The Mamdani effect: Mayor’s influence faces a test in November elections
Beyond endorsements, Cormack says Mamdani’s approach to social media is influencing how other candidates communicate with voters.
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani isn’t on the ballot this November, but his ability to help other Democrats win is facing another test.
All three congressional candidates he endorsed, Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, won their June Democratic primaries.
Mamdani is also backing Gov. Kathy Hochul in her reelection race against Republican Bruce Blakeman.
Lindsey Cormack, a political science professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, says the mayor’s support could help Hochul connect with voters on the left while energizing her opponent’s supporters.
“That might help bring along more leftist Democrats who maybe don’t see her as positively,” Cormack said. “But it also motivates people who like her opponent because they are afraid that this is a liberalizing force.”
Beyond endorsements, Cormack says Mamdani’s approach to social media is influencing how other candidates communicate with voters.
She’ll be watching turnout among younger and first-time voters in November for indications that those efforts are translating into participation — and whether that approach could become a lasting campaign trend.
"If we see higher levels of turnout for either first-time voters or younger voters, that seems to be a stylistic indication that this meeting people where they are on social media, could be something that we see as a trend," she said.
