Professors, students predict economic failure, religious tension
New York City elected Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani as its 111th mayor on November 4. In a race that gained national attention, Democratic nominee Mamdani won 51 percent of the vote against former governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, who received just under 42 percent. Mamdani is the first Muslim and first Ugandan-born politician elected to the position.
Mamdani’s platform during the campaign was centered around rent-controlled housing, state-run grocery stores, and free bus systems. He drew significant criticism during the campaign for his support of socialism, explicit desire to raise taxes on “white neighborhoods,” and past comments supporting the abolition of prisons and defunding the police. Mamdani also attracted controversy for campaigning with Hasan Piker, a Muslim streamer who has claimed that the United States “deserved” the September 11, 2001 attacks.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on election night with the warning, “If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home.” Other conservatives have also harshly criticized Mamdani, with some Republican members of Congress even calling for him to be “denaturalized and deported.”
The Rover sat down with Jeffrey Campbell, Frances D. Rasmus and Jerome A. Castellini Professor of Economics, to assess the economic implications of Mamdani’s victory in New York.
Campbell foresaw little impact, saying, “We might expect my fellow Jews to be bailing out, given that we have a communist Islamist in charge of the city. And I think that because [we’re] seeing that they aren’t bailing out, [it] shows how little the mayor matters.”
Campbell shared some criticism and worry about Mamdani’s platform, citing economist Milton Friedman: “Milton Friedman made a lot of mistakes in his life, and he said a lot of wise things. And one of the things he said that was wise is that socialism is incompatible with democracy.” He explained, “The reason is that socialists control the means of communication. And if you were worried about large media companies acting as gatekeepers to stop the truth from getting out about whatever it might be— whether it was a scandal or the efficacy of drugs or whatever—you should be triple worried when they call themselves socialists. … Because they control the most effective means of communication.”
“You’re a democratic socialist until you win the election, then you’re just a communist,” Campbell added.
On housing, Campbell stressed his own experience in the New York market, saying, “There’s been a housing crisis for a long time in New York. … Manhattan is not affordable, and if you have children, it’s a little bit like San Francisco that way.”
Campbell continued, “To have a rent-controlled apartment, you have to work at NYU … or live at Columbia or work at Columbia to get a reduced rent apartment—you have to have your company paying for you.” He stated that such stipulations “combine to take a lot of housing off the market or allocate housing in really strange non-market ways.”
Campbell concluded, “[Mamdani] made lots of promises to people who are a bit ignorant of history. Especially the government-run grocery stores—[it’s] a ridiculous idea.”
The Rover also interviewed David Campbell, Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy and Director of the Democracy Initiative. Campbell told the Rover, “Mamdani’s victory underscores the importance of what are commonly called ‘pocketbook’ issues. The jury is still out on whether his campaign will be a template for Democrats outside of New York City. I suspect that other candidates (both Democrats and Republicans) will continue to focus on the issues he emphasized.” Campbell also noted that what resonates with the New York Democrat may not be true for his fellow Kansas Democrats.
While David Campbell underscored “pocketbook issues,” Jeffrey Campbell thought many Mamdani voters might be buying into what’s being called “champagne socialism” or “lakefront liberalism.” He told the Rover, “My view of lakefront liberalism is that it is indeed a luxury consumption. Good people want to feel good about themselves.”
“You also have to have enough money to insulate yourself from the consequences of the policies you push forward,” Jeffery Campbell continued. “So you can push forward all kinds of wacky ideas for public schools because your kids go to the private school.”
When asked about Mamdani as the first Muslim mayor, David Campbell said, “As a Muslim, Mamdani is a ‘path breaker’—not unlike prominent politicians of other religious groups. Whether or not his victory in the NYC mayoral race represents a turning point for Muslims nationwide is yet to be determined. If he develops a lasting national presence, it might.”
Jeffrey Campbell, a Jewish man, was more fearful, saying, “I think we’re gonna have a really big tension here soon, because he is going to be trampling on Jewish religious liberty, and at the same time, [in the face of] efforts to stop him, he’s going to claim the victim status because he’s Muslim.”
Notre Dame students were largely divided in their views of Mamdani. Sophomore political science student Jack Ring told the Rover, “This election is as clear an example of the desperation of everyday Americans as there is in America. The concern is not that Mamdani is a socialist—we’ve long known that a desperate electorate will turn to whatever looks shiny. What is concerning, however, is the fact that New Yorkers were so willing to submit themselves to a leader who has accomplished nothing and demonstrated zero intellectual consistency or honesty throughout his brief tenure in politics thus far.”
One senior student, who asked to remain anonymous, called Mamdani’s victory “another travesty of mass immigration.” He elaborated, “The truth is that Mamdani would never have won if New York were still full of New Yorkers. But this is a city that’s forty percent foreign-born, where a fifth of the population doesn’t speak English, and a lot of them just voted for the guy who promised to take money from white people and give it to people who look like them.”
“I mean, look at his victory speech,” the student added. “He probably thanked every ethnic group in the city—except, notably, Americans.”
Fritz Micko, a student in Keough Hall, took a more optimistic stance, saying, “I’m overall very happy with the recent New York mayoral race, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Mamdani’s policy will be enacted.”
“While I don’t support every single policy point he holds,” Micko continued, “I think he has captivated a large amount of support from New Yorkers with a pretty incredible [grassroots] campaign. I look forward to seeing if this creates a new precedent for future political campaigns on both sides of the aisle.”
Kevin Andrews is a junior in Keough Hall, majoring in political science and economics. He can be reached at kandrew6@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: Irish Rover
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