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The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board warned New York City Democratic voters on Monday against nominating Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, in Tuesday’s mayoral primary, urging them to look to Chicago as a warning.
The Tribune told New Yorkers that they’ve “seen this movie before and the ending isn’t pretty,” detailing the hardships their city has faced after electing Mayor Brandon Johnson, also a democratic socialist, in 2023.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s lead over Mamdani has been shrinking in recent polling of the Democratic Party primary race for mayor, showing the New York state assemblyman gaining momentum as the primary election gets closer.
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The Chicago outlet noted that many of Mamdani’s ideas for how to run the city differ vastly from Cuomo — but are closely aligned with Johnson’s initiatives, which the editorial board warned have failed the city.
“Mamdani wants to freeze rents, open city-owned grocery stores, provide bus service for ‘free,’ tax corporations and the 1%, and increase the minimum wage to $30, among other left-wing positions that differ greatly from Cuomo,” the outlet pointed out.
The Tribune went on to list some of the policies that their mayor proposed, but failed to implement — including a $300 million tax hike and a “mansion tax” which would have spiked the real estate transfer tax.
“He’s built too few affordable housing units for too much money. He’s isolated himself from many of the state and federal officials he hopes will come to his financial rescue, and he’s done egregious special favors for the people who got him elected — namely, pushing an incredibly costly new contract with the Chicago Teachers Union,” they claimed, adding, “His city is broke, but he wants to spend more.”
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The editorial board noted that while Johnson is one of the most progressive mayors in the U.S., Mamdani is “inarguably” more radical.
The paper went on to predict that NYC’s mayoral race will come down to voter turnout, warning that the steep drawdown in turnout in the city would likely favor the democratic socialist candidate rather than Cuomo.
The city’s ranked choice voting system allows residents to list up to five candidates in their order of preference. If no candidate manages to obtain 50% of first-choice votes, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and the ballots are redistributed to voters’ next choices. The process repeats itself until one candidate receives the majority of votes.
Mamdani and fellow progressive mayoral candidate Brad Lander have used the city’s ranked choice voting process to their advantage — cross-endorsing one another in the hopes of preventing Cuomo from reaching the 50% of the vote needed to become mayor.
“Low turnout makes it easier for radicals to capture public office,” the outlet claimed. “And that’s a mistake we hope New Yorkers don’t make. If New Yorkers are frustrated with Mayor Eric Adams, they should be careful not to trade him for someone who might preside over a city that is less competitive and less financially secure.”
“Trust us — we’re living that reality,” the Chicago Tribune warned.
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