Mamdani’s rise in NYC reflects generational fight within the Democratic Party

When state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani and former Governor Andrew Cuomo faced off in the first New York City mayoral debate of the general election, the generational battle within the Democratic Party was on full display.

Cuomo was long a member of Democratic royalty, leading New York as governor for nearly eleven years after serving in the Clinton administration. His late father Gov. Mario Cuomo was a Democratic Party icon.

Again and again, Cuomo hammered the idea that his deep resume makes him uniquely qualified him to lead America’s biggest city.

“This is no job for on-the-job training,” Cuomo said during the Oct. 16 exchange, painting Mamdani as a political novice with left-leaning ideas outside the mainstream. “He never has had a job. On his resume it said he interned for his mother. This is not a job for a first-timer.”

But Cuomo is running in this race as an independent after Mamdani, who turned 34 last weekend, trounced him during the Democratic Party primary. Mamdani was an unknown outside his state Assembly district until this year, but has led consistently in the general election by double-digit margins, according to polls.

“What I don’t have in experience, I make up for in integrity,” Mamdani said during the debate. “And what you don’t have in integrity, you could never make up for in experience.”

That barb pointed to the downside of Cuomo’s long track record in office: it comes with some gritty political baggage, including a sexual misconduct scandal that led Cuomo to resign as governor in 2021.

Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing. But Andres Bernal, a political analyst who lectures at the City University of New York, thinks many young voters look at Cuomo’s history of controversy and are reminded of the Democratic Party establishment that has left them disillusioned.

“It’s a revolving door, with a lot of corporate America, a lot of funders, and lobbyists,” he said.

Bernal says Mamdani overcame Cuomo’s attacks over his relatively thin resume by offering big progressive ideas, like freezing apartment rents and offering free city bus service, that appeal to many young voters.

“Be ambitious and look for fundamental changes that I think inspire a lot of people and I think are associated with Mamdani’s youth,” Bernal said.

It seems to be working. The latest poll by AARP and Gotham Polling shows over half of Mamdani’s support comes from young New Yorkers, under age 50. For Cuomo, meanwhile, 76 percent of his support is over age 50.

But it’s not only serious policy issues that set these men apart. It’s also lived experience and style. When asked during the debate whether they’ve bought marijuana in New York City’s legal cannabis shops, Mamdani laughed and said Yes. Cuomo offered a terse No.

Their starkly different tones have played out in social media, where Cuomo offered conventional campaign ads, often attacking Mamdani. Mamdani’s campaign, meanwhile posts upbeat, often funny and hopeful videos that regularly go viral.

“Zohran Mamdani is right now the epitome of what you’re going to see every other candidate trying to do,” said J.C. Polanco, a political analyst and professor at the University of Mount St. Vincent in the Bronx.

Polanco is critical of many of Mamdani’s left-leaning policy ideas. But he says Mamdani’s use of social media to reach young voters is a game-changer, allowing him to overcome his relative lack of experience.

“He has rewritten the book, I love his style, he’s a happy warrior,” he said.

During last week’s debate, Cuomo said his campaign’s social media messaging has gotten better since he lost the Democratic primary, but he acknowledged playing catch-up. “I did not do enough on social media, which is a very effective medium now,” he said.

While Cuomo and Mamdani have sparred, often bitterly, across this generational party divide, the Republican in the race, Curtis Sliwa, has suggested they’re closer on policy issues than their campaign rhetoric suggests. “We have the architect and the apprentice,” Sliwa said during the debate.

Early voting is now underway. If Mamdani holds onto his lead through election day on Nov. 4, he will represent one more big generational change, serving as the first Muslim mayor in a city that’s home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel.

Cuomo has attacked Mamdani repeatedly for criticizing Israel, but that hasn’t appeared to slow Mamdani’s momentum. Mamdani has picked up some key endorsements from Jewish leaders in the city and a New York Times-Siena poll last month found most young voters in New York City sympathize more with the Palestinians than with Israel over the war in Gaza.