SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Three congressional candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won big in New York City last night. The trio of wins, two by democratic socialists, amounts to another major shift left for the Democratic Party. And the fact that Mamdani helped oust two incumbents from his own party has led to a lot of questions about the path forward for Democrats. Mayor Mamdani joins us now. Thanks for talking to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: Oh, it's such a pleasure to be on. Thank you for having me.
DETROW: These three candidates, what would you say their policy agendas all have in common?
MAMDANI: At the core of each of their candidacies is a belief that working people have to return back to the heart of our politics. You could see it's a concern for the fact that in many of these races we see special interests looking to buy the outcomes of them. We see a federal government that is embarking on immigration policy that is cruel and does nothing to serve in the interests of public safety. And we see an exhaustion with a foreign policy that would rather invest in bombs than in babies back home in our own districts. And in each of these candidacies we also see a hunger from working New Yorkers for exactly that kind of politics.
DETROW: What is this a collective statement against? Because these three wins - two incumbents being ousted - is a pretty big antiestablishment statement.
MAMDANI: It's a statement that the status quo will no longer be sufficient. It's a statement that working people are not willing to accept a politics that neglects their everyday needs. And I said in the lead-up to yesterday evening as I endorsed three candidates for Congress, five candidates for the state legislature - all of whom prevailed yesterday evening - that for those who are wondering when the race for 2028 begins, it was yesterday. Because what this slate shows, what New Yorkers have shown, it is a glimpse into the future that we have to bring forth to ensure that we're not just fighting back against a federal administration and its cruelty, but we're also fighting for a vision of working people.
DETROW: I want to get back to that idea in a moment, but first I want to ask about some of the decisions you made yourself. As you are well aware, taking on incumbents in your own party is a pretty surprising move for most people in politics. There's been a lot of grumbling from officeholders across the state today. Why, to you, was that risk worth it?
MAMDANI: Any time there is the chance to deliver for working people, I think it is a risk worth taking. And what I saw in the candidacies of Darializa Avila Chevalier, who last night prevailed and became the first Afro Latina Dominican woman to now represent that district, what I saw in the candidacies of Claire Valdez, who will be the first Mexican American and Indigenous woman to represent that district, and what I saw in the candidacy of Brad Lander, the former controller (ph), who will now be the next Congress member, representing New York 10, are candidacies that would fulfill our vision of delivering on an affordability agenda that is just as relevant as it was a year ago when I became the Democratic nominee for mayor in this city because we continue to live in the most expensive city in the United States of America.
DETROW: I did see a lot of blind quotes from council members, from legislators in Albany, amounting to, I don't know if I can trust the mayor at this point. Do you have any worry that this could alienate the coalitions you need to get stuff done?
MAMDANI: I think this shows the fact that the vision that we have, the agenda that we have, is one that is in line with what New Yorkers want to see. We saw New Yorkers come out and vote for change. We saw them come out and vote for a new kind of politics. And I'm excited to deliver on exactly that kind of politics now with more partners in office, whether at the federal level or at the state level.
DETROW: Israel was a major focus in several of these races. What is the best way to put what you want to see when it comes to foreign policy and aid for Israel if Democrats do win back the House next year?
MAMDANI: I think Darializa says it best - it's time to invest in babies, not bombs. You see in each of these three candidates, now soon to be Congress members, a commitment to co-sponsor the Block the Bombs legislation. And what that reflects is an exhaustion - not just a political exhaustion but also a moral exhaustion - with our nation's complicity in the continued killing of civilians, whether in Palestine or Lebanon or beyond, and all of this happening in a period that we have been told to describe as a ceasefire. And it is time that tens of billions of dollars that are killing innocent civilians are instead spent investing back into what are some of the poorest congressional districts in America to deliver for working people who help to make this city what it is and yet are constantly thinking about if they can afford to live in this city.
DETROW: This is the latest in a series of primary wins this spring and summer for democratic socialist candidates. There's been wins in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, here in Washington, D.C.'s mayor race, now New York congressional races. Why, to you, does the DSA message seem to be resonating so well right now?
MAMDANI: It speaks to the fact that working people are fed up. And when we look at this country, we know that the only majority that really exists is that of the working class. And for too long, that hasn't been reflected in our politics. For too long, our politics has felt as if irrelevant to the struggles of a working person trying to pay their rent or afford going to the grocery store or thinking about having a kid. And what each of these candidates have shown is a willingness to speak directly to those struggles and not just name them, but also put forward a vision that would actually address those struggles and make it easier to live in this city.
And, you know, many of us, when we look back at the history of the Democratic Party, this idea of fighting for working people, it's not alien to what our party is about. In fact, it's at the heart of some of the greatest successes we've ever had. We think about FDR. We think about the New Deal policies that he gave rise to, and so much of that is exactly what working people are calling out for today. These are the kinds of congresspeople and partners that will help to fulfill that.
DETROW: There are a lot of people in the Democratic Party who think the opposite, who think a big reason the party lost in the last election cycle was it drifted too far to the left.
MAMDANI: Well, I think what we see is that Democratic voters, which is where the Democratic Party draws its power from, feel very differently. And what is a party if not its voters? And what we see is that those voters have chosen leaders who are willing to fight for the working person. And no matter how you want to describe that, it is a fight that for far too long has been missing from the forefront of our politics.
DETROW: A question adjacent to that is, you are well aware how successful Republicans are at trying to link Democrats in more moderate swing districts to left-wing candidates, to DSA candidates. Any worry at any level? Or what do you think the best path forward is, that as the more prominent the DSA becomes, it makes it harder for Democrats to win a majority this fall?
MAMDANI: I invite Republicans to try and smear the cause of universal childcare. I invite Republicans to try and go after the idea that we should not spend billions of dollars bombing civilians abroad and instead investing those back in our districts. I invite Republicans to have to defend the indefensible because that's what they've been doing for far too long. And we've been told every time we take a step forward for working people that this will now become the new face of the Democratic Party. I think it's time that it does because for far too long, we haven't been able to answer what we're fighting for, only who we're fighting. And now we have the answer.
DETROW: Have you had a chance yet today to talk to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New Yorkers, about all of this?
MAMDANI: I'll be speaking with Congressman Jeffries later this evening, and I look forward to that conversation because at the end of it, we're all trying to deliver for our city, for our state, for our country. And I'm excited at the fact that there's so much more to be done.
DETROW: Last question, Mr. Mayor. Were you happier when these three candidates got their races called for them or when the Knicks won?
MAMDANI: (Laughter) You know, I - last night was an incredible night. It is hard to pale, however, when we compare it to 53 years of wait, so got to go with the Knicks. Got to go with the real king of New York, Jalen Brunson.
DETROW: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, thank you so much for talking to us.
MAMDANI: Very welcome. Thank you.
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