Think back to the beginning of June, when we were mourning the deadly attack in Colorado, after an antisemitic terrorist had firebombed a Jewish rally there calling for release of the Israeli hostages. We were watching for signs of progress in negotiations between the United States and Iran over that country’s nuclear capability. Oh, and Andrew Cuomo was enjoying a comfortable lead in polls for the New York City mayoral election, although Zohran Mamdani had just moved into a distant second place.
What a difference a month makes.
Just weeks later, missile strikes against Iran by Israel and the United States have fundamentally upended Middle Eastern geopolitics in ways that we do not yet understand. But we are just as ill-prepared to predict the impact of Mamdani’s stunning upset victory, which means that city’s next mayor is likely to be an anti-Zionist who has publicly stated that he does not believe that Israel should be a Jewish state and has defended the term “globalize the intifada.” In the campaign to lead America’s largest city, the oft-trampled line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism was all but erased.
Mamdani has also proposed an aggressive program for combatting anti-Jewish hate crimes and appears poised to attract a significant portion of Jewish votes. But his nomination dramatically underscores the tensions within the Democratic Party over Israel and the burgeoning growth of anti-Zionist sentiment among progressive voters. While New York City politics certainly do not reflect those of the country as a whole, the success of such a high-profile candidate as Mamdani does reflect broader trends that pose an increasingly serious threat to both Jewish Americans and the Jewish state.
It bears repeating that neither party has a monopoly of anti-Israel sentiment. The recent debate surrounding the U.S. action in Iran has been a reminder that the isolationist wing of the Republican Party is rapidly growing and it does not appear that Israel will be exempt from these America First sentiments. But the animus on the left is much more prominent and Mamdani’s election would only fuel this hostility.
National Republicans are gleeful that they can use Mamdani’s controversial positions on crime, taxes and government spending in next year’s midterm elections. But their loudest and shrillest voices have spent more time and energy vilifying his Muslim heritage than defending either Jews or Israel. And Democrats seem divided between those who are genuinely excited by his candidacy, those who will attempt to make grudging peace with him and those who are willing to seek other possible options.
Although his victory is not assured, Mamdani will now be a heavy favorite in the city’s general election this November. It appears likely that Jewish leaders, along with business leaders and other centrist Democrats who are wary of Mamdani’s ultra-progressive agenda, will attempt to coalesce behind an alternative. Cuomo has not yet decided whether he will run again, but he would clearly be seen as damaged goods by an electorate that has just decisively rejected him. The field also includes a gadfly Republican candidate, as well as a virtual unknown local attorney who is running as an independent.
Then there is the scandal-plagued current mayor, Eric Adams, who announced this spring that he would seek reelection not as a Democrat but on the “EndAntisemitism” ballot line. While Adams was probably not anticipating Mamdani’s rise, the recent turn of events may work out to the benefit of the battle-scarred and unpopular incumbent.
In the early 1990s, the voters of Louisiana faced a choice in their governor’s race between the former governor Edwin Edwards, who had been accused of various types of corruption, and the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Edwards’ supporters gave out bumper stickers with the slogan “Vote For the Crook, It’s Important.”
It now appears that Adams, who has faced a criminal indictment for a range of campaign finance violations before the U.S. Justice Department dropped the charges earlier this year, is the only viable opponent who could prevent Mamdani winning in November. His advisors may want to think about tracking down some of those old bumper stickers and reusing them this fall.
Dan Schnur is the U.S. Politics Editor for the Jewish Journal. He teaches courses in politics, communications, and leadership at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. He hosts the monthly webinar “The Dan Schnur Political Report” for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall. Follow Dan’s work at www.danschnurpolitics.com.
