Mamdani win exposes New York Democrats' turmoil

THE excitement that greeted Zohran Mamdani this weekend at an annual gathering of New York lawmakers and power brokers in San Juan, Puerto Rico was effusive.

- LAURA NAHMIAS

ZOHRAN Mamdani's win in New York City has made a lot of the state's traditional Democrats feel decidedly uncomfortable.

(AFP)

But that excitement at the Somos el Futuro conference couldn’t mask the fault lines that his decisive win in last week’s mayoral election exposed within the state’s Democratic party.

Divisions over taxation, immigration and Israel will be tested in almost every major political contest next year. A growing list of Democratic incumbents will face challenges from the Left, where Mamdani’s improbable win is emboldening progressive candidates.

In San Juan, Governor Kathy Hochul — who has to win her own primary before she can compete for reelection against Republican Elise Stefanik — struggled to juggle the enthusiasm for Mamdani’s policies with their fiscal reality.

The Democrat, who endorsed Mamdani, a democratic socialist, had to bat off the pressure to submit to his supporters, who bombarded her with chants of “tax the rich!”

Instead, the governor - who has repeatedly said she would not raise taxes — threw cold water on those demands, aimed at convincing her to fund Mamdani’s ambitious social programmes with higher levies on millionaires and corporations.