The big news from Zohran Mamdani’s electoral sweep in New York City is not just that his grassroots campaign drubbed Andrew Cuomo, a clueless and graceless Republicrat. Most significantly, the 34-year-old Mamdani—running on a straightforward, proudly progressive populist program of, by and for working class families—thrashed Wall Street’s imperious billionaires.
The moneyed elites were shocked when this “nobody,” outsider, Muslim and (OMG!) democratic socialist won the Democratic Party nomination in June. Panicked by the very thought of Mayor Mamdani, Wall Street royals issued a call to arms to save the city’s established order. Instead of pitchforks, of course, the Billionaire Brigade fired cannons of money.
Lots of it. More than $40 million poured into PACs for Cuomo, coming from such powerhouse corporatists as Michael Bloomberg, hedge-fund huckster Bill Ackman, cosmetic mogul Ron Lauder, casino kingpin Steve Wynn, and Walmart heiress Alice Walton. They wailed that Mamdani’s campaign was an “existential threat”—a charge that he cheerfully accepted, saying: “They are right. We are an existential threat to billionaires who think their money can buy our democracy.” Indeed, his working class coalition bested Wall Street’s money with over 50% of the vote…