What I saw at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn on June 18, just a few days before the New York Primary, was a telling omen of the primary election outcome Tuesday night—Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s magic prevailed.
Standing on the stage with him was Brad Lander, who defeated incumbent Dan Goldman in New York’s coveted 10th District; State Assemblymember Claire Valdez, a Democratic Socialist, who topped Antonio Reynoso to take the 7th District seat long held by Nydia Velázquez; and newcomer Darializa Avila Chevalier, who completed the trifecta by defeating incumbent Adriano Espaillat in a nail-biter in the 13th Congressional District.
The vast theater was only two-thirds full, but the energy swelling from the stage was absolute, and the word “solidarity” was repeated again and again. It certainly didn’t hurt to have Sen. Bernie Sanders in the house, adding the momentum that decidedly played a role in the victories.
To a great extent, it was an overwhelming success for the insurgent Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), especially for party members Chevalier and Valdez. Similar ripples of the party’s influence were felt all the way in D.C., where Janeese Lewis George won the mayoral primary, taking the reins from Muriel Bowser. Her victory in the nation’s capital matches Mayor Mamdani’s triumph in the city.
Are these powerful indications of things to come and a wake-up call to the Democratic Party? And is there a DSA tsunami looming on the horizon? These NYC elections will likely put to rest some of the opposition literature that declared them an “extremist organization” and warnings that harken back to the McCarthy era, claiming “the Russians are coming!”
Most of the folks at the theater were young and white, and as I told one spectator, “If they take this energy to the polls, we will see a dramatic turnabout on the electoral front.” Well, I’m by no means a prophet, but there was something brewing in the tea leaves; the Democrats better pay attention and see what they can learn from these developments.
