Mamdani made his case. Now voters have to answer it

Sitting behind George Washington’s desk at City Hall this month, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said all of that out loud. On his first day in office, he said so: “I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist. Freeze the price, and landlords stop building, stop maintaining, and eventually stop renting. Mamdani read that document and heard a call to run it in reverse. AdvertisementThis November, voters in dozens of races will pick between two answers to the same problems families face at the kitchen table.