Zohran Mamdani taps progressive playbook for electrifying Gen Z

Zohran Mamdani, the surging young progressive in New York City's mayoral race, is showing what it looks like when a Democrat taps into the energy, language and anxieties of Gen Z.Why it matters: As national Democrats pour millions into polling and research to try to win back young voters, Mamdani is offering a real-time playbook for how to actually reach them.The party establishment is deeply skeptical of the 33-year-old New York State Assemblyman, a proud democratic socialist who's second in polls behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo ahead of Tuesday's crowded primary.But Mamdani's digitally native, culturally fluent campaign is undoubtedly resonating with Gen Z: A recent poll suggested he could win 60% of first-choice votes among 18- to 34-year-olds.What's happening: Mamdani is running on a left-wing populist agenda — rent freezes, city-run grocery stores, free public transit — with a campaign strategy built for TikTok, not television.His videos are fast, emotional, and unmistakably Gen Z: They don't explain policy so much as channel frustration with a system that so many young people feel is rigged against them.They can also be funny: Mamdani has mocked his scandal-ridden opponents, Cuomo and Mayor Eric Adams, with the kind of dry, internet-savvy humor that travels fast on TikTok.And besides his massive grassroots army, Mamdani has become a hot commodity in New York's influencer scene — tapping into an online ecosystem where political content doubles as entertainment.Reality check: New York is not the rest of the country.Mamdani — who may very well lose — is running in one of the most progressive cities in America, and there's little evidence he has crossover appeal with the kinds of Gen Z men who swung to Trump in 2024."Red pill" culture and social conservatism, which helped power some of Trump's gains among young men, aren't necessarily receptive to Mamdani's brand of democratic socialism.The big picture: Still, Mamdani's campaign offers a rare glimpse of what it might look like if Democrats actually tried to compete for Gen Z's attention on cultural terrain — not just political ground.Even if his model doesn't scale nationally, it challenges the party to rethink how it communicates in an era in which identity, aesthetics and authenticity often matter more than ideology.Political identities developed during formative years tend to stick — and a generation of young men has come of age knowing only two brands: Trump's Republicans and Biden's Democrats.

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