Why Zohran Mamdani won -- from people who actually helped make it happen.

Recommended: An episode of Jacobin's podcast "The Dig" that spends two hours talking to DSA organizers about this and other campaigns.

Photo: Zohran for New York City

If you want to understand how and why Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic Party primary in New York City, you’ve got choices. You can read the pundits at the New York Times, few of whom thought in the beginning that he could win and few of whom wanted him to win; you can read The Wall Street Journal if you want to know what an alleged disaster a Mamdani mayoralty would be for New York; or you can read New York Magazine, where liberal commenters are more likely to speak well of him.

I suppose this would be a radical suggestion, but you could also listen to the people directly involved in Mamdani’s campaign, for example organizers for Democratic Socialists of America, with which he is closely affiliated. Fortunately, that is actually possible. Check out “The Dig,” the left/socialist podcast sponsored by Jacobin magazine, and hosted by Daniel Denvir. The July 1 episode was actually entitled “How Zohran Won w/ NYC DSA” and you can access it at the link I have just provided.

The podcast is about two hours long, and discusses in exquisite detail not only Mamdani’s campaign, but previous electoral campaigns DSA has run in New York—some of which they have actually won (Julia Salazar’s successful bid for New York State Senator in the 18th District was an early triumph.)

Here is the blurb for the podcast:

“Featuring NYC DSA co-chairs Gustavo Gordillo and Grace Mausser on how Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic mayoral primary. NYC DSA spent years building an electoral juggernaut that has now made history and offers a model for the left everywhere across the United States. A behind-the-scenes look at how NYC DSA and the Zohran campaign did it!”

Whether you like Mamdani and hope he will be New York City’s mayor or not, I hope you will enjoy the youthful enthusiasm of Gordillo and Mausser as they explain how they did it, how socialist politics are not necessarily a loser, and how they might do it again—and again.

Daniel Denvir

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