Ranked ballot results for the Democratic mayoral primary were due to be released on Tuesday afternoon. The ranked balloting models provided a possible pathway to victory for upstart State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani as his late surge gained steam, but the firebrand socialist pulled off the surprise victory outright over former Governor Andrew Cuomo last week. Mamdani’s critics, however, bemoan any Mamdani victory as a loss for New York as they hear the candidate’s laundry list of campaign promises. Rich Lowry is the editor-in-chief of The National Review. He appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to offer his take on how Mamdani turned the trick to nab the Democratic bid for Gracie Mansion.
“Some of the last polling showed it was consistent with an upset,” an unimpressed Lowry explained to host Larry Mendte. “Sure enough, it happened. This is the way it often goes. You have the young guy who catches people’s imagination, is very energetic, and you have the more established candidates saying, ‘We can’t risk this young guy,’ and very often, especially in primaries, voters tend to go with the young guy. He is so callow; he is so far left. His stuff is so extreme. He’s going to be a disaster for the city- it just breaks my heart.”
Lowry feels that Mamdani’s youthful energy is focused on the wrong solution: “Unfortunately, the broad theme of affordability, that does resonate with people. You were just talking about the contention over rent increases; I think rents went up 16% across the city last year. That's just a crusher. You need more houses. You need market solutions, but he wants more socialism, obviously.”
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