What Is the ‘Democratic Socialism’ That Got Zohran Mamdani Elected NYC Mayor?
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New York City has elected a democratic socialist as its next mayor.
Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assembly member, took the city by storm with his new-age campaign and promises that offered a glimmer of hope in New York’s tunnel of unaffordability.
He made history by becoming the city’s first Muslim and first Asian American mayor.
Highlights
- Zohran Mamdani became NYC's first Muslim and Asian American mayor, representing a major milestone in progressive politics.
- Mamdani’s platform includes free city buses, universal childcare, rent freezes, and a higher minimum wage for working people.
- Democratic socialism emphasizes extending democracy into the economy.
- Rising inequality and unaffordability in NYC have fueled support for democratic socialism, resonating strongly with younger voters.
- Mamdani credits Bernie Sanders for shaping his politics, highlighting democratic socialism as a fight for economic justice and equality.
Mamdani’s victory represents a turning point for the city’s progressive politics, and it has sparked a new national debate about what “democratic socialism” really means.
New York’s new mayor Zohran Mamdani describes himself as a democratic socialist
Image credits: Andrew Lichtenstein/Getty Images
Mamdani ran on a platform centered around affordability and dignity for working people. His campaign promises included free city bus services, universal childcare, frozen rents, and a higher minimum wage.
At his campaign rally, Mamdani stood alongside prominent progressive figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both of whom also identify as democratic socialists.
Together, they represented a growing movement within the Democratic Party that calls for deeper government involvement in addressing inequality.
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Mamdani quoted the early 20th-century socialist Eugene Debs in his acceptance speech and spoke about doing more for “working people” as opposed to the rich.
What democratic socialism means
There is no single definition of democratic socialism, but its central idea is that democracy should extend beyond politics and into the economy.
Democratic socialists believe that key industries such as health care and utilities should be regulated to serve the public good instead of private profit.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the organization Mamdani belongs to, describes its mission: “We want to collectively own the key economic drivers that dominate our lives, such as energy production and transportation.”
Image credits: Democratic Socialists of America
“As we are unlikely to see an immediate end to capitalism tomorrow, DSA fights for reforms today that will weaken the power of corporations and increase the power of working people,” their website explains, advocating for Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.
Mamdani quoted Martin Luther King Jr., who was also a democratic socialist, while explaining his definition of the ideology to CNN’s Erin Burnett.
“He [King] said, call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country,” Mamdani said, quoting MLK Jr.
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Republicans, including U.S. President Donald Trump, have called Mamdani a communist during the campaign, a label he firmly rejects.
“The communists, Marxists, and globalists had their chance, and they delivered nothing but disaster, and now let’s see how a communist does in New York. We’re going to see how that works out,” Trump said in November.
“We skipped socialist and we put in a communist instead,” Trump repeated during the same speech.
Republicans have labeled Mamdani a ‘communist,’ a label he firmly rejects
Mamdani has repeatedly denied being a communist, including in a viral Instagram video where a person can be heard shouting “communist” as Mamdani hops on a bicycle. “It’s pronounced cyclist,” Mamdani responded.
Democratic socialism differs sharply from communism.
Communism, as described by Karl Marx, envisions a classless society achieved through revolution and the abolition of private property. Communism saw a sharp decline in popularity due to economic inefficiency and authoritarianism within communist governments.
Democratic socialism, in contrast, is set in a democracy. “Democratic socialists believe in elections, the First Amendment—[they] want ordinary people to have more power in a more democratic system,” Michael Kazin, a professor of History at Georgetown University, told Time magazine.
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“In communist countries, the state controls everything and a small group of people control the state, a tyrannical system.”
Democratic socialists have distanced themselves from socialism and communism, which have had negative connotations in the U.S. since the Cold War era.
While democratic socialism and socialism both advocate for a redistribution of wealth and weakening the power of corporations to meet the people’s needs, their methodologies are different.
Unlike socialism, democratic socialism denies the idea that the government should take control of all aspects of the economy.
Why the movement resonates in New York
New York City has long been a hub for progressive activism, but Mamdani’s success illustrates how higher rents and an increasingly unaffordable cost of living have made many New Yorkers feel left behind.
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Polls show that support for socialism, especially among younger Americans, has grown over the past decade. A 2025 Gallup poll found that two-thirds of Democrats view socialism positively, compared to half in 2010.
American politicians associated with democratic socialism believe that a European-style welfare state can exist in a capitalist society.
Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, economist and public policy analyst, told Democracy Now, “In Europe [democratic socialism] is called social democracy, sometimes called the welfare state.”
Ideas supported by American social democrats include labor reforms, tuition-free public universities, universal health care, federal jobs programs, and fair taxation policies.
These are achieved by making loopholes that the wealthiest citizens have found inaccessible and taxing them more heavily.
“What democratic socialists want is closer to what exists in Scandinavia or Iceland, expanding what Europeans talk about — a large welfare state in a capitalist society,” Kazin explained.
Many such countries have been successful examples of democratic socialism. For instance, Scandinavian countries regularly top the world satisfaction indices. Their policies include social welfare programs, universal health care, and education.
Mamdani’s victory marks the biggest victory yet for the democratic socialist movement in the U.S. “It was Bernie’s campaign for the presidency in 2016 that gave me the language of democratic socialism to describe my politics,” Mamdani said in September.
Mamdani describes his politics using Bernie Sanders’ and Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideologies
Image credits: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
“Democratic socialism, to me, is creating a government and an economy and a society which works for all rather than just the top 1%. It means ending the absurd inequalities that exist today,” Sanders said, defining the term in a 2019 Fox News interview.
While Mamdani’s ideas won him the election, his administration’s ability to deliver on promises like free buses and rent freezes will determine whether democratic socialism becomes more than a slogan in U.S. politics.
“Those are not radical ideas. They are ideas that a vast majority of the American people understand to be right,” Sanders said after Mamdani was elected.
But they also depend highly on support from the New York State Assembly and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“I think people are going to really want to talk about socialism if some of these policy changes actually start coming into effect,” Teen Vogue politics editor Lex McMenamin said.
“And so what could happen in New York over the next year could make a big change for people in all 50 states.”