Progressive mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary is a watershed moment for New York City, and Seattle is on the cusp of its own watershed moment with the opportunity to elect Katie Wilson, a progressive who would break a long run of timid centrist leadership.
The similarities are numerous between Wilson and Mamdani. Both are young, stridently progressive, and reviled by the political elites in their city. Both fought to lower the cost of housing and transit while the establishment dragged its feet.
Both face giants of the Democratic centrist establishment. Mamdani just beat the former Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, heir to a political dynasty. Meanwhile, Wilson faces incumbent Bruce Harrell, a long-time politician who local pundits considered nearly invincible until Wilson got into the race.
Mamdani is a 33-year-old member of the state Assembly, born in Uganda to Indian Muslim and Indian American Hindu parents, who came to our country at the age of seven. Mamdani campaigned as a democratic socialist, focusing on increasing affordable mixed income social housing, a freeze on rents, public child care, and free city buses. Cuomo had the money and the backing of the Democratic old guard including the Clintons.
