Socialism runs the table in New York

Who saw anti-Israel socialism arriving as the breakout political movement of 2026? When Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race in 2025, he prevailed over Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of the state (and son of a former governor) and the African American incumbent, Eric Adams. It was something of a shock to see a young assemblyman with almost no real work history rising to such a high office so quickly. Now, in the wake of a clean sweep of New York Congressional primaries by candidates endorsed by the young self-avowed socialist mayor, we have moved from a singular event to a broader phenomenon. Mamdani has very quickly managed to translate his platform into an emerging movement.

In 1989, the Soviet Union began its epic collapse as the Berlin Wall fell and satellite countries began to reclaim their independence. The disintegration of history’s most prominent Marxist state led to a change in American politics as Democrats tacked to the right. Arkansas Gov. and Rhodes Scholar Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992 as a centrist “New Democrat.” His platform was pro-business and pro-fiscal discipline. While he achieved re-election and successfully weathered scandals, the business-oriented New Democrats were short lived.

The next Democrat to win the presidency was Barack Obama, who, perhaps ironically, was often accused of being the Muslim socialist Zohran Mamdani unquestionably is. While Obama did not run or govern as a socialist, it was understood that in his younger years he was attracted by the hard left and perhaps nurtured a continuing affection for it. What was not possible for Obama to pursue, assuming he had the inclination, has been increasingly normalized by figures such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Mayor Mamdani and his slate of successful candidates now represent a kind of early culmination.

This week, Mayor Mamdani successfully pushed three socialist candidates to victory in their Democratic primaries, which will almost certainly take them to victory in November. Assuming the self-identified American socialists continue to knock off mere “progressives” in favor of their more frankly labeled objective, it is not difficult to foresee that there will be a day when we will observe the official formation of a socialist caucus or democratic socialist caucus in Congress.

There is an interesting added element. Beyond the push for collectivism and redistribution, these American socialists are quite clear about their opposition to the state of Israel. Mamdani’s candidates, including the ethnically Jewish Brad Lander, were unsparing in their attacks on Israel as the culpable party in the Palestinian conflict. There is perhaps a bit of historical irony in the situation since modern Israel operated as a social democracy for its first three decades and featured the leadership of the democratic socialist David Ben-Gurion.

The United States has a highly binary political system that makes it almost impossible for third parties to flourish or to gain any significant power. As an example, the Green party sometimes attracted support from the left but never enough to really matter other than the fact that it likely cost the Democrat environmental crusader Al Gore (another irony) the presidency in 2000. Obviously, such a result is punitive to fellow travelers.

Democratic socialists such as Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders have shrewdly decided instead to operate within the already established Democratic Party (the oldest political party in the United States). Instead of having to fight from a marginal, outsider position that is almost impossible given the nature of our system, they only have to conquer an existing institution from within. What the Democrats are discovering, at least in New York and in other major urban contexts, is that the far left exerts far more attraction to voters than might have been imagined. American politics has often involved an obsession with the ideological center as the key to victory. We are finding that there are times when the energy and bold claims of groups previously isolated can forge a new and large enough consensus to redirect power. That appears to be what we are seeing with the Democratic Socialists of America. Forget the New Democrats. Can even the more liberal progressives maintain their hold over the mainstream Democratic party? We will see.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that Donald Trump once seriously considered running for president under H. Ross Perot’s Reform party banner, which featured Pat Buchanan (often considered a signal for Trump) in 2000. Trump abandoned his earlier interest in third party politics to go all-in on the Republican party in 2015. To the surprise of virtually everyone, he defeated many GOP establishment figures and has substantially transformed the party. Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are doing something similar in the Democrat party. There is little question that this is one of the most dynamic periods in the history of American politics.