NY Mayor's Race Nice Time: Cuomo Down In Polls, Lander And Mamdani BEST FRIENDS NOW
A democratic socialist as mayor of New York maybe could really happen!
Well, here is a pleasant surprise! Ahead of the New York mayoral primary tomorrow, a new Emerson College poll shows Andrew Cuomo losing, though tightly. Whoa!
New York has a ranked voting system, and Eric Adams has dropped out of the Democratic primary to run as an independent, and New York City is one of those solid blue strongholds where the winner of the primary is generally assumed to go on and win the general. And while Cuomo has the most first-ranked ballots in the poll, at 36 percent, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has 34 percent, and city Comptroller Brad Lander has 13 percent. When third-choice Lander is eliminated, his votes mostly flow to Mamdani, putting him over Cuomo 52 to 48 percent. Even better, Mamdani is 10 points ahead of Cuomo among people who already voted early last week, 41 to 31. Big happy news for progressives if they can pull this off!
And Mamdani and Lander have teamed up to try to make it so. Look at them riding Citibikes together from Park Slope to Prospect Park in Brooklyn on Friday, like a couple of brosephs!
And 10 days ago they unprecedentedly and adorably cross-endorsed each other. At a debate, Mamdani said, “I am proud to rank our principled and progressive comptroller number two on my ballot because we are both fighting for a city every New Yorker can afford.”
And Lander said that working together was the best way to stop that creep Cuomo.
“I’m proud to cross-endorse Zohran because of his strong commitment to a more affordable New York, and to stop the corrupt, morally bankrupt, unacceptable Andrew Cuomo from becoming mayor of a city he doesn’t even like.”
Teamwork makes the dream work!
Lander you already know from being slammed and pinned to the wall and arrested by a couple of masked, uniform-less ICE goons in the federal building in New York, because he asked to see a judicial warrant for an immigrant they were trying to kidnap.
But Mamdani seems to have risen meteorically out of nowhere. He was at one percent in February, and has climbed about 10 points a month since. Because he is a force! Just watch this:
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GET HIS NAME RIGHT!
What’s the problem with Randy Andy “No Regrets” Cuomo, besides being a lech and bully? Some refreshers:
Oh, and he also hasn’t lived in the city since the ‘90s, until he left his dog in Westchester to move into an apartment in Sutton Place just last September. Tell it, Lander:
And, but, Bill Clinton has endorsed Cuomo, his former HUD head, and so has former mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has also loaded Cuomo with cash. But does that matter most? As the New York Times points out, a PAC supporting Cuomo has raised over $24 million, which is three times the official spending limit for the campaign, which led Mamdani to go to New York’s Campaign Finance Board to ask for a waiver to spend more than the $8 million limit. (They said no.) But that also just goes to show how bought Cuomo is, as Mamdani enjoys pointing out. And Cuomo’s poll numbers have barely moved in months.
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Mamdani’s biggest asset, though, is he has real screen magnetism, and knows what to do with a microphone and camera. Before he was a state assemblyperson from Queens, he was a rapper (and a wrapper!) going by Mr. Cardamom. Here’s his viral ode to his Nani.
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Notes Rolling Stone, “In 2015, he officially adopted the music moniker Young Cardamom and partnered with lifelong friend Abdul Bar Hussein (rapper HAB) on ‘Kanda (Chap Chap),’ a blippy anthem to Ugandan-style chapati on which Cardamom drops the one-of-a-kind woo, ‘I like you so much I want to buy you a cow.’ Other tracks ‘play with post-colonial societies’ lasting obsession with and valuing of whiteness.’”
Could MAGA smelt a better foil? And, ahem, that’s Lupita Nyong’o in one of their videos.
Mamdani surely refined his sense of cinema at the knee of his mother, who is iconic filmmaker Mira Nair, maker of Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala, and many more. It’s a shame that one can’t stream Monsoon Wedding anywhere anymore, it’s a top 10 beautiful, funny, thoughtful, tearjerker-in-a-good-way comfort film with a banger soundtrack. You can buy it on DVD!
What a backstory, his family is the world’s most interesting people!
Mamdani not kidding about being Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.
He is a democratic socialist, endorsed by Bernie, AOC and Reverend Al. He wants rent freezes and affordable housing and cracking down on bad landlords. A higher corporate tax rate and a flat two percent city tax on millionaires and richer. Fred Trump’s zombie is growling and scratching in his coffin. Also free buses! Free childcare! A department of community safety to de-escalate violence! City-owned grocery stores! That’s like, two lefts past Burlington, Vermont, even. Bold and ambitious! Why not!
Anyway, this is all very exciting. Can’t wait to see how it all plays out when results are out July 1! Stay tuned!
OPEN THREAD!
Sure I move out of NYC and they are finally going to elect a good mayor? I will not take that personally, do the right right thing NYC!
Open Thread Chat June 23. It is too damn hot! https://substack.com/chat/1783367/post/e486e061-b60d-4266-8d77-1b556bf8a1b8