How the Mamdani win could shape the 2026 midterms

Traditional Democrats are keeping New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani at arm's length out of fear that his hard-left policies will hurt their chances of reclaiming seats in 2026. Mamdani, 33, has made a splash in New York politics, managing to win the Democratic nomination for mayor with his policies on expanding affordable housing, increasing minimum wage, taxing wealthy individuals and corporations, creating city-run grocery stores, providing free childcare, and more.

Republicans have capitalised on Mamdani's politics to paint him as a borderline communist with radical polices and affix him to other Democratic candidates. The polarising rhetoric around Mamdani has made some moderate Democrats fearful that a Mamdani win could deepen the identity crisis occurring in the Democratic Party and hurt their chances of coming back after their widespread losses in the 2024 election. "Mamdani is the greatest threat to Democrats probably since Ronald Reagan because he’s everything Democrats have been accused of being and in fact is — to the extreme," Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic operative who is advising an anti-Mamdani group, told Politico.

Should Mamdani win the New York City mayoral election in November, it could give Republicans the chance to launch their attacks on a national scale. “Republican ad makers will know what to do with this,” Sheinkopf said. Democrats are still reeling after losing the presidency, House, and Senate last year. The party has struggled to make a meaningful comeback, in part, because some voters believe the party isn’t doing enough to combat President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda.

Where Mamdani attracts voters is his willingness to push back against Republicans with policies that other Democrats have not dared to bring up. But more traditional Democrats have grown fearful that Mamdani’s push could make the party move further left. Governor Kathy Hochul, one of the most powerful and notable Democrats in New York, has yet to endorse Mamdani despite him winning the nomination in July. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who represents parts of Brooklyn, also has not endorsed Mamdani, though the two have met multiple times. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer similarly has not endorsed Mamdani.

A source close to Jeffries told the New York Daily News that the House minority leader is not afraid that endorsing Mamdani could cost them the midterms.

“They're always going to have a bogeyman. If it's not Zohran, it's (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez). If it's not AOC, it's Nancy Pelosi," the source said. "At the end of the day, people in Omaha, Nebraska, or Des Moines, Iowa, are worried about their own families and their hometowns, not who's going to be mayor of New York."

But it appears that Democrats who need to woo swing voters are certain that distancing themselves from Mamdani is a must. Representative Laura Gillen, a Democrat who represents part of Long Island that Republicans are eyeing, told Politico that Mamdani is "too extreme,"

Democrat Tom Suozzi, who represents parts of Long Island and Queens that voted for Trump in the election, wrote a WSJ op-ed, calling Mamdani a socialist. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Virginia, has positioned herself as a center-left candidate — a maneuver that gives her potential to flip the state back into Democratic control.

Spanberger has a history of distancing herself from leftist policies, too. After the 2020 election, she criticized then-President Joe Biden for trying to enact too much change and reprimanded Democratic colleagues for embracing socialism, according to the Wall Street Journal.

She's declined to comment on Mamdani directly. But Spanberger and other Democrats seeking to reclaim power in next year's election have side-eyed Mamdani in an effort to create space between them.

Earlier, as Zohran Mamdani heads into November’s general election for New York City mayor, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani has a warning: If he loses, the next mayor could be in Donald Trump’s pocket.

Mamdani has launched a “five boroughs against Trump” tour to draw attention to the president’s agenda and how the administration’s impact has already been felt throughout the city — from threats to food stamps and healthcare to immigration raids and courthouse arrests.