Maine representative Jared Golden announces he won't seek re-election, leaving Democrats vulnerable
Jared Golden, the Maine Democratic representative, announced today that he won’t seek re-election to Congress in 2025.
“I have grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community – behavior that, too often, our political leaders exhibit themselves,” the congressman wrote in a column for Bangor Daily News. “Additionally, recent incidents of political violence have made me reassess the frequent threats against me and my family.”
Golden said that while he’s confident he would win if he were to run again. “What has become apparent to me is that I now dread the prospect of winning,” he added, also citing the ongoing government shutdown – now the longest on record – as part of his decision. “The nonstop, hyperbolic accusations and recriminations by both sides reveal just how broken Congress has become,” he said.
Golden’s decision to step aside in a district that supported both him and Donald Trump in 2020 and 2024 poses a challenge for Democrats. To keep the seat competitive, they’ll need to find a candidate who can connect with rural voters in a state with a strong libertarian streak.
My colleagues Andrew Witherspoon and Will Craft have been digging into the data following Tuesday’s mayoral election in New York, looking at the sections of boroughs where Zohran Mamdani performed particularly well.
Here's a recap of the day so far
The US supreme court appeared skeptical of the legal basis of the Trump administration’s sweeping global tariff regime on Wednesday after justices questioned the president’s authority to impose the levies. The question at the heart of the case is whether the Trump administration’s tariffs violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law which only gives the president authority to “regulate or prohibit international transactions during a national emergency”. Today, even conservative justices sounded doubtful of the strength of the Trump administration’s position. “The vehicle is the imposition of taxes on Americans, and that has always been a core power of Congress,” said Chief Justice John Roberts. Lawyers for the small businesses challenging the White House said that the president’s actions were unprecedented. “They are tariffing the entire world in peacetime, and they are doing it asserting a power that no president in our history has ever had,” said attorney Neal Katyal.
As he hosted Republican senators at the White House, Donald Trump offered some initial thoughts on the Democratic victories across the country on election night. “Last night, it was not expected to be a victory, it was very Democrat areas. But I don’t think it was good for Republicans,” the president said. “I’m not sure it was good for anybody.” Later, while speaking at the America Business Forum in Miami, Trump particularly disparaged Zohran Mamdani’s historic win in New York City. “The decision facing all Americans could not be more clear – we have a choice between communism and common sense,” he said, while mispronouncing the new mayor’s name.
On Capitol Hill, and day 36 of the government shutdown (now the longest on record), Republicans continued to rebuke Democrats for failing to pass a stopgap funding bill. House speaker Mike Johnson also used his daily press conference to both downplay and foreshadow what Tuesday’s election results suggest going forward. “There’s no surprises. What happened last night was blue states and blue cities voted blue. We all saw that coming,” the speaker said, before stating the importance of maintaining a Republican majority in the midterm elections. “If we lose the majority in the House, and this radical element of the Democrat party were able to take over, we’ve already seen that movie. They will try to end the Trump administration,” Johnson said.
Meanwhile, Trump had choice words for GOP lawmakers, as he pushed for them to blow up the filibuster. Despite reticence from Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, the president pushed the virtues of abolishing the 60-vote threshold needed to end debate on legislation. His argument largely rests on the grounds that Democrats would do the same, and would use it to advance their own agenda if they were given the opportunity. “We have to get the country going. We will pass legislation at levels you’ve never seen before, and it will be impossible to beat us,” he said. “They’ll [Democrats] most likely never attain power, because we will have passed every single thing that you can imagine.”
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Republicans in California on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging a high-stakes redistricting measure that could help flip up to five congressional seats for Democrats.
The suit, filed by Republican assembly member David Tangipa, 18 California voters and the state Republican party, in the US district court for the central district of California argues that the new maps are unconstitutional because they were drawn to increase the voting power of a particular racial group. It asks the court to block the new maps from taking effect, at least temporarily.
The measure, Proposition 50, was approved by voters on Tuesday evening, in a decisive victory for Democrats. The plan temporarily gives the power to draw congressional districts to the California legislature, allowing it to adopt maps that will help Democrats pick up five seats in the US House of Representatives.
Mike Columbo, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said that California Democrats drew the maps to increase the power of Latino voters.
While the supreme court allows states to use race as a factor in drawing political maps, Columbo argued that the intent was to help minority voters elect the candidates of their choice. In California, he noted, Hispanic voters represent the largest ethnic group.
“There is no majority race in California more than Hispanics,” Columbo said. “Hispanics have had fantastic success in electing candidates of their choice. Accordingly, California cannot meet this exception.”
Democrats have expressed confidence that the maps would withstand a legal challenge.
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Trump’s address today in Miami is sounding more like a campaign rally, as he responds to the Democratic victories across the country after Tuesday’s election.
“Let’s see how a communist does in New York. We’re going to see how that works out. We’ll help them. We want New York to be successful. We’ll help them a little bit,” the president said, after Zohran Mamdani was elected as the city’s youngest, first Muslim mayor.
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In Miami
The White House had said Donald Trump’s remarks would be addressing his economic agenda and the trade deals he has signed in recent weeks. But it swiftly became a familiar litany of personal insults against political foes, including Joe Biden, the California governor Gavin Newsom, Chuck Schumer and Zohran Mamdani, the Democrat elected Tuesday as mayor of New York.
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In Miami
Donald Trump’s speech started off with a lengthy self-congratulation for winning his second term of office exactly one year ago today.
“We rescued the economy … we saved our country,” he insisted, before recounting his pre-election photoshoot with a garbage truck, and serving hamburgers in a McDonald’s restaurant.
“This is the golden age of America,” he said, touting a slew of recent trade deals with other nations, and insisting they would net $21tn for the US economy in one year. He claimed to have removed 600,000 Americans from food stamp aid, and that 2 million more were working than when he took office.
“Prices are coming down very fast,” he said. “We’re going to have a bigger, better, stronger economy than my first four years.”
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Trump slams Mamdani's New York victory: 'It's common sense or communism'
The president continued to undermine the results of New York’s mayoral election. He’s yet to reference the new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, by name. But he’s used the historic victory as a way to color the future direction of the Democratic party.
“If you want to see what congressional Democrats wish to do to America, just look at the result of yesterday’s election in New York, where their party installed a communist,” Trump said, inciting a series of boos as a result. “Now the Democrats are so extreme that Miami will soon be the refuge for those fleeing communism in New York.”
He went on to summarize the situation at large: “The decision facing all Americans could not be more clear – we have a choice between communism and common sense.”
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Trump delivers remarks at America Business Forum
The president took the stage in Miami to deliver remarks at the America Business Forum. He’s offered the greatest hits of many of his usual lines: extolling his 2024 win as the most “consequential election victory in American history”, declaring his second administration as the beginning of a “golden age of America” and baselessly claiming the 2020 election was stolen.
He also disparaged the results of the New York mayoral election. “Watch what happens in New York, terrible,” Trump said, not referring to Zohran Mamdani by name. “And I hope it doesn’t happen, but you’re going to see it.”
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Key event
Johnson also said today that he has spoken with the president about how they can shore up support in the midterm 2026 elections. “If we lose the majority in the House, and this radical element of the Democrat party were able to take over, we’ve already seen that movie. They will try to end the Trump administration,” Johnson said. “He won’t have four years. He’ll have only two because they will move to impeach him, probably on the first day of the new Congress in January 2027, and they will try to systematically unwind all the important reforms that we’ve done for the American people.”
The House speaker also said that Trump is “going to help” as campaign season kicks off. “He’s offered to do rallies and the tele-town halls and all the thing – he’s sent out a huge round of endorsements of incumbents,” he added.
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House speaker says Mamdani's mayoral victory is 'the biggest win for socialism in US history'
Earlier today, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, held his daily press conference on the steps of the US Capitol, declaring that Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory in New York is “the biggest win for socialism in US history and the biggest loss for the American people”.
Johnson added: “Working families watching this play out have a right to know that socialism and communism are not just confined in New York City, they are quickly coming to a town near you.”
However, he urged those watching to not “read too much” into last night’s results. “There’s no surprises. What happened last night was blue states and blue cities voted blue. We all saw that coming,” the speaker said.
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'Rome wasn't built in a day': JD Vance reacts to Democratic election day victories
In response the sweep of Democratic victories on Tuesday, the vice-president took to social media to offer his analysis, noting that “it’s idiotic to overreact to a couple of elections in blue states”, but laying out his thoughts regardless.
“We need to focus on the home front. The president has done a lot that has already paid off in lower interest rates and lower inflation, but we inherited a disaster from Joe Biden and Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Vance wrote.
He added that “infighting” among Republicans “is stupid”.
“I care about immigration and our sovereignty, and I care about establishing peace overseas so our resources can be focused at home. If you care about those things too, let’s work together,” he said.
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On the subject of Mamdani, this time last year no one had really heard of him. Now he is the first Muslim, millennial and mayor of South Asian heritage of America’s largest city. For this week’s episode of Politics America Weekly, Jonathan Freedland speaks to reporter Ed Pilkington about Mamdani’s historic win, his challenge to the president, and what the Democrats should take away from a successful night at the ballot box. You can listen here:
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I talked with leftwing commentator Hasan Piker on the phone earlier today, fresh off a night of celebrating Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York.
Mamdani’s message can be replicated around the country, Piker said, despite the contention from some that the democratic socialist’s platform would be too radical for other parts of the country.
“This is probably the 700th time saying this, and not just about Zohran in general, not even just last night. This is the message of my entire political advocacy. This is the message of my entire political career as a commentator, as someone who works with organizers and activists,” Piker said.
“Yes, Zohran’s message is universal. It is applicable, and I think as long as you localize it to address the ailments that people feel, the issues that people feel in whatever locality, in whatever state that you are running for, as long as you center working-class struggles and affordability at the heart of your campaign, you will definitely win.”
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After a brief rebuttal from Sauer and more than two and a half hours of arguments, Roberts announces, “The case is submitted,” and the hearing concludes.
The next step is a private conference at which the justices will take a preliminary vote on the outcome.
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in Miami
Away from the supreme court for a moment, my colleague Richard Luscombe reports that we might hear more of Donald Trump’s thoughts about Tuesday’s election results shortly when he addresses the America Business Forum in Miami.
The president is the headline speaker at the two-day conference, which brings together influencers and leaders from the worlds of politics, business and sports.
According to White House officials, he will focus his remarks on economics, especially a number of trade deals he has taken credit for brokering around the globe. But Trump is known to veer off script, so we’ll be listening for any further commentary about the disappointing night for Republicans.
Earlier today, the conference heard via a video link from Venezuelan opposition leader and democracy activist Maria Corina Machado, the winner last month of the Nobel peace prize that the president had coveted.
Trump’s recent aggressive stance towards Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro, which has included military strikes on multiple alleged drugs trafficking vessels, was “correct”, she said: “[Maduro] is not a legitimate head of state, he is head of a narco-terrorist structure. You need to cut those cash flows and that’s precisely what President Trump is doing to protect millions of lives. Maduro started this war and President Trump is ending that war.”
Other conference speakers include soccer star Lionel Messi; Argentina’s president, Javier Melei; Trump’s Middle East envoy and adviser Steve Witkoff; and the Amazon and Blue Origin founder, Jeff Bezos.
Trump’s address is scheduled for 1pm ET. We’ll bring you anything noteworthy.
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Kavanaugh asks why Congress would rationally give the president the power to shut down trade but not to take a less severe step, such as impose even a 1% tariff. He says it creates an “odd doughnut hole in the statute”.
But Benjamin Gutman, Oregon’s solicitor general, says the power to tax is fundamentally different. He says, to laughter:
It’s not a doughnut hole, it’s a different kind of pastry.
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Katyal told the court that “we have no problem” with the president executing tariffs under trade acts, but “this president has torn up the entire tariff architecture”.
Pointing specifically to the example of Switzerland, a close US ally, where tariffs are currently 39% (and which, he notes, has a trade surplus with the United States), he said:
That is just not something any president has ever had the power to do in our history.
“There is no citation whatsoever in the government’s brief to any notion that the president has Article II tariff authority,” Katyal said. “In wartime, conquered territory, maybe. But this is not a wartime or conquered territory statute … They are tariffing the entire world in peacetime, and they are doing it asserting a power that no president in our history has ever had.”
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Katyal also noted that Congress knows “exactly how to delegate its tariff powers”, and has done so in many instances for 238 years. “It’s done so explicitly, always with real limits. IEEPA looks nothing like those laws,” he said.
As he answered questions from the justices, he pushed back against the government’s characterization that revenue from the president’s tariffs is simply incidental. “Our founders didn’t give the president revenue-raising power, even in a time of war,” Katyal said.
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'Tariffs are taxes': challenger to Trump's tariffs speaks to supreme court
At the supreme court, Neal Katyal, the attorney arguing for private companies challenging Trump’s tariffs, said: “Tariffs are taxes. They take dollars from Americans pockets and deposit them in the US treasury. Our founders gave that taxing power to Congress alone. Yet here, the president bypassed Congress and imposed one of the largest tax increases in our lifetimes.”
He added:
Many doctrines explain why this is illegal, like the presumption that Congress speaks clearly when it imposes taxes and duties and the major questions doctrine, but it comes down to common sense. It’s simply implausible that in enacting IEEPA, Congress handed the president the power to overhaul the entire tariff system and the American economy in the process, allowing him to set and reset tariffs on any and every product from any and every country at any and all times.
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Before the US solicitor general finished taking questions, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson probed him a final time: “What is a little concerning to me is that your argument suggests that we should see the word ‘imposed’, the phrase ‘impose tariffs’… We don’t see that word. Instead, you take ‘regulate’ and say that must mean that.”
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Conservative justices also voice doubt on Trump administration's tariff argument
It’s worth noting that even conservative justices sound doubtful of the strength of the Trump administration’s position on the legality of its tariffs. “The vehicle is the imposition of taxes on Americans, and that has always been a core power of Congress,” said Chief Justice John Roberts.
After D John Sauer argued that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, enabled Trump to impose sweeping tariffs, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said: “One problem you have is that presidents since IEEPA have not done this.”
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If you’re listening to the arguments, you will have heard the term “major questions doctrine” come up a few times. This is the legal principle that means a federal agency cannot create new, significant economic or political policies unless Congress uses plain language to authorize them.
Because the IEEPA doesn’t include specific terms like “tariffs” or “duties”, justices today have taken issue with the Trump administration’s argument today. Chief Justice Roberts questioned why the solicitor general doesn’t think the doctrine applies in this case.
Justice Gorsuch pushed Sauer even further, warning that the tariffs in this case could be “a one-way ratchet toward the gradual but continual accretion of power in the executive branch and away from the people’s elected representatives”.
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Trump administration defends tariffs as 'regulatory'
Interestingly, Sauer said today that the tariffs “are regulatory”.
“They are not revenue-raising tariffs, the fact that they raise revenue is only incidental,” he added.
Trump, however, has touted the levies as a huge boon for the American economy, including offsetting the national debt, and revitalizing domestic manufacturing.
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Justices started to hear oral arguments a short while ago on tariffs at the heart of the Donald Trump’s policy platform, a crucial legal test of his controversial economic strategy – and power.
So far, some justices have expressed skepticism over the law – known as the IEEPA – that the president used to slap steep duties on almost every US trading partner.
D John Sauer, the solicitor general defending the Trump administration in the case, has argued that these duties amount to “regulatory tariffs, not revenue-raising tariffs”. He said: “We don’t contend that what’s being exercised here is the power to tax.”
“I just don’t understand this argument,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “You want to say tariffs are not taxes, but that’s exactly what they are.”
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Liberal justices push Trump administration on justification for tariffs
Solicitor general Sauer is getting pushed now by liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Jackson particularly took umbrage with Sauer’s argument that the Trump is able to enact tariffs to “regulate foreign powers”, despite the fact that Congress passed the IEEPA to limit the president’s authority.
“My point is that Congress enacted this legislation with the intent of preventing the president from having unlimited powers in this area,” Jackson said. “And you’re asking us to now interpret that statute consistent with an understanding that Congress wanted to allow the president to do pretty much whatever he wanted in this area.”
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Schumer and Jeffries demand meeting with Trump as shutdown continues
The top congressional Democrats, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, have written to the president to demand a meeting as the government shutdown breaks records and enters day 36.
“We write to demand a bipartisan meeting of legislative leaders to end the GOP shutdown of the federal government and decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis,” Schumer, the Senate minority leader, and Jeffries, the House minority leader, wrote. “Democrats stand ready to meet with you face to face, anytime and anyplace.”
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Oral arguments begin in supreme court case on legality of Trump's tariffs
The supreme court has started to hear oral arguments for and against the legality of most of Donald Trump’s tariffs. “One would expect Congress to confer major powers on the president,” said D. John Sauer, solicitor general.
A reminder that the Trump administration cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law which in some circumstances grants the president authority to regulate or prohibit international transactions during a national emergency, as he slapped steep duties on imports into the US.
The supreme court – controlled by a rightwing supermajority that was crafted by Trump – will review whether the IEEPA grants the president the authority to levy a tariff, a word not mentioned in the law. Congress is granted sole authority under the constitution to levy taxes.
The court has until the end of its term, in July 2026, to issue a ruling on the case.
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Top Democrats congratulate Mamdani on victory in New York mayoral election
Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, and Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, both extended congratulations to Zohran Mamdani on winning the New York mayoral election. Notably, both lawmakers represent the Empire state.
“The American people are fed up with the high cost of living, broken promises, Republican attacks on healthcare, GOP corruption and the unprecedented attack on our way of life,” Jeffries said, while also congratulating Democratic victors in other races, like the gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey.
Schumer, who never formally endorsed Mamdani and kept quiet about who he voted for in the election, said that the 34-year-old’s win was a “well-earned” and “historic victory”.
“We have worked together on a number of vital issues – like delivering historic debt relief for taxi drivers. I look forward to building on that partnership to keep NYC strong, fair, more affordable and thriving,” he added.
The Senate minority leader also called the wider sweep of Democratic successes across the country a “repudiation of the Trump agenda”.
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Supreme court to hear arguments in case over legality of Trump's sweeping tariffs
In a short while, we’ll bring you the latest from the supreme court, where the justices will hear arguments in a case that challenges the legality of the president’s sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries.
The question at the heart of the case is whether the Trump administration’s tariffs violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law which allows the president authority to “regulate or prohibit international transactions during a national emergency”.
The arguments, according to the docket, are scheduled to last 80 minutes. But they are likely to last much longer, as is often the case in many of these closely watched hearings.
'Not sure it was good for anybody': Trump reacts to Dem sweep on election night
As he hosted Republican senators at the White House, Trump offered some initial thoughts on the Democratic victories across the country on election night.
“Last night, it was not expected to be a victory, it was very Democrat areas. But I don’t think it was good for Republicans,” he said. “I’m not sure it was good for anybody.”
He added: “We had an interesting evening, and we learned a lot, and we’re going to talk about that.”
President lambasts filibuster as he hosts GOP lawmakers
Donald Trump has continued his relentless criticism of the filibuster – the 60-vote threshold needed to end debate on legislation and bring a bill to the floor for a vote.
In recent days, the president has posted up a storm on social media, urging Republican lawmakers to abolish the procedural maneuver (which they have described as an important legislative safeguard) on the grounds that Democrats would do the same, and would use it to advance their own agenda if they were given the opportunity. “They’re going to pack the court, they’re going to make DC a state, and they’re going to make Puerto Rico a state,” Trump said.
Despite explicit reticence from GOP leaders on Capitol Hill, the president pushed the virtues of a filibuster-free Congress today.
“We have to get the country going. We will pass legislation at levels you’ve never seen before, and it will be impossible to beat us,” he said. “They’ll [Democrats] most likely never attain power, because we will have passed every single thing that you can imagine.”
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Trump continues to spread baseless claims about mail-in voting
At a breakfast with Republican senators at the White House, Trump continued to spread baseless claims that mail-in ballots are “automatically corrupt”.
“We should pass no mail in voting. We should pass all the things that we want to pass make our election secure and safe,” Trump said.
Voting experts have routinely pushed back against the president’s claims that this type of voting is less secure than in-person voting. Trump, himself, has voted by mail in the recent past.
Government shutdown enters day 36, breaking a record as impasse on the hill continues
Today marks day 36 of the ongoing government shutdown – now the longest on record.
Lawmakers remain at an impasse, with few signs of letting up. On Tuesday, the Senate failed – for the 14th time – to pass a stopgap funding bill to reopen the government.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump and congressional Republicans continue to blame Democrats for stopping business as usual. The president has also urged top GOP lawmakers to abolish the filibuster, despite their explicit reluctance.
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Election night jubilation - with Ocasio-Cortez and Lander at the victory party
Here’s a look at some of the pictures from New York, as Zohran Mamdani was elected the next mayor of the city.
Trump to host GOP senators for White House breakfast
In a short while, we’ll hear from Donald Trump when he hosts a breakfast with Republican senators at the White House. As we noted earlier, the president had choice words about Mamdani’s victory in New York, and other Democratic wins across the country – including the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey.
That’s due to start at 8.30am ET, and we’ll bring you the latest lines.
Later, Trump will fly to Miami and give a speech at the America Business Forum, which we’ll cover as it happens.
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Democrats swept several ballots yesterday
Democratic victory in yesterday’s two state governor races has boosted morale for a party bruised by Trump’s return to the White House.
The votes on Tuesday were seen as a referendum on Trump’s explosive presidency so far – and wins in the governor races in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as the approval of a measure to redraw voting lines in California, will be encouraging to a party looking for a way back into power at the 2026 midterms.
However those Congressional elections are still a year away, and analysts note that New Jersey and Virginia – where Democrats Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger won – are Democrat-leaning regions anyway.
Still, the winning candidates could rejuvenate the party and inspire more engagement from dispirited voters. The turnout in New York for Mamdani was the highest since 1969.
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Let’s take a look at the breakdown of the vote across the New York boroughs:
Mamdani was able to build a broad coalition of supporters across several bases – everyone from working-class immigrants to younger, liberal voters. Across the city, they turned out in droves – and this surge triumphed over Cuomo’s base which was boosted by Republican voters.
It was such a landslide that within 35 minutes of the polls closing, Associated Press had called the race for the city’s first Muslim mayor and the youngest in a century.
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Trump's reaction throughout the night
Even though the races yesterday were local – at state and city hall levels – the US president weighed in, in particular targeting Mamdani’s New York mayoral campaign.
Trump hurled some invectives at the 11th hour – urging people to vote for the former disgraced New York governor Cuomo instead of Mamdani and calling the 34-year-old Muslim leftist a “Jew hater”.
And as the results flooded in last night, showing also victories for Democrat governor candidates in two states, Trump was firing on Truth Social.
He blamed the Republican defeats on unnamed “pollsters” suggesting factors were the ongoing government shutdown and the absence of his own pulling power.
“TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,” according to Pollsters”
And then, as Mamdani was railing against Trump’s divisive politics in his victory speech, Trump posted another line on Truth Social:
“… AND SO IT BEGINS!”
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‘Absolutely ecstatic’: New Yorkers celebrate with cheers, tears and DSA chants
Mamdani will be the first Muslim mayor of New York and its youngest in over a century – but not its first immigrant mayor, nor its first mayor to champion socialist ideals. New Yorkers celebrated his monumental election at official and unofficial parties spread across the five boroughs.
My colleagues Sam Wolfson, Alaina Demopoulos and Saam Niami were at various scenes:
At a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) party in Brooklyn, supporters erupted shortly after the race was called at 9.30pm. The DJ immediately started playing I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas. Tonight was a good, good night for those in the room, who erupted in tears, hugs and twerking.
“This just shows that our politics are not radical, that New Yorkers actually think what we believe is sensible, and maybe the rest of the country is ready for sensible, commonsense, Democratic socialism,” said 40-year-old health department worker Will, a DSA member for years.
With the dancefloor in full swing, Ellie, a 28-year-old bartender from Bed-Stuy, said she felt “absolutely ecstatic”.
This is the first time we’ve had hope in so long.
These are the people who fought for Mamdani when he was polling at 1%, who celebrated his socialist principles when others said they disqualified him.
Meanwhile hundreds queued up on the sidewalk outside another DSA watch party, cheering and holding signs, and, in the case of one woman, a cardboard cutout of Mamdani.
The crowd was a genuine mix: Black, white, brown, young folks and old folks, party gays, butch lesbians, bridge-and-tunnel kids who couldn’t even vote in the election but felt its reverberations nonetheless.
Amber Pease, 25, lives in Nassau county in Long Island. Her inability to cast a vote didn’t stop her from traveling in to volunteer for Zohran’s campaign. She wants to get a job and move into the city soon.
“I’ve been waiting to see a good progressive candidate, and to have one so close to home, it gives me a lot of hope.”
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Mamdani has sealed a remarkable victory but the real challenge lies ahead
After more than a year of promises about freezing rent and making childcare free, Zohran Mamdani wakes on Wednesday with a daunting task ahead of him: make those things reality for New York City.
The 34-year-old democratic socialist ran New York’s most ambitious mayoral campaign in years, attracting hundreds of thousands of supporters with bold promises to make the largest US city affordable.
It was a campaign that made Mamdani a global sensation and invigorated many New Yorkers like never before, attracting almost 100,000 volunteers. Mamdani rejuvenated the left beyond New York’s borders, encouraging other progressives to run for office across the US, and could yet influence the Democratic party ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
The flip side, however, is clear: the residents of New York have had their hopes set incredibly high, and now Mamdani has to deliver.
“I think for New Yorkers, it is a small light in what has been an overwhelming era of darkness,” said Usamah Andrabi, communications director at the progressive Justice Democrats organization.
'A local victory' that offers resistance to Washington
Mamdani’s victory in the New York mayoral race caps a meteoric and unlikely rise, from anonymous state lawmaker to one of the country’s most visible Democratic figures. He is a figure on the left being watched internationally.
When the race was called in his favor last night, excitement was palpable across NYC.
It was a “local victory” that offered a means of “resisting and pushing back” against Washington’s political establishment, Ben Parisi, 40, told AFP.
The mood, he added, was a significant contrast to last year’s Trump victory.
Mamdani triumphs on strong night for the Democrats
It was an encouraging night for the left in America with Democratic wins in three key races sending a warning signal to Trump ahead of midterms next year.
The key takeaways:
Zohran Mamdani is the mayor-elect of New York City with a commanding victory over former governor Andrew Cuomo. With more than 97% of the votes counted, the 34-year-old received more votes – at least 1.03 million – than all the other candidates combined, including Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Democrats also won two key state governor races with Abigail Spanberger triumphing in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey.
California passed Proposition 50, a measure which will temporarily redistrict the state in hopes of countering Republican efforts to do the same in Texas. The new maps could help Democrats pick up five additional seats in the US House of Representatives.
President Donald Trump distanced himself from the losses, suggesting on social media that the Republican defeats were due to the government shutdown and because his own name was not on the ballot.
As Mamdani delivered his victory speech, the president also posted a cryptic missive: “AND SO IT BEGINS!”.
Mamdani directly challenged Trump in his victory speech in Brooklyn, vowing to use his role to counter his politics of division. “Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up.”
Dawn of a leftist mayor
Good morning – it is the dawn of a new era in New York City where many are celebrating after a decisive mayoral race victory for Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani is the city’s first Muslim mayor and at 34, the youngest to serve in more than a century.
In an exultant speech at his victory party last night, Mamdani took it to Trump directly, saying he knew the Republican president was watching.
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.”
“In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light.”
Let’s get into it.
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