Reform vs. revolution: The Zohran Mamdani campaign

New York City — New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani is presumed to secure the New York City mayoral seat this November as the Democratic Party’s lead nominee. But what will this mean for aspiring revolutionaries organizing in the belly of the beast?

As Marxists, we must utilize the observations we’ve made from the media, the streets and most significantly, from within our communities to strategize for our actions. We must apply what we know about democracy, or lack thereof, under the two-party electoral system to guide us.

Simply put, we cannot afford to act dogmatically and ignore the surge in support his campaign has garnered from the working class or even the leftist policies he proposes. However, we must stress the contradictions that arise while upholding the mayoral seat in the imperial core.

We must highlight that under capitalism, reform is nothing more than a Band-Aid on an acute wound. We must act in a principled way to evaluate the position his followers occupy in relation to a socialist revolution. Within this analysis, Marxists can delineate a strategy to organize the class consciousness raised following his campaign, while not neglecting contradictions that are rooted within the preservation of the facade of democracy in the United States.

In the June 2025 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, 33-year-old Mamdani obtained 56% of the city’s ballots after ranked-choice voting, amassing over 100,000 more votes than his party rival, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. His win was a shock to Wall Street, Washington, the Zionist entity and other imperial regimes.

The chain of reactions perpetrated by the bourgeoisie and corporate media to sabotage Mamdani’s success holds significance. The communist light at the end of the tunnel brings the ruling class to their knees, even if it isn’t channeled by a socialist. How does this guide us? It exhibits that we must organize more militantly than ever before towards the abolition of the oppressive capitalist system.

Instead, Mamdani vows to introduce legislation to make New York City “more affordable.” To achieve this, he outlines his long-winded plan to freeze rent, build “more affordable” housing, create city-owned grocery stores, make fast and free public transportation, etc. This is the outstanding contradiction Marxists must identify. The violence our communities have faced over the past decade from nefarious landlords, state-sanctioned violence including police brutality, COVID-19, racism and Zionism is far beyond amending with any legislation.

The only solution is a socialist revolution. However, it seems most of his followers have failed to comprehend this imminent contradiction, allowing his campaign to thrive as a result of these empty promises. Who would have thought that if you hastily promise to allocate to workers the basic means of survival under late-stage capitalism, they will frantically follow you?

Exposing the contradictions

Mamdani also identifies within leftist spaces, which has given his followers, including those pushing towards a socialist uprising, a glimpse of hope. Minor contradictions can be identified as such. Since 2023, he has been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) organization. The NYC branch of DSA has  over 10,000 members, making it the largest of any leftist organization in the city. Although DSA aligns with socialist principles, it has also served as a direct pipeline for the faces of Democratic Party politicians: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders, etc.   

He has also been a longtime organizer in the Palestine liberation movement in the West. This space allowed him to draw support from prominent organizations after the Gaza solidarity college encampments were erected across the state. Despite this, he has maintained that the Zionist entity has a right to exist.

He has sustained the idea of a rise in antisemitism, which we know to be an attack on anti-Zionist behavior. Regardless of these implications, this language is antithetical to Al Thawabet (Palestinian principles for liberation), which has structured global resistance for all, especially Westerners, to adopt. Although these aren’t the primary contradictions of Mamdani, they are the result of the space he occupies as a politician.

Where we go from here

The most important action Marxists can take is organizing his followers, especially those in favor of a socialist revolution, once they are ultimately dissatisfied with his limitations to alleviate capitalism’s grasp of their material conditions. Not only did he receive over half a million votes in the primaries, but moreover he has amassed over 50,000 individual volunteers who have spread his campaign into every nook and cranny of the city.

These individuals now possess unique tools, such as speaking to their communities about class injustice, organizing labor unions, rallying the masses, etc. The remaining conflict is that they still rely on electoralism under capitalism for liberation. 

However, the more that time passes, the more that contradictions will be unveiled. This will bring about questions regarding something greater, especially from his younger supporters. This is where the movement must pick up the slack. We must be able to answer those who are eager for rebellion but don’t know where to go. To do this, we must look no further than to what radicalized us to help guide their consciousness.