How to Build on Zohran Mamdani’s Win in Congress
Mamdani’s victory isn’t just a tactical blueprint; it’s a strategic mandate for 2026 and beyond.
The prevailing Democratic Party logic and strategy centers around the idea that courage is a political liability. For too long, Democratic consultants have warned candidates to soften their convictions to avoid confrontations with wealthy donors and powerful interest groups. Doing so allows candidates – and the party as a whole – to raise the most amount of money possible. This is how we win elections, they say. But while Democrats have succeeded in maximizing fundraising, even exceeding Republicans in many instances, winning has not followed. We are watching our country unravel during a second Trump presidency, while Republicans also control the Senate and House.
Zohran Mamdani’s decisive victory last night is a rebuke of the party’s conventional wisdom. His victory provides a clear mandate: the left and our progressive allies can and must embrace moral courage as a deliberate political strategy. If we do, we won’t just move the conversation – we’ll realign political power itself.
As PAC director for Justice Democrats and co-director of New Yorkers for Lower Costs, an independent expenditure effort that raised over $4 million from more than 10,000 donors to support Mamdani, I watched firsthand how Mamdani’s unapologetic moral clarity resonated deeply with voters. Beyond the innovative campaign tactics, that moral clarity was what truly set Mamdani’s campaign apart, and it’s a strategy we must take with us into 2026 and beyond.
That means standing up to all corporate and special interests – especially those spending millions against the left. That includes opposing genocide in Gaza and the lobbies that champion it, and treating crypto as the corporate scam that it is, and actually regulating it. As Ta-Nehisi Coates put it: “If you can’t stand up against genocide, why should I believe you can stand up for democracy?”
Since the Israel and crypto lobbies ramped up their electoral involvement, many progressive candidates – and the Democratic Party at large – have remained silent, equivocated, or betrayed their values in fear of those lobbies spending millions to defeat them. This “strategic,” careerist instinct isn’t limited to these issues; it’s part of a broader pattern of cowardice and moral inconsistency dictated by wealthy special interests. Working-class voters see through it. They see a party unwilling to stand up to the biggest bullies and robber barons of our time – and they’re walking away.
Party insiders often warn that morally consistent stances alienate voters. But Mamdani’s win – backed by our over $4 million, the largest independent expenditure effort in support of Mamdani – proves the opposite: voters reward authenticity and courage, especially on issues like genocide. Polling proves voters’ opinions on Palestine are shifting rapidly. That shift makes the gap between “Democratic values” and actions all the more glaring. This dissonance, paired with a party leadership that chooses to stand with wealthy donors over the people, is why the Democratic Party has seen some of its lowest approval ratings in decades.
However, those insiders are right about one thing: brave candidates risk alienating wealthy donors. If you take principled positions, billionaire-backed lobbies may spend millions against you. But we’re not just trying to win one-off elections – we’re trying to change what electoral politics can achieve. By remaining silent during genocide, or helping Donald Trump pass corrupt crypto legislation, we are gifting these wealthy, right-wing interests exactly what they want: a weak opposition party that, instead of fighting for working people, greenlights a corporate, warmongering agenda. Instead of building a strategy around avoiding punishment from the elite few, we should build one around how to leverage the millions of people who are being left behind.
‘Impossible Until It’s Done’
And let’s be clear: silence and capitulation do not make a candidate, consultant, or operative “strategic.” It’s the easy way out, the path of least resistance, and the strategy that has brought us a weak Democratic Party fully unequipped to fight fascism. There’s no denying that some “progressives” have won by staying silent or cozying up to wealthy donors. But those wins, and the politicians they produce, are failing to meet the moment. If this remains the party’s strategy, the billionaire class will continue to hand-pick strong right-wing leaders and weak Democrats as they watch the world burn down around the rest of us.
To those who say it’s too hard to win against millions in outside spending, I point to Mamdani quoting Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” In the short term, we may lose more than we win. But over time, the dam will break. When enough candidates, donors, and organizations commit to moral courage, the power of wealthy interests will finally weaken. We are seeing this happen with AIPAC in real time. Don’t underestimate the work it took to get to this point by courageous leaders like Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, and Rashida Tlaib, alongside movement infrastructure like the Reject AIPAC coalition, co-led by Justice Democrats and countless other groups fighting for Palestinian human rights.
Despite some losses, we are winning the long-term fight. Our work of transforming the Democratic Party in Democratic primaries is working, and the spending we face from corporate lobbies validates the power we are building. The millions spent against candidates like Mamdani, Summer Lee, Jamaal Bowman, and Cori Bush is the ruling class recognizing us as a genuine threat to their interests. As progressive and Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid recently highlighted, these primaries are the battleground for control of the party’s direction. 2026 represents an opportunity to double our bloc in Congress, but only if we are brave, and only if others are brave with us.
In primaries and general elections alike, we cannot “strategically” dance around the corporate, right-wing forces trying to buy our democracy. Our only path to real change, in the face of a full corporate takeover of our country, is to take on the billionaire class head-on and with our full force. That is what this moment calls for, morally and strategically.
Mamdani’s victory isn’t just a tactical blueprint; it’s a strategic mandate for 2026 and beyond. It demonstrates how, with authenticity, courage, and disciplined coalition-building, we can do electoral politics in a way that builds power for working people. His win sets a bar for his own administration, along with future candidates and campaigns: We must demand clarity over caution, courage over calculation.
Justice Democrats is meeting that mandate with Democratic primary challenges nationwide, and for voters in New York who are eager to build on their gains in the city, in the coming weeks, you will have that opportunity.
Geoff Simpson is the PAC Director for Justice Democrats and led New Yorkers For Lower Costs, the largest independent expenditure supporting Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign in his personal capacity.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Zeteo.
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Let's hope Ken Martin and the Dem establishment take note -- progressivism is not the problem -- going too far to the center is the problem --
Last night's result is quite a bright light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. It gives me some hope for the future of the USA. Thank you NYC, thank you Mandani and all those, who worked with you.