Tuesday’s results leave Republicans reeling as Democrats consolidated power in governors’ offices, state courts, attorney general seats, and city halls, reshaping political dynamics in three key states ahead of the midterms and the 2028 election. The outcome also represents a major defeat for President Donald Trump, who worked frantically to rally support for Republicans and even issued threats in an attempt to defeat Mamdani.
This is my take. Personally, I am happy Mamdani won.
And I can see that people want to celebrate.
But the cold facts are that, in the middle of a shut down, with the President in a state of obvious dementia, a Left candidate in the Bluest city in the nation barely squeaked past a known molester.
Here’s why I still think of it as a win: It’s not just the contest between two people, or their ideas, or their backgrounds. What you really have to look at is the contest between the propaganda and the budgets. The simple fact is that a lot of voters aren’t that involved, they vote based on word of mouth or advertising, not by looking into the backgrounds of those they’re voting for.
Cuomo outspent Mamdani 4 to 1. Billionaires and politicians went all out to attack Mamdani. Many painted apocalyptic pictures. If you look at those more distant contests, where someone won by a wider margin, I would bet that the advertising and endorsements weren’t so lopsided either.
This isn’t a win for Democrats or Mamdani, this is a win for word of mouth campaigning. This is a win for people being so sick of what’s on offer that many ignored the dire warnings of billionaires and politicians. That’s some good news I can get behind.