Washington Examiner Chief Political Correspondent Byron York said the most powerful section of the Democratic Party is the progressives, highlighting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“Obviously, the most powerful part of the Democratic Party now is the progressive wing, which until a couple of weeks ago was the AOC-Bernie wing; now it’s the AOC, Bernie, [Zohran] Mamdani wing,” York said on Fox News’s Hannity.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic-socialist, won the New York City Mayoral race and received 50.4% of the vote, beating independent and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Silwa.
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Republicans were quick to capitalize on Mamdani’s win, with numerous members of Congress sending out emails tying the Democratic Socialist to leaders in the Democratic Party. This provides an early indication of the Republicans’ messaging strategy going into the 2026 midterm elections.
York said Mamdani is going to be a target for “every single Republican” who is running for office near New York City.
“One of the reasons, by the way, that he is taking this leadership role is because … Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer, and the legacy of Joe Biden, and a number of other really old Democratic lawmakers that the sense the party had become a gerontocracy,” York said.
“And one thing that Mamdani does really represent is youthful energy,” York added.
Mamdani drew strong support from voters under 30 years old, with 78% of them voting for him, according to the Fox News Voter Poll.
York said he does not think Mamdani will bring in the same money into the Democratic Party, when asked if Mamdani will be the new “cash cow” following Pelosi’s retirement announcement.
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“Nancy Pelosi just really was a huge leader in Washington, leading the whole party in Washington at times, responsible for things like Obamacare, which dominated the policy landscape for a decade now,” York said.
“I don’t see [Mamdani] playing that big of a role,” York added.