Democratic New York City Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani is scheduled to take office on Jan. 1, 2026, but the 34-year-old self-described socialist will face significant obstacles in his transition from campaigning to governing, political scientists at the Daily Caller News Foundation said.
Mamdani won Tuesday night's mayoral election was a barely majority vote, with 50.4% of the vote, less than 10 points ahead of his closest challenger, former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who took 41.6%. Although he still failed, Cuomo, who led independent campaign after lose Mamdani's candidacy for the Democratic Party on June 24 – surpassed multiple pre-election pollssome of which showed the Socialists leading by as much as 25 points.
After the election was certified in his favor, Mamdani took the stage at Brooklyn's Paramount Theater where he gave a carefully researched victory speech that took shots at both Cuomo and President Donald Trump. (RELATED: Zoran Mamdani wasted no time in quoting socialist Eugene Debs during victory speech)
Political strategist Adam Weiss told DCNF that the abrasive nature of the speech reflected a missed opportunity for the mayor-elect to extend an olive branch to the nearly half of New York voters who backed another candidate.
“Last night, Mamdani was angry, he was a bitter Mamdani. He was not generous. He called Trump all kinds of names,” Weiss told DCNF on Wednesday. “I don't know why he's attacking Trump, the current president of the United States. Be generous and say, 'We'd like to work together.'”
“He's starting off on a bad foot,” said Weiss, CEO of AMW PR and host of Real America's Voice News' “Media Expose.”
🚨 NEW: Mamdani took aim at Trump in his victory speech:
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave birth to him.”
“This is not only how we stop Trump, but how we stop the next one.”@DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/QLbxbkT0OO
— Anthony Iafrate (@toniyaafratedc) November 5, 2025
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave birth to him,” Mamdani said in his speech to thunderous applause from his supporters. “And if there is any way to intimidate a despot, it is by eliminating the very conditions that allowed him to amass power. That's not just how we stop Trump, but how we stop the next one.”
Weiss also noted that the socialist mayor-elect “shot back at Cuomo” instead of taking the time to talk to his primary and general election opponent to understand him and the nearly 42% of New York voters who supported him.
“I wish Andrew Cuomo all the best in his personal life. But tonight may be the last time I say his name,” Mamdani said at the beginning of his victory speech.
“This is not how you treat people in our society, it's really ugly,” Weiss said of the remark.
The political strategist said that if Trump or any Republican “won this election last night and they came out and gave a speech like that,” there would be “wall-to-wall” negative coverage in the media.
Asked if he thinks he will moderate his rhetoric, veteran political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told DCNF that Mamdani doesn't either.
“He doesn't have To, because He doesn't have To do anything. Should he? THe problem will bedoes He disappoint his constituency If He moderate his rhetoric?” – he said.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during an election night event at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, New York on November 4, 2025. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Sheinkopf noted that Mamdani, who worked hard campaigned on the laundromat list of the far left priorities such as taxpayer-funded free buses, rent freezes and city grocery stores, will face significant obstacles when he actually tries to implement some of the more radical elements of his policy agenda.
“He [Mamdani] he has no power in the MTA…necessarily getting free buses because he only has four votes on the board I think. He doesn't have the power he thinks he has on the rent stabilization board and rent guidelines because [of] “It's not that easy, but he's run a brilliant campaign about what he'd like to do and what he can do.”(RELATED: Here's What Mayor Mamdani Can (and Can't) Achieve on Day One)
The consultant emphasized that several key factors played a role in the success of the socialists' campaign. He said it was “hard to find Andrew Cuomo on the ballot” while Mamdani, on the other hand, had a “significant advantage” running on the Democratic Party line in deep blue New York.
Although the name is Mamdani appeared On the mayor's ballot first on the left as he was the Democratic candidate, Cuomo, who ran on the Independent's “Fight and Deliver” line, appeared entirely in the bottom right corner.
“Moreover, Mamdani’s advantage was changing the character of the city’s population,” Sheinkopf added, specifically referring to the growth of New York’s African, Muslim and Chinese communities.
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 4: Supporters watch as Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gives his victory speech on television at an election night party at Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden on November 4, 2025 in the borough of Queens in New York City. (Photo by Jeremy Wayne/Getty Images)
Weiss said Mamdani, while receiving “enthusiastic media coverage,” has not yet “fully grasped” the fact that more than a million New Yorkers who voted against him in Tuesday's election are “scared, scared, upset.”
“He doesn’t really have a crazy mandate,” Weiss said, noting that outgoing Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams won the 2021 election with nearly 70% of the vote.
The strategist said America's left-wing progressives and democratic socialists (DPO) members like Mamdani are “excellent at organizing” and attracting young people with “idealistic values” to their side.
“But when it comes to governance, their ideas are disgusting. It doesn't work in a capitalist system,” Weiss told DCNF. “You can't just give things away to… tax rich people and they'll just sit there and say, 'OK, tax me to death.' They're going to leave.”
All content produced by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and unbiased news service, is available free of charge to any legitimate news publisher that can reach a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter's byline and DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our policies or partnerships, please contact us [email protected].
