NEW YORK — Zohran Mamdani’s front-running campaign to lead the nation’s largest city is stoking fear among moderate Democrats that his far-left politics will cost them at the ballot box.
They worry a Mamdani mayoralty will deepen an existential crisis for a party desperate to win back power in Congress — simultaneously handing Republicans a cudgel to paint their moderate opponents as socialists and encouraging hard-left copy cat candidates to primary Democratic incumbents, potentially pushing the party further to the left.
Republicans are giving the 33-year-old democratic socialist a starring role in digital ads and fundraising appeals — affixing him to moderate Democrats who represent swing seats in the New York City suburbs and nationwide.
A video this month by the House GOP’s campaign arm warned that Democrats “want to turn America into a socialist, crime-filled dystopia” and features a clip of Mamdani discussing the “abolition of private property.”
“I’ve never seen Republicans more giddy about the idea of a socialist mayor of New York City,” said former Nassau County executive Laura Curran, a Democrat. “They’re more excited about this than Mamdani’s followers or supporters.”
Republican attacks are only part of Democrats’ growing Mamdani problem, though.
His allies with the Democratic Socialists of America, emboldened by the state assemblymember’s upset victory in the June primary, are signaling primary challenges up and down the ballot — including against party chieftains like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Mamdani’s likely November victory comes at a problematic time for Democrats, who are trying to claw their way back to national relevance after President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. They fear a Mamdani win will stifle efforts next year to flip crucial GOP-held House seats and cost vulnerable incumbents their jobs, according to interviews with a dozen Democratic elected officials, leaders and party operatives.
While Democratic socialists are on the verge of a high-profile victory in a deep blue metropolis, that success stands to be curdled by Trump’s vow to exert more federal power over American cities. Trump’s focus on urban crime has further driven a wedge into a party struggling to find its identity. And Mamdani’s since-qualified support for slashing police budgets while pushing to increase taxes on rich people to pay for services like free bus fare and child care has put Democratic officials on edge as their party’s nominee barrels into the general election with a comfortable polling lead.
Trump has already activated the National Guard in Los Angeles and Washington and signaled he intends to send it into Chicago, a city led by democratic socialist Mayor Brandon Johnson. He has also floated New York City as a potential target for federal law enforcement oversight, a prospect both Gov. Kathy Hochul and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams have thus far rebuffed.
Democrats more broadly have not developed a cohesive strategy for countering Republican broadsides or fending off DSA-backed primary bids. There is an acknowledgement, though, that moderates must distance themselves from Mamdani as soon as possible.
The Mamdani campaign is suggesting this is a mistake, saying that moderates should jump on board and follow his example.
“The facts are pretty clear: Zohran won the most votes of any candidate in primary history, galvanized thousands of new and first time voters, and did all that while running on a consistent, relentless agenda of affordability,” Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec said in a statement. “It’s important to note that the substance of Zohran’s policies — not just the style and delivery — was responsive to the affordability crisis people are feeling.”
The possibility of his leading City Hall has fueled donations to at least five super PACs that formed to stop Mamdani’s candidacy. A group that backed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s primary bid reported $1.3 million in contributions this month, including a $500,000 donation from cosmetics heir William Lauder.
Consultants running those super PACs have warned about Mamdani’s impact on the party in apocalyptic terms.
“Mamdani is the greatest threat to Democrats probably since Ronald Reagan because he’s everything Democrats have been accused of being and in fact is — to the extreme,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime New York Democratic operative who is advising one of the anti-Mamdani groups. “Republican ad makers will know what to do with this.”
Centrist Democrats acknowledge the mayoral hopeful has successfully tapped into voters’ widespread frustration with the cost of living in a deeply expensive city — even as they distance themselves from his solutions like government-run supermarkets.
Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen, whose swing House seat on Long Island will be a top target for Republicans next year, called Mamdani “too extreme to lead New York City.”
Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose district covers parts of suburban Long Island and Queens, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed days after Mamdani’s victory that the nominee is “a charismatic, smart and effective campaigner with whom I disagree.”
“Democrats can embrace the need to address the people’s angst about the economy and affordability, without embracing the socialism of Mr. Mamdani or the extremism of Mr. Trump,” he added.
Walking that narrow line will be difficult for Democrats next year as they try to win control of the narrowly divided House. Elected lawmakers are bracing for a year in which they’ll be slammed by Republicans over Mamdani’s policies and potentially face DSA-supported challenges on their left flanks.
“I’ll have a competitor to my left who will try to paint me as MAGA and then I’ll have to come back in the general election with an opponent who will want to paint me as a far lefty,” said a House Democrat who was granted anonymity to speak frankly about the dynamic.
DSA members are feeling “energized and optimistic” though, and the group’s New York City chapter has seen an increase in interest from potential candidates seeking an endorsement for 2026, NYC-DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo said. He didn’t rule out backing a challenge to Jeffries — in fact, he didn’t rule out anything.
“We’re basically looking at districts where Zohran did well in the primary, and that's quite a lot of New York, so we haven't narrowed it down too much,” Gordillo said.
As for 2025, polls have shown Mamdani handily leading his more moderate opponents with mainline Democratic resumes, including Adams, a retired police captain, and Cuomo, a party scion. Both are running as independents. Yet despite Mamdani’s safe polling position, he is deeply controversial among New York voters.
An August AARP/Gotham Polling survey found 42 percent of likely New York City voters hold a very unfavorable view of him. His polarizing criticism of Israel and past statements supporting defunding the police have made him even more unpopular outside of the city with suburban New Yorkers. A recent Siena College poll found 50 percent of suburban voters have an unfavorable opinion of him.
That sentiment has trickled down to local-level races in bellwether Nassau County, where Mamdani has been featured in Republican mailers.
“Moderate Democrats have to forge their own path — make clear what their policy distinctions are, where they agree and disagree,” New York Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs said. “Don’t let the Republicans get away with this demonizing that they do when they find a convenient bogeyman like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Bill de Blasio, and now Mamdani.”
It’s that concern that has kept party leaders like Jeffries from endorsing Mamdani, even though the Democratic nominee won the minority leader’s Central Brooklyn district by 12 percentage points in the final round of ranked-choice voting in the primary.
Some Mamdani allies argue the way to counter Republican criticism is to embrace the could-be mayor, in the same way moderate members of the GOP have stood behind another polarizing figure: Trump.
“It would be a lot easier if Democrats rallied around the Democratic nominee and showed voters they were invested in Zohran’s success and the success of New York City,” said Rebecca Katz, a strategist for Democratic congressional campaigns who advised Mamdani in the primary. “Republicans are seizing on this not just because they think Zohran is a lefty but because they see weakness from Democratic leaders.”
Yet much like Trump-backed Republican primary challenges, Democrats fear intraparty races — in this case fueled by DSA-supported candidates who want to become the next Mamdani. State Sen. Jessica Ramos, who endorsed Cuomo in the primary, is already being challenged by DSA-allied Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas.
Ocasio-Cortez’s upset victory in 2018 over Rep. Joe Crowley led to a wave of DSA-aligned primaries. Longtime state lawmakers, who rarely faced a competitive general election, lost their jobs after being successfully challenged by left-flank opponents.
“The Mamdani success is going to encourage a lot of DSA candidates for a variety of seats up and down New York state,” said David Greenfield, a former New York City Council member who now leads the Met Council, a Jewish charity. “The caveat is they are not Zohran Mamdani. He’s a unique personality, charismatic and exceptionally hard working.”
Some Democrats believe Mamdani’s message can be co-opted. His affordability platform — including a controversial rent-freeze proposal — translated to a wave of first-time voters and a reshaped city electorate.
“People have become so focused on Zohran as the messenger,” said Democratic state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. “But I think as Democrats we need to pay attention to his message where he talks about the fact that the city of New York and many other parts of the state are just unaffordable.”
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