Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said Monday that the New York mayoral election has more possible “downsides” for the socialist members of the Democratic Party.
Mamdani’s victory in the Big Apple’s Democratic primary mayoral election has garnered national attention, with some questioning if the party could embrace socialism more. York said younger Democratic voters are expressing more interest in socialism but added that the movement could hit a speed bump if Mamdani ends up losing.
“If Mamdani wins the mayorality in New York, which I think he will if nobody else drops out of the race, if he wins it, people will say, ‘Well, that’s New York,’” York said on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom.
“But if he loses, look at somebody like AOC,” York said. “She is elected to Congress from a district that includes parts of the Bronx and Queens. She can get elected there. But if Mamdani, who shares her views, cannot even get elected citywide in New York, much less statewide in New York state, or nationwide in the United States, I think that’s going to show the weaknesses and the small size of the Democratic socialist movement.”
Three other candidates are running for mayor this November: incumbent Eric Adams, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
York said it is harder to make a case for Cuomo to keep running because Adams is the “sitting mayor” running as an independent, while Republicans have earned around 300,000 votes in previous mayoral elections.
In the latest polls, Mamdani received 35% of support while the other three mayoral candidates received a combined total of around 52% and 13% are undecided. York said this would be a “really weird electoral result,” but Mamdani would win if this becomes a reality.
MAMDANI VS EVERYBODY: SOCIALIST NYC MAYOR CANDIDATE HAS ALL SIDES RISING TO TAKE HIM ON
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, said Sunday that the New York election could indicate the Democratic Party will lean toward a more “socialist wing.” He said his party’s victory in both New York and Los Angeles preceded the 1994 “revolutions of the Republicans. “
Adams trails both Cuomo and Sliwa in polling but said last week that he intends to “mobilize a million new voters” to take on Mamdani. The mayor has highlighted his attempt to appeal to Jewish voters on social media, including inviting the Jewish community to his mansion and interviewing comedian Zach Sage Fox.