Labor Could Swing NYC’s Election to Zohran

Zohran Mamdani has shocked the political establishment by turning the New York City mayoral race into a nail-biter. How has a thirty-three-year-old Muslim socialist gotten this close to heading the world’s most economically and politically important city? Some pundits have pointed to Zohran’s charisma and brilliant use of social media. Others have stressed the strength of his volunteer canvassing army as well as the popularity of his policies to lower living costs. All those things are true.

But one piece of the puzzle has so far been overlooked: Zohran has received just enough labor support to prevent this race from becoming an Andrew Cuomo cakewalk.

Thousands of rank-and-file supporters have successfully pushed some of the city’s biggest unions to endorse Zohran or at least not endorse Cuomo. Though not all union leaders have been brave enough to buck the political establishment, New York City’s young leftist upstart has generated enough labor support to come within electoral striking distance. The union vote could be decisive in a tight, low-turnout primary election. And union power will be pivotal for overcoming the billionaire-backed onslaught that is sure to come if Zohran wins the June 24 primary.

UAW Breaks from Politics-As-Usual

One sad thing about labor politics in contemporary America is that it’s taken for granted that union leaders will almost always back the establishment Democratic who is most likely to win, since endorsing the front runner gives unions a “seat at table” from which they can then lobby for the interests of their members.

But the fact that this strategy is so common does not make it any less narrow-minded. At best, billionaire-backed electeds provide crumbs. At worst, such politicians actively undermine workers’ lives (and members’ trust in their unions). Despite Cuomo’s awful track record for workers as governor, and despite his disgraced ouster due to sexual harassment charges, it seemed at the beginning of this race like politics-as-usual would reign in the House of Labor. Indeed, Andrew Cuomo launched his mayoral run in early March from the carpenters’ union hall.

Zohran’s rank-and-file backers knew from day one that they would have to get organized to avoid a repeat of the dynamic in 2018, when exactly zero unions endorsed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s primary challenge against Democratic Party leader Joe Crowley. Not only are unions unaccustomed to joining anti-corporate political insurgencies, but Cuomo, like Donald Trump, has a long history of using his political power