetically standing for socialism and the working class delivered a decisive victory on the 4th of November. The victory is so incontestable that even the centrists of the Democratic Party are scavenging off it. How shamelessly they seek to suck some of the new lifeblood Mamdani has given the Democratic Party! These "pragmatists" deceptively tout the Democratic Party as a big tent organization while abandoning vulnerable communities being scapegoated by Republicans. Had the election results not been such a resounding victory these same "pragmatists," whose pragmatism is utterly unpaired with vision and whose capacity for self-preservation far exceeds their concern for working class voters, would be scolding Mamdani for engaging in "identity politics" and running a "woke" campaign!

The Socialist Party USA is extremely excited to see the remarkable response from voters to a socialist candidate! It is a great joy to see a person taking up the socialist mantle who has shown the ability to win thousands over to the cause of working class struggle. We are also extremely pleased to see the energy it has inspired in working class people to become a part of politics, of a class struggle that no one can escape, and that every working person must fight! But we must offer caution—progressives and democratic socialists in the Democratic Party always face a backlash, whether they win or lose. From where? From voters? No. From centrist, pragmatist, institutionalist Democrats who refuse to champion workers needs over capitals demands. When they lose, they are paraded in shame and discredited. When they win, their victories must be claimed by faithless, spineless, calculating "pragmatists." We applaud the energy Mayor Mamdani and his supporters have shown. We warn not to waste it on a party that will smother progressive voices even at the cost of their own governing position. Yes, backlash is coming. It is coming from those who should be supporting someone who can produce such an amazing win for the Democratic Party. What will Mayor Mamdani do in the face of it?

To his supporters, we have a warning coming from a place of solidarity. When considering potential obstacles to Mamdani's agenda, we cannot neglect to mention Mayor Mamdani himself. The forces of "pragmatism," nothing more than the forces of the existing rotted order, are already planning their response. Will Mayor Mamdani make himself an unbowed fighter against the capitalist corrosion of the working people of New York City? Or will he be bent into compromises that amount to sharing in the loot with a robber? We can already point to areas where Mamdani's dedication to working class independent power and international solidarity may be called into question.

We warn workers that capitalism follows the mentality of cancer, of endless accumulation and expansion. Attempting to reform capitalism by degrees is like negotiating with a tumor. The capitalist class has made it clear that there is nothing—not the earth, land, sea, or anyone living there—that they wouldn't sell for a dollar.

The Socialist Party USA maintains that only through independent working class political organizing can workers achieve and maintain economic prosperity and political freedom. Only an independent party with a revolutionary working class platform will be able to resist the powers that have brought us to this point and not falter when presented with various backwards-pointed compromises.

We have a choice: take our chances on the Democratic Party's history of betrayals and deferred promises, or take a chance on independent working class political power. The choice is CLEAR! We have nothing to lose but our chains, and a world to win! Join the Socialist Party and let's build independent political power for the working class!

Passed by the SPUSA National Executive Committee November 10, 2025