The Mamdani moment

0:00My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty. Zohran Mamdani will be New York City's 111th mayor. He celebrated his win last night by thanking some of his constituents. I speak of Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas.

0:21Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek nurses.

0:27Trinidadian lime cooks and Ethiopian aunties. In other races last night in New Jersey, in Virginia, the Democratic candidates weren't firebrands like Mamdani, but they won anyway. Reporters asked President Trump about the little blue wave this morning. We had an interesting evening and we learned a lot. Coming up on Today Explained, have the Democrats learned how to stop losing?

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2:12Stand clear at the closing doors, please. The next stop will be today explained. Today explained will be next. Stand clear. Vox's Ested Herndon, you were in New York City last night covering everything. Tell me what happened. Yeah, I was in New York City for the last step of what has been a come from nowhere political story, a historic moment. Zora Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblyman who, as of two, three years ago, had very little presence on certainly the national stage and even the state level, you know, ended the Andrew Cuovo political dynasty. and, you know, is going to become one of the youngest mayors in New York City's history and the first Muslim mayor in the city's history.

2:57Mamdani really benefited from a huge voter turnout. There was almost 2 million voters, similar levels to presidential levels that we saw last year, and the highest turnout in the New York City mayoral race in decades. Mamdani! Mamdani! Mamdani! Mamdani! You were talking Mamdani voters last night. You were out in the streets. You were at a couple of parties. Where did you go and what did you hear? We went to Astoria, the neighborhood in Queens that is part of Mamdani's district, but also, I think, a place that represents the hue of the Mamdani coalition. And we were talking to a lot of folks yesterday who talked about voting in the mayor's race for the first time, talking about being excited by his kind of longstanding advocacy, particularly on the pro-Palestinian cause.

3:41But the thing I most remember is how much the word authenticity came up over and over. More of the kind of right, left. Like the backroom wheeling and dealing, that stuff is over. I think honest messaging is important. I think it was genuine with his intentions and he could understand the general public. There was a sense that the guy we see is the guy we know and we've known for a long time. We talked to one person about how she remembers Mamdani years ago when he was working with cab drivers as a state assemblyman. He got like a whole coalition of cab drivers in our area. And like they were all like swagged out cabs, like basically like this, you know.

4:20The fact that all the cab drivers were mobilized, all the yellow cabs were just like lit up all over the avenue up and down. We were like, OK, you know. And that was here. So that's before. Yeah, that's before. So from there, we've just kind of had an eye. I think that's beyond right and left, but really having a sense and trust of a person and that really driving your connection to them. All right. So the question is, how did he do it? This young guy comes out of nowhere. Nobody really knows who he is. He then goes on to dominate the Democratic primaries to completely unsettle Andrew Cuomo and at the end of the day to win.

4:53How? Well, this is something he manifested. No one asked or I'm Donnie the Run. He really saw an opportunity to step in to a moment where he felt that his life had kind of built him to being able to bring together these different coalitions. And we won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now it is something that we do. When I asked Mamdani how did he put kind of particularly his primary rise together, he says he started with three different groups. He thinks about his association with the Democratic Socialists of America. Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism, there has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country.

5:35He also talks about his association with the Muslim Democratic Club of America. That campaigns he's been a part of throughout that group had taught him about reaching out to Muslim and South Asian groups. And that kind of growing coalition, that growing community in the city, he felt was an untapped political resource and a place that could really rally around him. The third thing I think is important is what he calls the root of his political formation, which is his pro-Palestinian advocacy. This is someone who started a chapter for Students for Justice in Palestine in college. This is someone who has been part of those organizing efforts over the year and most recently was part of the Democratic movement to push back against Joe Biden in terms of voting uncommitted in New York.

6:18And I said time and time again that my concerns beyond those of just moral ones with the administration's support of the Netanyahu government was that it was turning many away from an election where we so desperately needed to build a coalition to defeat Donald Trump. Because he is an early advocate for a ceasefire, because he is an early critic of Democrats standing with Netanyahu, that drives people toward him in the early stages of that primary and the way that other folks really weren't able to do. The other way that Mamdani stuck out, of course, is through his use of social media. I'm freezing.

6:51Your rep is the next mayor of New York City. Let's plunge into the details. My team says I move my hands too much in these videos. So for this one, they're staying in my pocket. And I would say it's important to note that this was very intentional. When I talked to people who were connecting with Zoran during his kind of early stages of the race, he was saying, I know I'm going to be outraised in terms of money. I'm going to have to create a movement that also exists online. He studied AOC and her digital communication. This is someone who is the son of a filmmaker, was really interested in the ways of those early storytelling.

7:24Someone who had a previous rap career and has thought about music videos and things like that. And he was really coming into this race thinking, how do I make sure I'm not just creating a field organization, but a digital organization? Mamdani's views on Palestine benefited him, it seems, a lot with young voters. But they also raised questions about whether his views would be a liability in New York City with a lot of Jews, right? A lot of Jewish voters. How did he handle that? And what are the results last night telling us about whether New York's Jews trust Mamdani? It is undeniable that Andrew Cuomo was able to drive up votes, particularly among the kind of Republican and more conservative strongholds in New York City, in the Orthodox community.

8:09It's true that among kind of younger Jewish voters, particularly in places like Brooklyn, there were a lot of voters who saw no problem with their own faith and identity and voting for Zoran Mamdani. And so it's a little, I think, more nuanced than just saying, you know, are there pockets of New York that have found Mamdani not willing to stand up for their community? Certainly. And you have seen that kind of pushback. But he has made a point, and I think even in his speech last night, he made a point to say, you know, I look forward to standing with Jewish New Yorkers to stand up against anti-Semitism.

8:42And we will build a city hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of anti-Semitism. You profiled Mamdani for your former employer, The New York Times. And in your big piece, you wrote that you were struck by the fact that he adapted his strategy to keep his momentum going after he did so well in the primaries. Talk about what that adaptation looked like and what it got him. A lot of kind of more establishment corporate Democrats are currently dealing with right now the balance between winning and values. But there's been a lot of kind of left progressive folks who have prioritized values over winning.

9:27And what Mondani says is that that is a mistake. He would say, particularly for the role of mayor, it's not one that rewards rigidity. And so you have to sort of compromise. And so after the primary, Mondani and his campaign made a concerted effort to show that. And so this is mostly happening in private. He is following up with a lot of business leaders. He is reaching out to members of the tech community. And he was holding kind of small get-to-know-you sessions, even at his campaign, where folks could ask him direct questions. Now, I think the interesting part of this thing is in these private meetings, he was willing to kind of present a, I would say, more pragmatic part of himself.

10:07Not necessarily as a Jekyll and Hyde from the primary, but I really think as an evolution that took place for him over time. By the time he was running for mayor, he was willing to make these compromises. And he was telling folks in public and private. I think that includes things like being willing to step away from the millionaire's tax if he could find money and resources other places. He also importantly said, and I think I heard this repeatedly, that he would not have litmus tests for the people he surrounds himself with, that he wanted a sort of team of rivals and that even issues like his pro-Palestinian advocacy would not be make or breaks for people in city hall.

10:43And so those were the kind of pivots he was willing to do to tell people, I understand the role that I am stepping into and I am willing to kind of make my values fit into that role. Even as Mamdani was adapting and evolving, President Trump became kind of a specter instead hovering over this race. He had a lot to say about Mamdani. And in fact, last night, I was reading that midway through Mamdani's acceptance speech, Trump went on Truth Social and wrote, and so it begins in all capital letters, dot, dot, dot. I mean, what is going on between these two men? And how do you see this playing out as Mamdani takes office?

11:24Well, for the, you know, Trump feels a personal ownership of New York, not just a personal investment in New York City. This is someone who's a Florida resident in name and taxes only. But his heart is still in Manhattan. And I think he sees Bumdani as a worthy foe. I think he sees him as someone who has represented the ways the city changes. It's going to be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York. because if you have a communist running New York, all you're doing is wasting the money you're sending there. And Donald Trump, I think, more than the Republican Party at large, is personally invested in pushing back against them.

12:06And so when you see Mamdani yesterday in that speech, you know, turn and talk directly to Donald Trump and say, you know, you're going to have to go through all of us. When you see him kind of speak directly to Trump on Fox News, That is because he is inviting a fight that they are preparing for and a fight that they frankly feel is inevitable. All right. So this was one of the first big races since the 2024 election when President Trump won. One of the first big races that we're told can sort of tell us how the Democratic Party is doing. What are the lessons from this race, do you think? I think there's several.

12:44You know, I was really up close to the Democratic Party's retreat from working class Americans. I saw it. I felt it. I could feel them increasingly become obsessed with things that were not tangible to people. Things like representation being their deliverable for Black and Latino communities over kitchen table economic prices style things, stepping away from unions, things like that. And I think what Mamdani is, one of the lessons of Mamdani is a return to a type of politics that people can feel. And I think beyond the kind of right, left center of it all, that's a lesson that Democrats can take in.

13:26Part of that authenticity that we were hearing people liked about him from the watch party comes not only in the consistency of his beliefs, but the fact that his policies are targeted at those same communities who powered his rise. And so more, I think, than even the values that Mamdani holds, I think there is a broader lesson that one way, the way you build trust, the way you build authenticity is by coming from a place where you're shaping your policies around your actual beliefs. What Mamdani does is start from his premise. And so, you know, when I'm at that rally and he says, freeze the, and the crowd can reply.

14:09Or, you know, make buses fast and they can reply. That reminds me of the moment at the Trump rally where he says, build the wall. There's a tangible expectation that the value itself is what's driving the policy and voters can latch on to it. And I'm saying that's, I think, a lesson is to be able to have things that people can feel and people can be excited about.

14:39Vox's Ested Herndon. You want to stick around for the second half? Yeah, let's do it. All right. We're going to talk about the results of some other big races last night.

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18:35Mr. Mamdani. There are many parades that I would not be attending because I'd be focusing on... Today Explained. I'm Noelle King, back with Vox's Ested Herndon. Ested, there were a couple of other big races around the country last night, and the results have got people talking about a blue wave. What happened? Last night was a great night if you had a D next to the end of your name, And that's not something we could have said for a long time. Beyond New York City, Democrats won two headline governor's races in New Jersey, where Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill was successful. Sherrill defeated President Trump back to Republican Jack Cittarelli by an estimated 13 percentage point.

19:17Here in New Jersey, we know that this nation has not ever been, nor will it ever be, ruled by kings. And in Virginia, where Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger will become the first woman to be governor, if that's a commonwealth, as they like to remind us, not a state. We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship.

19:53We chose our Commonwealth over chaos. Even beyond that, there were two Democrats who won statewide in Georgia. The first time that that has happened in a very long time. In local races, flips from R to D. And in California, importantly, Governor Gavin Newsom's gambit about redistricting, which gives Democrats there the opportunity to draw new congressional maps and combat Republican tactics in places like Texas passed overwhelmingly as well. Tonight, after poking the bear, this bear roared. The results, I think, confirm the evidence of the polling data as well, which is that there is a broad discontent with Trump's second term.

20:36The sequel is not as popular as the original. And in the key areas, particularly his handling of the economy, of prices, of discontent around tariffs, Donald Trump has taken what has been his best issue as kind of a safe and prosperous manager of country and made it among his worst. And Democrats were able to seize on that all across the country. Let's talk about the two big races you mentioned, the governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia. Mikey Sherrill wins in New Jersey. Abigail Spanberger wins in Virginia. These two women have some stuff in common, not just that they won last night. Tell us about them and what they tell us about the Democrats.

21:18So Cheryl and Spanberger are both members of the same class in the Democratic House of Representatives. They came in in 2018 in that wave against kind of Trump's first election. They really embodied, I think, Democrats' first attempts and first efforts at resistance. They both have national security backgrounds in the Navy and in the CIA, and they've really led with that. I think these campaigns represent kind of the early seeds of showing how the more centrist wing, the more moderate wing of Democrats, has even started to stretch some new muscles. Cheryl in New Jersey really focused on electricity and bringing down those prices.

21:55As a 20 percent utility rate hike crushes New Jersey families. Day one as governor, I'm declaring a state of emergency on utility costs. In Virginia, Spanberger really focused on the contraction of the federal government and the ways that, you know, the firing of government employees particularly affected folks in Virginia. These are attacks on Virginians and on our economy, and we need a governor who will stand up against them. That was successful there. And so put New Jersey and Virginia together. And it wasn't just a good night for progressives and the Momdanis of the world. It was a good night for, I would say, the moderate wing of the party as well and just Democrats broadly.

22:33As said, we have heard both Sheryl and Spanberger called 2018 Democrats, right? They're moderate. They're suburban. They're not super interesting. They're not lightning rods for anything. And there was some analysis that said in 2025, you need a candidate like Mamdani. You need a lightning rod. These two women seem to have proved something different here. So what are the lessons here about what kind of candidate works for the Dems? Well, the answer is all the above. I don't think that anyone can blanket say that a 2018 Democrat cannot work in 2025. But I think it's also important that who Sheryl and Spanberger were represented a different type of Democrat than I think they were in 2018.

23:19And that time, the focus was largely on Donald Trump, his actions, and not necessarily presenting an affirmative vision on their own. I think both of those candidates did so and made a point to not simply be running against Donald Trump's actions. What we will do this November is not just vote against something, but we will vote for the policies that we believe in. I also would say Democrats and I think the parties in general have multiple fights at once, and particularly in statewide races and in races where there is a competitive Republican on the other side. The issue of electability of someone being so-called less of a lightning rod or less controversial is it becomes more important.

24:04Voters want to find someone who maybe can reach out to the other side. There simply aren't enough Democrats in places like Virginia for you to not be able to win over folks with some more conservative leanings. And so, you know, that is going to produce a different type of candidate in the Virginias and New Jerseys than it would in the New York City election. But I would also say that Donald Trump won the popular vote because of Democrats' erosion in blue areas also. And so it's not as if they can choose candidate that does well in suburbs over candidate that does well in city. You know, the Democrats' national success has come from when they've found candidates who can do all of the above or at least minimize the worst of some of those things.