Be like Zohran

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Mamdani Democrats

The Democratic nominee in the New York City mayor’s race may still be waiting for endorsements from New York’s two most prominent Democrats, but Zohran Mamdani has already begun to shape the national party in his own image.

To already-elected Democrats like Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Mamdani and his brand of charismatic, 21st-century sewer socialism is seen as a possible albatross. Saying that the rent is too damn high is one thing, but criticism of the police — and Israel — is the sort of thing that could repel the party’s major donors. And the Republican attack ads write themselves, and could well air in competitive races across the country, linking median Democrats to “A Muslim Communist.”

Among an increasing number of Democrats, however — particularly those who are not yet incumbents — Mamdani’s out-of-nowhere campaign and defeat of an establishment juggernaut in Andrew Cuomo is seen as a potential model. No, the New York state representative did not invent the idea of running against the rich and powerful, nor can his personality simply be copied and pasted. But in primary contests across the country, candidates are nonetheless trying to steal his whole vibe.

They’re also borrowing his staff. In Maine, former Mamdani campaign staff helped oyster farmer Graham Platner produce a slick but still “authentic”-seeming launch video to announce his run for the seat currently held by Sen. Susan Collins. “I’m not afraid to name an enemy, and the enemy is oligarchy,” Platner said.

That video was produced by the Fight Agency, an advertising firm led by 28-year-old political strategist Morris Katz. That’s the same agency that made Mamdani’s own yellow-hued viral content. And it’s now working outside the five boroughs, Platner’s working-class aesthetic — paired with a rock soundtrack and rhetoric against the rich and powerful — going “viral” and helping his campaign stand out “in a crowded field of Democratic primary voters,” The Guardian reported.

As Salon’s own Russel Payne reports, Katz and his team have now headed West. There, they are producing content for Randy Villegas, a progressive facing off against a centrist Democrat in a race for California’s 22nd Congressional District. And there, too, a Democratic campaign is sounding an awful lot like it’s taking the elites on both sides. Indeed, Villegas says in his own campaign video, “Politicians in both parties are working for the same corporations that are putting their profits ahead of us.”

Will lightning strike thrice? We’ll find out in a few months. But what’s clear is that an increasing number of Democratic candidates see Mamdani not as an obstacle in 2026, but as a model.

Do you think Democratic leaders should embrace candidates like Zohran Mamdani? Or could doing so hurt their chances in more conservative parts of the country? Sound off in the comments.

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