How should we view Mamdani's election?

World media reported that according to unofficial results, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral election in New York, the largest city in the US, where millions of people cast their votes on November 4, 2025.

Mamdani's election has sparked reactions and raised numerous debates both in the US and across the world, including in Turkey.

WHY IS MAMDANI'S ELECTION IMPORTANT?

• He won the election in New York, the largest city in the US and one where class contradictions are most profound.

New York is one of the cities where income inequality and class contradictions are experienced most intensely, partly due to it being the financial and capital center of the US.

The fact that it is the center of US capitalism also increases the importance of the election.

For this reason, the election of Zohran Mamdani, who defines himself as a "Democratic Socialist," as the mayor of New York is a development of historical significance.

Mamdani emerged as a product of the existing income inequality and class contradictions in this city.

• It has shown that there is a potential for left-wing politics in the US.

The US has remained distant from the left-wing movements that developed in the world during the 19th and 20th centuries. It has a conservative political structure. Politics is managed by the so-called "Republican Party" and "Democratic Party," neither of which has any real connection to republicanism or democracy, with one on the center-right and the other in the center, while remaining loyal to the system.

The US is the hegemon of this distorted order that exploits its own citizens through capitalism and dismantles the welfare state on one hand, and exploits the world through imperialism, which is an extension of capitalism, on the other.

It should not be forgotten that by transferring a certain level of what it gains through imperialism to its own citizens, it ensures their consent to remain trapped in the gears of the system.

Contrary to all this, it is not as if there have been no observations of citizens' reactions against the order in the US in the recent past.

• One of the first indicators was the mass protests against the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999.

• The second was the mass actions called "Occupy Wall Street" that began in New York in 2011.

• The third was when US democratic socialist senator Bernie Sanders became a presidential candidate in 2016 and finished second among the candidates by receiving 43 percent of the delegates' votes in the primary.

It is possible to count these as indicators of the potential for left-wing politics that exists in the US.

WHAT WERE MAMDANI'S ELECTION PROMISES?

• To combat homelessness by building 200 thousand social housing units for rent within the next 10 years,

• To open municipal daycare centers for children between the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years,

• To establish municipal markets,

• To provide educational support to university students,

• To distribute newborn packages,

• To increase the hourly minimum wage to 30 dollars by 2030,

• To increase taxes on the wealthy and large corporations.

Mamdani proposed increasing taxes on corporations and the richest 1 percent of the city to finance his promises.

What makes his story even more special is that he has clearly taken a side not only in local issues but also in the global struggle for justice. Zohran Mamdani also stood apart from many politicians in American politics with his stance on Palestine. He is one of the rare politicians who does not hesitate to speak out against Israel's occupation and blockade policies in Gaza and the West Bank.

In short, Mamdani is a politician who energizes a new group consisting of the young innovative segment, working-class voters, and communities that are not sufficiently represented historically and sociologically.

THERE ARE FOUR VIEWS ON MAMDANI'S ELECTION VICTORY

• First; Mamdani is a leader who "calls for class war, is statist, and dangerously ideological."

According to the Washington Post; "Mamdani now sees politics not as a compromise, but as a matter of identifying class enemies and 'crushing them.'"

Mamdani divides society into "victims and oppressors" by targeting landlords who profit from tenants and bosses who exploit workers.

He builds his policy on "redistributing wealth to certain groups rather than increasing it."

And in Mamdani's speech, there is no place for the word "growth"; his claim that the state can produce solutions to every problem reflects an authoritarian understanding.

• Second: It is not realistic to interpret Mamdani's election victory as "the footsteps of socialism in America."

"The election of Mamdani against the racist Trump and his supporters and the important social rights he promises are undoubtedly good. However, just as Obama did not bring socialism to his country when he was elected, Mamdani will not (be able to) do this either. Because he is neither a socialist in the true sense, nor will he work outside the established system.

If the goal is to reduce the inequalities and injustices created by capitalism by making reforms within the system, this is not socialism. Because socialism is a system that aims to bring a new order against capitalism."

• Third: Besides being a Communist agent, Mamdani is a Soros supporter.

Trump calls Mamdani both a Communist agent and characterizes him as a Soros supporter.

According to the New York Post, which is close to Trump, "George Soros has transferred 37 million dollars to the Working Families Party and other left-wing groups that support Zohran Mamdani. US monopolies are divided into two as globalists and patriots. Patriots are represented by the Trump line, which says MAGA 'Make America Great Again.' Globalists are those who claim to continue the 'American dream.' So, Mamdani is a mayor elected by the imperialist monopoly globalist wing."

"There are also those in Turkey who follow this view. With his socialist appearance, Mamdani will actually be a successor to color revolutions."

• Fourth: Mandani's election as mayor of New York should be evaluated in terms of the existence of movements against the order.

"Mamdani's victory is an indicator of the organized development of center-left politics in the US. It may be possible for this movement to spread to other cities in the US. Moreover, it is important both in terms of lowering Trump's credit and because he is against the occupation and blockade policies that Israel continues in Gaza and the West Bank."

WHAT COULD MAMDANI'S ELECTION MEAN?

• It shows an increasing interest in social policies in American society, which is suffocated by savage capitalism; this is important in terms of pointing to the inevitable destruction of capitalism.

• The election of a politician who defines himself as a democratic socialist even in the US, where capitalism is most organized, provides morale to left-wing political movements outside the US.

• Politics being conducted on a class basis rather than through ethnicity and religious differences.

• Preventing US imperialism is possible, to some extent, with the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movement within the US.

HOW SHOULD WE VIEW MAMDANI'S ELECTION IN TERMS OF THE WORLD AND TURKEY?

European socialist or social democratic parties that lean toward right-wing policies should take Mamdani's public appearance and victory with left-wing politics as an example and draw lessons from it.

Left-wing and social democratic parties in Turkey, especially the CHP, should also evaluate and utilize the election methods used by US politicians like Sanders and Mamdani.

Moreover, they should highlight economic policies such as statism and populism that were present at their founding, rather than the rhetoric of "we govern better."