“The Communists’ chief purpose is to destroy every form of independence—independent work, independent action, independent property, independent thought, an independent mind, or an independent man. Conformity, alikeness, servility, submission and obedience are necessary to establish a Communist slave-state.” — Ayn Rand
It was inevitable that demonizing, attacking and over-taxing the wealthy would lead to a mass exodus. But I think Zoharm means to do just that. He is on a jihad to destroy the greatest city in the world.
In New York, the top 1% of earners pay about 45% of all state income taxes in any given year, so New York’s revenue is heavily dependent on high earners to stay in New York. So the house of cards won’t need much more to come tumbling down.
And if things weren’t bad enough, New York just announced the country’s first statewide moratorium on AI data centers — literally banning the future.
By Carl Campanile, Vaughn Golden, Craig McCarthy and Matt Troutman, NY Post, July 13, 2026:
Lacks the rich.
New York’s share of US millionaires dramatically declined in recent years, causing a nearly $11 billion loss in much-needed tax revenue in just one year, according to a bombshell new analysis.
The study released Monday by the Citizen Budget Commisison comes amid fears that socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s push to “tax the rich” will drive even more wealthy taxpayers and their businesses out of New York City.
Even before Mamdani took office, the Empire State’s share of the nation’s millionaires dipped from 12.7% to 8.7% between 2010 and 2022 — the largest decline of any state, according to the CBC’s Competitive NYS: Value Proposition Tracker dashboard.
“New York’s declining share of high-income taxpayers has meaningful consequences,” the analysis states.
Many experts and business leaders warned Mamdani’s stick-it-to-the-rich policy dreams — and their growing success among Albany lawmakers – could supercharge the drip-drip of wealthy people.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has firmly opposed an outright hike on the wealthy this year — as she seeks re-election in November — but backed a so-called pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes in New York City.
Mamdani gleefully gloated about the tax in a social media video filmed outside billionaire Ken Griffin’s $238 million Manhattan penthouse – a stunt that infuriated the hedge fund titan and prompted him to threaten pulling a $6 billion Park Avenue development.
The feud fueled fears of a wider exodus from New York, where the Big Apple’s and the state’s bloated budgets are increasingly dependent on a shrinking sliver of taxpayers.
“In New York, the top 1% of earners pay about 45% of all state income taxes in any given year, so New York’s revenue is very reliant on high earners to stay in New York, and that has been a challenge in recent years,” said Jared Walczak, an economist and senior fellow at the Tax Foundation think tank.
“Gracie Mansion can’t do it on its own; it takes Albany,” he told The Post. “Pied-à-terre will have some impact, but there’s this feeling that New York isn’t done raising taxes, and with other places being more competitive, it won’t be surprising if high-earner taxpayers choose to relocate.”
Follow live updates on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda and the latest in NYC politics
The Empire State currently ranks dead last for competitiveness, said Abir Mandel, senior state policy analyst with the Tax Foundation.
Mandel argued high taxes drive businesses away to friendlier states, noting Elon Musk moved his companies from California to Texas to avoid the levies.
“Without reforming the tax structure New York won’t be competitive for attracting population and business,” he said.
“Wall Street is the golden goose. But for how long?”
State elected officials backed policies going back to 2010 that many experts argue have driven up costs and further pressured the tax base — such as former Gov. Andrew Cuomo hiking income taxes on high earners during the coronavirus pandemic and Hochul presiding over a Medicaid spending expected to reach $58 billion by the end of the decade.
Ken Girardin, research fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative public policy think tank, pointed at the state’s tightened rent control law approved in 2019 and it’s green energy mandate as a one-two punch that reduced housing supply and raised energy costs.
“Albany is directly responsible for the stagnation,” he said.
Who are these Democratic Socialists of America that are so frequently mentioned in the news? Are they traditional European socialists? Are they anarchists? Are they communists? I think they don’t mind if you label them any of those three rubrics.
But let’s go through a diagnosis, a methodology, a therapy, prognosis, as if we’re doctors looking at a malady or a disease.
So, first of all, what are their symptoms?
Well, their symptoms are they have an agenda that’s way out of the norm. And what is that agenda?
Well, one, they want open borders, amnesty for illegal immigration, and the conflation of citizenship and mere residency.
They want vastly higher taxes, including on unrealized profits and net worth, which is new. They want much more entitlements. They want a resurrection of DEI, and they believe in the Marxist binary that the country has no middle. It’s basically 30% who are not white who are oppressed, and they have legitimate claims for reparatory treatment from the 70 percent who are oppressors-victimizers.
They want the Green New Deal. They want an end to fossil fuels. They want to have a socialist economy. They want to appropriate, in some cases, private property, utilities, airlines they’ve mentioned, private wealth.
They have a foreign policy that would disconnect us from probably Europe, unless Europe is completely communist or socialist.
But they especially are angry at Israel. They want no relationship whatsoever with Israel, and that is a thinly cloaked symptom of a deep antisemitism that they share. They can’t seem to erase their social media accounts quickly enough to disguise their past antisemitic remarks.
So, they want to align us with what I would call nations from the former Third World. That’s their symptomatology, and that tells us who these patients are.
Who are they? Who makes up the Democratic Socialists of America?
It’s roughly three groups.
No. 1, they’re urban people. They’re all urban people, whether it’s Denver or whether it’s Houston or Austin or Knoxville or New York or LA or San Francisco or Boston.
They’re urban creatures. They’re consumers. They’re not producers of things. They don’t know where their water, their food, or their fuel comes from.
And many of them, one-third of their support, I would imagine, are upscale white elites who went to college.
Most of them are degreed. About 60% or 70% of them are degreed, but they’re degreed in the social sciences for the most part: psychology, sociology, community studies, public policy.
And then they either have majors or minors as well in ethnic studies, peace studies, leisure studies, environmental studies.
These are not marketable degrees. So, they have large student debt. Their degrees show that they’re not educated, they’re not analytical, they’re not empirical, and they’re not applicable to the job market, and they live in very expensive urban environments.
And that means they cannot afford rent or to buy a home, much less. They can’t get married, they can’t have children, and they’re angry that the world didn’t appreciate their genius and didn’t work out.
There’s a second group.
These are immigrants, first and second generation, from what we used to call the former Third World, from Africa, the Western Hemisphere, the Caribbean, Asia, etc.
And they tend to come from failed states, mostly because, ironically, of communism or socialism.
Places like Haiti, places like Somalia, places like the Middle East, Palestine, places like Peru or Venezuela or Colombia or Mexico.
And they come up here.
Originally, their parents came to get out of those systems, and that’s the irony of it. They want to destroy the very system that they fled and reenact the system that they left behind that made them so impoverished and unsafe.
But they come up here and they are told by the universities and the media and the popular culture the United States was bad. It’s got worse, and now it’s terrible.
And they feel that, career-wise and culturally, it makes sense to join the Left because they don’t have a lot of money initially, and they’re going to get a lot of entitlements, and they’re going to get a lot of support from left-wing entitlement vested interests.
There’s a third group.
And that’s the DEI people.
These are people who identify that they’re in the 30% of victimized, and they want more affirmative action, more reparatory treatment.
All of them, again, are urban.
All of them are angry at the Democratic Party because they feel they lost power for the Left. They lost power in the White House, the Congress, the Supreme Court, and they blame them for allowing Donald Trump to take power away from them.
Their methodology is not to run in purple or red states for the most part, and not to run, for the most part, statewide Senate races.
They select blue cities and blue local elections, and they count on an off-year 7% to 10% or 15% support of the total residents or registered voters.
They feel they’re better organized, they’re better funded, and they’re more coherent than traditional Democrats, and they can win if the Democrats take them for granted, and they have in these primaries.
If they stay in their confines, in their neighborhoods that are, as I mentioned, these three constituencies, I don’t think that James Talarico will win in Texas.
I don’t think Graham Platner, I’m speaking today on Tuesday, I don’t think he will survive over the weekend.
And I do not think Mr. [Abdul] El-Sayed in Michigan can win.
So, they haven’t proven yet that they can win a statewide race, even in a purple state, much less a red state.
Traditionally, America had no stomach for communism, Marxism, statism.
Eugene Debs, the socialist of the ’20s and ’30s and at the turn of the century, he lost five consecutive races.
The American Communist Party, the American Socialist Party, were defunct.
They believe they can reenact socialism-communism because immigration has now brought in 53 million people who were foreign-born, 16% of the population.
And they say that, with mail-in voting, no voter ID, same-day registration and voting, they can reach their constituencies, legal or illegal perhaps.
And then especially they have confidence that 50 years of K-12 and higher education has indoctrinated two or three generations more toward the socialist or communist point of view.
So, they think, well, in the past, our message never resonated, but we’re different.
The good news is if they try a third-party candidacy, it never works.
Not Pat Buchanan on the right, Ross Perot on the right, not Ralph Nader on the left, none of these, Dennis Kucinich, none of that works.
So, there’s no third party that they can have an avenue.
Anytime either party has nominated a presidential candidate or senators—take, for example, Barry Goldwater in 1964 or George McGovern in 1972—who were felt to be by the independent middle-class voter on the extreme, they not only lost, they destroyed their party in the process.
And that’s good news.
The bad news is if they’re not exposed—that is, their agenda is not exposed—and people are not informed who funds them, and we don’t understand how they operate, they could surprise us and they’re gaining more momentum.
They have the media and the popular culture on their side.
And if you look at other contemporary Leftist movements, they are much better organized and more coherent than “the squad” or the Congressional Black Caucus or La Raza Caucus, any of those extreme groups.
They know when to be violent and when not to be violent much better than BLM or Antifa.
And they’re much more organized and serious than third-party candidates on the Left like Ralph Nader in the past.
So, the key is not to take them for granted, but also not to be unduly afraid of them.
We still have no tradition of accepting socialists and communists, and I don’t think that’s changed, no matter what their grand dreams are that it has.
So, the point is, talk about it, expose who they are, talk about their agendas, talk about their radicalism, and then get out to vote and raise money against them and they will not be a serious or existential threat.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/Zohran-Mamdani-supporters-hold-campaign-signs.jpg360640The Daily Signalhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Daily Signal2026-07-10 14:15:432026-07-10 14:21:54The Ungrateful Urban Class Turning Into the New Democratic Socialist Party
“A specter is haunting America—the specter of communism.” That is a variation of the opening line of The Communist Manifesto (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, which states: “A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of communism.”
Is it possible that the ghost of communism is indeed haunting America? How could that be? Didn’t we win the Cold War?
In the late 1980s, the Berlin Wall came down, and the Eastern European nations threw off the yoke of Marxist bondage. Then in the early 1990s, the Soviet Union—the “evil empire” as Ronald Reagan called it—imploded.
Historians Eugene Genovese and his wife Elizabeth Fox-Genovese once published the Marxist Perspectives magazine, but then became disillusioned by communism. They told the National Review (2/24/1997) after the Soviet Union went kaput: “When it all collapsed, the question was, after seventy years, what do we have to show for it? . . . . tens of millions of corpses.”
Fast forward to today, and we see Democratic Socialists (virtual communists) winning one primary after another. It’s not just in New York City or Los Angeles, but now it has happened in the Denver area.
NPR reports: (7/1/26): “Democratic socialists have been on a hot streak lately. Last week, a pair of democratic socialists won competitive primary matchups in New York, another one won in Philadelphia back in May, and on Tuesday, in Denver, it happened again.”
This wave includes the November 2025 victory of the self-declared communist and Islamist, Zohran Mamdani, who became the mayor of New York City, our nation’s largest city—and the historic capital of capitalism.
The irony of these victories of the communists in our time is that their rise coincides with the 250th anniversary of the birth of America. It is ironic because at its basic level, America is predicated on the notion that our rights come from God. Communism is predicated on the notion that there is no God.
Communism says that when the workers seize the means of production and political power, then they will usher in the workers’ paradise. But the founders of America said human nature is fallen, therefore, power must be divided. James Madison, a key architect of the Constitution, said, “All men having power ought to be distrusted.”
NYC Mayor Mamdani wished America a Happy 250th Birthday in a speech last week: “We see the wealthiest country in the history of the world—one where children go to sleep hungry while the world’s first trillionaire hungers for more. We see monopolies that dominate every industry and oligarchs who buy elections.” So, happy birthday, America—you greedy jerks.
But 250 years ago—thanks largely to the hard work of the men and women of extraordinary Christian faith 400 years ago—America was born. The United States of America was the ultimate creation of the blood, sweat, toil, and tears of the Pilgrims, the Puritans, the Anglicans, the Quakers, the Presbyterians, the Catholics, the Baptists, the German dunkers (the Amish, the Menonites), the Methodists, and so on that helped settle this land. In most cases, they came for religious freedom.
Samuel Adams, the lightning rod of the American Revolution, was described as “the last of the Puritans.” He was very concerned that everything his ancestors sacrificed for—religious freedom, which led to all the other freedoms—was at risk in the colonies.
In 1771, Adams declared, “The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards. And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood.”
The Puritans set out to create “a city upon a hill,” but by the 1770s, that “city” was at risk. The British were threatening to take away our God-given rights. Hence, Samuel Adams helped provoke the American War for Independence.
But today our cultural elites have led us down a path of unbelief, and now we are reaping the consequences.
Many young people today, struggling to make ends meet, find the promises of “free stuff,” quite attractive. But they don’t realize that there is nothing free. Someone has to pay for it. And the politics of envy only exacerbate our misery, not alleviate it. And in extreme cases lead to ultimate misery.
Marx and Engels end their book, with the observation the workers “have nothing to lose but their chains.” Ironically, perhaps no system in history has led to more chains and loss of freedom than communism.
But without God, we will not succeed in the battle against communism or any of the other anti-God “-isms” that may arise. As founding father Patrick Henry stated, “It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.”
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/MAMDANI-YOU-WILL-OBEY-AND-LIKE-IT-MEME.jpg361640Jerry Newcombe, D. Min.http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJerry Newcombe, D. Min.2026-07-09 05:32:552026-07-09 05:35:08Is There A “Spectre” Haunting America?
Nearly Half of NYC Public Schools Are Failing Our Children While Mamdani Wages His Ideological Jihad
Students can’t read or do math, but they’re programmed to vote socialist.
Fewer than half the students at nearly 900 New York City public schools are proficient in math and reading, according to a stunning new report. Even more alarming, 43% of the city’s roughly 912,000 public school students are trapped in these chronically failing schools. New York’s schools are destroying our children’s futures.
While Zohran Mamdani fixates on imposes sharia, demonizes Jews, and drives businesses and producers out of New York, an entire generation of children is being condemned to abject failure. This is the real horror. New York’s public schools are collapsing, and the city’s left-wing political class is too busy pursuing radical agendas to save its own kids. It’s not even a line item.
Randi Weingarten, corrupt President of the American Federation of Teachers, should be brought up on charges.
As one commenter opined, ‘As long as the radical LEFT and the corrupt teacher unions control the public education system expect these statistics to get worse. It’s amazing how the parents of these kids keep voting against their own self interest’
Failure in the city’s public education system has become “normalized” — and even bolstered by grade inflation and fixing — with nearly half of schools consistently failing their students, a bombshell new report found.
The sweeping analysis, conducted by the Success Academy Charter Schools network, found that in those 906 public schools, fewer than half of students passed math, reading, or both, on state exams last year.
In total, a staggering 43% of the system’s approximately 912,000 students are in these failing schools, according to the shocking report released Tuesday.
Of the 906 schools, a majority of students in 503 of them failed both math and reading.
Popular California TV anchor reveals simple trick scammers used to fleece her of $72K: ‘I feel dumb’
About a third of the 906 schools have appeared on state “accountability” lists since 2012, and some have been designated as failures for decades, the analysis found.
Instead of attacking the 5-alarm fire, the stinging indictment claims city and state policies have only worsened the situation by failing to address the scandal or trying to hide it.
“These are not accidents. They are the product of a system that has chosen, year after year, to protect itself rather than serve its students,” the report, titled, “By Any Honest Measure,” said.
“Imagine a hospital where more than half of patients died from routine procedures. A fire department that failed to respond to more than half its calls. A municipal water utility that delivered contaminated water to more than half its residents, or air traffic controllers whose lack of oversight regularly resulted in massive casualties.
“No other public institution would be permitted to operate in this way.”
But the level of failure in the nation’s largest public school system “has been normalized — and, worse, systematically obscured.”
Follow live updates on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda and the latest in NYC politics
Success Academy head, Eva Moskowitz, said the report marked the most extensive review to date of consistently low-performing schools.
The report also accused New York policy makers and educators of actually rewarding failure — including by pumping more funds into low-performing schools with dwindling enrollment.
New York City spent $40 billion on public education in 2024 — $36,293 per pupil, double the national average of $17,619.
Lawmakers pump more money into the failing schools, to more than $40,000 per student, the report found.
According to the analysis, 34% of elementary students attend failing schools, with that percentage going up to 49% for middle schoolers and 62% for high schoolers, based on test scores.
In many cases, students are routed from a failing elementary school to a failing middle school to a failing high school.
Many high school graduates are unprepared for college-level work and have to take remedial courses when enrolled in CUNY’s community colleges, the report noted.
The problem would be worse if not for grade inflation — and the accountability system for both students and teachers is a joke, the analysis charged.
The student grading policy measures effort, participation, and attendance — but excludes performance on the state’s standardized math and English exams.
Using state test scores as part of a student’s grade was scrapped by the Panel for Educational Policy under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
It means nearly all students who score poorly on state exams end up getting good grades and are promoted.
Meanwhile, state policy forbids using student test scores to evaluate teachers. Therefore, nearly all teachers receive satisfactory ratings.
The report noted: “98% of teachers [rated] effective. 43% of students failing. The math doesn’t add up.”
The state Education Department also comes under severe criticism — for repeatedly lowering benchmarks to boost passing rates on its math and reading exams, the report said.
The manipulation is exposed when students score much lower on the federal government’s National Assessment of Educational Progress exams, considered the gold standard for testing.
Albany has participated in downplaying or covering up failure, the report charges.
The state no longer releases its own comparisons on standardized test results by traditional public versus charter schools, as the latter on the whole perform better on the exams.
But state lawmakers are also blocking entry into alternative education programs, such as higher-performing charters, by imposing a cap on the number allowed to open.
A decade ago, the state Legislature also approved a law striking the phrase “persistently failing school,” changing the term to “persistently struggling.”
The legislation — passed at the behest of the powerful United Federation Teachers president Michael Mulgrew — comes despite enrollment in city public schools dipping by 123,000 students since 2020, the report said.
The city Department of Education failed to consolidate or close schools after a decade of enrollment decline, the report said.
The struggling and failing schools already have lower class sizes because families abandoned them, and the report said evidence doesn’t support the mandate setting classroom caps. Of the roughly 900 failing schools cited in the report, 167 were woefully under-enrolled.
Another budget drain is the city Department of Education’s commitment to “propping up schools” with plummeting enrollment.
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/NYC-Public-School-Nightmare.jpg360640The Geller Reporthttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Geller Report2026-07-08 13:17:062026-07-09 14:45:39NYC’s Public School Nightmare: Nearly Half of NYC Students Can’t Read or Pass Math, Democrats Covering It Up – Graduating Illiteracy
This Independence Day, countless Americans celebrated our country’s 250th anniversary in countless jubilatory ways, from grilling in the backyard to going to fireworks shows and even traveling to Mt. Vernon to pay respects to the Father of Our Country.
But a certain socialist mayor of New York City took the occasion to deliver a speech in a tone that made it seem like he was turning in a homework assignment on a topic he hated.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s speech before the July Fourth festivities was an epic downer, a perfect example of aspirational leftist rhetoric masking a notable dearth of genuine patriotism.
It’s not nearly as important as the content, but the optics were bad too.
As a man once said, you’d find more cheer in a graveyard. You’d think Mamdani would get some extras who at least looked like they wanted to be there.
Mamdani’s wife didn’t even show up, though it’s doubtful she would have brought up the energy level. She reportedly went on an “Islamic spiritual wellness” retreat in Spain rather than stay for the Independence Day events. It was a coincidence, I’m sure.
So, this was a solemn, dour occasion in which even when Mamdani tried to squeeze out some praise for America, it was laced with straw men and passive-aggressive contempt.
I’m not exaggerating, it really was terrible.
“We are told that America is exceptional because we are richer, stronger, more powerful than everyone else,” he said at one point. “ … The truth, my friends, is that America is exceptional because here, nothing is fixed into place.”
Mamdani obviously doesn’t spend too much time with people who believe America is exceptional.
Being rich and powerful is merely a byproduct of America’s greatness.
However, if you’ve gone through life believing that Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” is true, then this is the kind of phony image of our self-conception you might come up with.
Mamdani’s intent was clearly to draw a line between his false version of America’s past as greedy and rapacious compared to its assumedly more generous, borderless socialist future that he and his friends intend to usher in.
We are supposed to believe that by handing the keys to our future over to the perpetually aggrieved, we’ll finally not be a bad country. And that hope is the only thing that keeps them invested in the place they apparently call “home.”
Mamdani continued to list in his speech a series of people who had escaped one oppression or another and ended up here in another land of oppressions that was maybe OK sometimes.
How inspiring.
The speech drew praise from some Democrat politicians and left-wing commentators, but it seems even Mamdani’s comms team knew that the vibe was off.
He followed up with a slightly more upbeat X post that nevertheless defined patriotism as “every act of righteous dissent — because loving our country means fighting for the best version of it.”
The boys of Pointe du Hoc and the young men who suffered at Valley Forge are, I guess, a cut below on Mamdani’s patriotism scale because they simply fought for the America that was.
I’ll counter that America was great when we were nothing but a collection of bankrupt states clinging to existence at the edge of the world in the shadow of the British empire.
America may be a land of perpetual motion, but what makes it special is in part what’s fixed in place.
“If all men are created equal, that is final,” Calvin Coolidge said at America’s 150th anniversary. “If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions.”
From that hinge point of our country’s creation, millions upon millions of Americans helped build the most extraordinary country that has yet existed.
Did everyone succeed, was every law just, did everything work perfectly? Obviously not. We live in America, not the Kingdom of Heaven.
Down here, among the fallen, we’ve done quite a bit better than the rest in our 250 years.
You wouldn’t think that listening to the mayor of New York.
You’d think the American experience was no more than a series of miseries until a wealthy Indian child of a Bollywood producer and anti-colonialist professor settled here after a brief stop in Uganda, set up shop a hot second ago, and began to set things right.
Like so many others on the left, his only fondness for America appears to be in what he hopes it will be, not what it is or has been.
When in power they are “patriots,” when they aren’t it’s nothing but sour faces and complaints.
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/Mamdanis-Sour-Independence-Day-Address.jpg360640The Daily Signalhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Daily Signal2026-07-07 12:10:572026-07-08 13:48:32Mamdani’s Sour Independence Day Address Shows How Little He Understands America
Young and college-educated voters in denser urban areas formed a core bloc for many candidates aligned with the socialist left over the past few months, an analysis of primary election data found.
In recent months, several self-described democratic socialists and candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) won their primary races against centrist-leaning Democrats in cities on both coasts. Frequent patterns among precinct data showed that young voters in densely-populated and higher-income areas tended to support the more left-wing candidates, while lower-income and non-college educated voters typically supported their opponents.
All three candidates endorsed by Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a DSA member, won their races in New York’s Seventh, Tenth and 13th Congressional Districts on June 23. Patterns showed the DSA candidates won among young, college-educated and higher-income demographics, while lower-income and non-college educated voters were more likely to vote for the non-DSA candidate.
In the 13th District, Mamdani-backed socialist challenger Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated five-term incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat 49.4% to 45.9%, after winning in higher-income areas. The Democratic Socialist held a 5.1 point advantage in higher income areas, while Espaillat won lower income areas by 9.1 points, The New York Times reported.
Chevalier, a DSA member, won college-educated and younger votes by significant margins, the Times’ data showed. Younger residents backed Avila Chevalier by a 24.5 point margin, and she won in college-educated areas by a 20-point margin.
Espaillat outperformed in precincts with majority Hispanic populations by 56%, particularly in precincts in the Morris Heights, Fordham and Kingsbridge neighborhoods, according to the Times’ results. Chevalier won 61% of plurality white precincts and 55% of plurality black precincts, while Espaillat won 52% of plurality Hispanic precincts, according to VoteHub.
The Morris Heights neighborhood is predominantly Hispanic and African American with a median household income of $34,619 per year, according to Niche. Fordham Heights was 71% Hispanic as of 2024 with a median household income of $41,840 per year, while Kingsbridge had a 66% Hispanic population and a $64,497 median household income.
Mamdani-endorsed Democratic New York assemblywoman and DSA member Claire Valdez defeated Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso 56.1% to 35.8% in New York’s Seventh District. Reynoso had the backing of retiring longtime Democratic New York Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
Valdez won support among higher-income earners, while Reynoso garnered more support in the lower-income communities, according to VoteHub. Reynoso won in lower-income areas by a 32.1-point margin, while Valdez won higher-income areas by a 33.7-point margin, according to The New York Times.
Congressional candidate Claire Valdez takes the stage during her primary-night watch party at 99 Scott Studio on June 23, 2026 in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Valdez outperformed among white and Hispanic voters, winning majority Hispanic communities by 19.5 points. Orthodox Jewish voters in the South Williamsburg neighborhood overwhelmingly voted for Reynoso, according to the Times’ breakdown. Voters in the Orthodox and Hasidic areas overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, according to data from Dave’s Redistricting App (DRA).
Younger residents and majority college-educated areas overwhelmingly supported Valdez. The socialist won among younger residents 64% to 32% and in college-educated areas by a 36.4-point margin, according to the Times.
An NBC poll found Hispanics viewed socialism negatively by a 24-point margin. An earlier survey from 2022 found 41% of Latino voters expressed negative views on socialism, while 23% viewed it positively. A majority of Orthodox Jews were affiliated with the Republican Party and three-quarters of Orthodox Jews supported Trump in 2024, according to the Jewish Electorate Institute.
Young voters were largely responsible for left-wing Democratic Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s November 2025 electoral win against incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell. She won in urban and densely populated precincts by wide margins, according to Capitol Hill Seattle. Wilson campaigned on establishing transit benefits, rent control, social housing and environmental protections.
While she identifies as a socialist, the now-mayor’s run was not backed by the DSA.
Wilson stated in November she would not allow privately owned grocery stores to close and vowed that government-run grocery stores would be established. Her proposal emerged at a time when Mamdani promised to establish these stores throughout New York City.
Mamdani won mostly public transport commuters 62% to 32% against former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the November 2025 mayoral election, the Times’ mayoral race results reported. The socialist — running as the Democratic nominee — also won precincts with pluralities of black, Hispanic and Asian residents, while Cuomo — running on an independent ballot line — won white voters by a 13-point margin.
The New York mayor’s strongest support was among voters ages 18 to 34 years, non-religious voters and Asian Americans, according to Quinnipiac University. The Jewish community were Cuomo’s strongest supporters. Exit polls found 75% of youth voted for Mamdani.
Mamdani-backed candidate Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller, defeated incumbent New York Rep. Dan Goldman in a 65.8% to 34.0% vote on June 23. Lander had never identified himself as a DSA member but nevertheless campaigned alongside Mamdani, Chevalier, Valdez and socialist Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Goldman won by large margins in the Borough Park neighborhood, a heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood where Trump received the most votes during the 2024 election, according to The New York Times. He won several precincts in that area with over 90% of the vote.
Borough Park had a 54% white population as of 2024 and a plurality of residents earned between $100,000 and $250,000 a year, according to the New York City Furman Center.
The incumbent congressman won in the Lower East Side, which is heavily Hispanic and Asian, according to DRA. However, Lander won in majority Hispanic precincts 67% to 33%, according to the Times.
Other precincts with majority white populations supported Lander, including the Park Slope neighborhood, where Lander secured 66% of the vote. White residents account for approximately 64% to 70% of the population, while a plurality of residents earned a master’s degree or higher, according to Niche. The median household income stood at $202,310 per year.
While Lander won among young, college-educated white voters, Goldman won in lower-income areas by a 13.8-point margin, according to the Times. Lander won in the higher-income areas by 40.6 points.
The trio of leftist wins in New York’s June 23 primaries may set the stage for other victories by socialist aligned candidates in hotly-contested Democratic primaries.
Democratic socialist Melat Kiros will run against Democratic Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette in Tuesday’s primary. DeGette, who has served in Congress since 1997 — the year Kiros was born, has trailed her leftist challenger in recent polling.
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https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/Here-Are-The-Voters-Backing-Democratic-Socialists.jpg338640The Daily Callerhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Daily Caller2026-06-30 06:57:392026-06-30 07:07:18Here Are The Voters Backing Democratic Socialists
The other day I was thinking about how sad it was that we, Americans, can no longer communicate with each other. Funny how the history and truth of America is coming from the immigrants, and not the American people. I wonder why.
American history is no longer taught, is one reason.
The other reason, I believe, is that MAGA/Conservatives/Westerners see the world one way, while the Marxist Communists, see it in a totally different way. Maybe, if we want to communicate, we should try something different. Maybe, we have to try to think the way they have been taught to think. Maybe, then we can communicate.
Take my dummy for instance. (I had to leave that there my dummy was autocorrect for Mamdani). Look at him, and his policies. We predict he’s going to drive the billionaires out of the great city of NYC. They are leaving in droves.
WHERE is Mamdani going to get the money for his incredibly ridiculous ideas that we all know will not work?
Yet, nobody asks him that “why” question. What are they afraid of ? We think that his policies are totally irrational. We think that if you tax the people that have the money, you drive the innovators and the creators out of the city. The city will fall flat, and civilization as we know it, fails. NYC, one of the greatest cities of the world. Destroyed by ideology.
Do you honestly think that he cares about the people in New York? He doesn’t give New Yorkers a thought, unless it serves his purpose, which is to make the people more dependent on him, the government, and the power that he derives from that support.
A Marxist believes if you send all of the billionaires, the thinkers, and the innovators away, no one will be left to question his motives, and everyone who gets his free stuff votes him in, over and over again.
LIE. Rinse. Repeat.
Communists do not care about human life, it is simply a means to an end. To Communists, it is only necessary to experiment and manipulate, and of course to vote, to keep them in power. Greed and resentment for those that have accomplished success, taking from those who work hard, levels the playing field for them. That is the snake oil they are selling. They have been saying this for years.
You will own nothing, and be happy. The government will take care of you.
Agenda 2030. Take the time to bother to look it up, and REALLY READ it!
The other day, and for this radio interview show, I had the pleasure of speaking with Claire Lopez. Claire is a phenomenal researcher from the intelligence community, and has a lot of insight into things that we may not think of, things we may not consider. Lo and behold, there was something that I didn’t even think of.
I believe that is this: that we have been judging the Marxist-Islamists by our standards. Not theirs. And that makes understanding their motivation, thought processes, and irrational programs the problem. Because we do not really understand how to address them!
HOW do we fight them? How do we overcome their beliefs in our own country?
So, too often instead of asking the why question, we make fun of them, and they do the same for us. They cannot understand how we think, any more than we can understand how they think, and therein lies the problem.
First of all, a Marxist thinks that by taking from those that have, and giving to those that have not, will somehow bring the people together, will level the playing field, and will make everyone equal.
Does Mamdani really think that, or does he think that if he gives things away people will love him and will vote for him, and then he’ll be in office forever?
Does Mamdani think that, if I give and give and give, and they will vote for me, and I will have the power and the control which the people will gladly give me? If I make their lives miserable enough, instead of turning away from the government, they will turn towards the government and beg me to fix it..
How do you get your public to turn towards the government? You LIE to them.
Bottom line, Marxists do not care about the people.
Surprisingly enough, the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp) does not care about their people, either. Instead of using the riches of the oil to improve the lives of their citizens, they used it to create war against their own people, and anyone else who did not believe as they do. They teach their children to kill infidels. They truly believe that becoming a martyr for Muhammad is the most important thing that they can do with their life, the ONLY thing they can do with their life.
Sacrificing your life becomes necessary, so that you can participate in the return of the Messiah.
Join Clare Lopez and I, as we talk about the story of Iran. It will clarify the conflict. The Quran commands the Islamic people to do Jihad, aka kill non-believers. The Quran is in total opposition to the US Constitution.
There is no such thing as tolerance in the Quran.
We can not allow the politics of Islam to control America.
Is America worth saving? Will you monitor your commissioner meetings? Your schoolboard meetings?
Are you monitoring election issues, and what your candidates support on their platforms, in regards to those issues?
“Moderate” Democrats are an endangered species as the Democratic Socialists of America conducts a hostile takeover of the party. Even the ‘progressives’ have a target on their backs, as the Socialists conduct a hostile takeover.
CNN: The wins signify how New York politics and the Democratic Party have a new power broker. Hakeem Jeffries, the Brooklyn-based House Democratic leader, is losing two incumbent members and facing an ascendant band of agitators. And the people long in charge in Democratic politics, including the ones who for decades thought of themselves as the insurgents, aren’t happy about it. They say they feel betrayed, left with a mayor they cannot trust. Around the city council, people who considered themselves his allies are sharing a line, according to one member who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity: Mamdani is only interested in allyship on his terms. Council members are talking about ways to give Mamdani his comeuppance, whether holding up funding for parts of his agenda or smaller ways of needling him.
CNN: Mamdani and those closest to him say: This is what a revolution looks like, on his terms. He elevated a former campaign volunteer in Darializa Avila Chevalier, with a long record of inflammatory tweets and attendance at a widely decried rally the day after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks, and propelled her toward Congress over the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. That’s even after Espaillat endorsed Mamdani last year after his primary victory over Cuomo when other Democrats wouldn’t. Two people familiar with the mayor’s thinking say that he was initially skeptical of Avila Chevalier’s chances to win. But in a quietly convened City Hall meeting of democratic socialists and other allies, he decided to get on board.
Stu Smith on X: It’s not just New York, either. 9 out of 9 candidates that Hasan Piker, the foul-mouthed, Marx and Mao-quoting podcaster, won their primaries yesterday. Stu Smith: Hasan Piker Says DSA Primaries Can “Change the Trajectory of America” and Usher in the “Decade of Socialism” Yesterday, Piker said Stalinists, Maoists, Trotskyists, and people who normally reject “bourgeois elections” were excited to vote in the New York primary. He then stated that the “commie corridor” is “the inflection point of the American communist movement.” From here, Piker goes into DSA strategy. “Primaries are how we change the trajectory of the Democratic Party and hopefully change the trajectory of America.” Put socialists on the inside, while keeping pressure on the outside through “direct action,” “labor militancy,” and “work stoppages.” That is DSA’s inside-outside strategy in a nutshell. After the wins started to roll in, Piker celebrated by declaring, “It’s the decade of socialism. It’s coming to a neighborhood near you.” Then came the Mao allusion. “When I said we were gonna let 1,000 Zohrans bloom, this is what I meant.”
A generation later, 9/11 ended with the Islamic colonization of New York City.
Ugly, but all too real. The Mamdani machine continues delivering in New York City with new ‘Squad’ members who make Omar seem moderate including one who celebrated Oct 7 and called for ‘Death to America’ getting the nod.
That makes them all but inevitable members of the next House at the expense of Latino and Jewish mainstream Democrats.
That includes Brad Lander, Mamdani’s pet ‘Jewish’ weasel, who was caught reciting Islamic scripture in a mosque that called for the killing of infidels.
That includes Dariazila Avila Chevalier, a Muslim convert who co-founded an organization that tweeted ‘Death to America’.
It includes Clare Valdez, whom I hadn’t even bothered reporting on. As of now, Aber Kawas is also going to the State Senate.
Kawas had described Fahad Hashmi, convicted of providing material support to Al Qaeda, a synagogue bomber and the Hamas fundraisers known as the ‘Holy Land 5” as “imprisoned heroes” and “living martyrs”. (Mamdani had previously also expressed his support for the jailed Hamas fundraisers.) She expressed support for Ahmed Ferhani, who plotted to throw grenades into a synagogue, calling him “my brother, whose case I’ve followed and whose family I know.”
Considering that Hisham ‘Adam’ Hamawy won his primary in New Jersey despite recorded ties to the Blind Sheikh at the center of the original World Trade Center bombing, it’s pretty clear that the ‘Squad’ will have significantly expanded and that there won’t just be a ‘Squad’, there will be a ‘Jihad Caucus.’
New York is rapidly becoming the new London with the normalization of Islamization. Black people and Latinos are being sent to the back of the bus by an alliance of Islamic and Marxist insurgents. A generation later, 9/11 ended with the Islamic colonization of New York City.
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/The-New-Jihad-Caucus-in-Congress.jpg361640The Geller Reporthttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Geller Report2026-06-26 05:42:492026-06-26 15:20:28DEMOCRATS: The New Jihad Caucus in Congress
While the Democratic Party focuses on campaigning against President Donald Trump in a desperate bid to bolster popularity ahead of November’s midterm elections, Democratic Socialists are surging in the party’s primaries.
Tuesday saw Democratic Socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier and socialist-aligned candidates Claire Valdez and Brad Lander advance in Democratic congressional primaries to represent New York in the U.S. House of Representatives. Chevalier defeated incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Lander defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman, while Valdez defeated more moderate candidates in the open race to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez. Both Chevalier and Valdez were backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and Chevalier, Valdez, and Lander were all three endorsed by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D). DSA-endorsed candidates also won 10 primary races for the New York state legislature.
In Washington, D.C., progressive candidate Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary to succeed outgoing Muriel Bowser (D) as mayor, while socialist-aligned progressive city councilwoman Nithya Raman (D) advanced to the runoff in the Los Angeles mayoral election, facing off against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass (D) in the general election later this year.
The advance of Mamdani-backed socialist candidates has reportedly caused some tension between the Ugandan-born Muslim mayor and Democratic congressional leadership, although House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has tried to publicly minimize the conflict. “I don’t think we’re on opposite pages. You can ask him whether he thinks we’re on opposite pages. He doesn’t believe we’re on opposite pages,” Jeffries said Tuesday, according to Axios. “A handful of primaries that go in one direction or the other in a given state or two aren’t going to reshape who we are as House Democrats.”
In comments to The Washington Stand, FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter said that progressive DSA-aligned candidates feel “emboldened” by the success of figures like Mamdani. “Apparently, Democrat primary voters, upset at the direction of their city, state, or district, have decided that the real change they need is a further left, more authentically socialist government,” he observed. “While it’s a given these voters will be disappointed by the socialism they usher in, it’s unclear how this will impact the electability of Democrats in statewide races or running for suburban seats.”
“Will suburban voters with mortgages, who view things like property rights and privately owned grocery stores as positives, vote for Mamdani-style leftist socialism? I doubt it,” Carpenter anticipated. “The leftward lurch we’ve seen in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., will be a detriment to Democrats running statewide in states like Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas. I suspect this explains the reluctance of national Democrats, like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, to embrace the new socialist and socialist-adjacent candidates in their party.”
While Jeffries and others may be hesitant to embrace their party’s growing socialist wing, influential progressives like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are heralding the rise of DSA-backed candidates as a sure path to victory. “The reality is that our platform of a new deal is resonating,” Khanna trumpeted on social media, following the wins by Chevalier, Valdez, and Lander. “It’s a platform that says no to foreign wars, no to genocide, but it’s also a platform that says yes: yes to Medicare for all, yes to childcare for all, yes to unions for all, and yes to a tax on billionaires and trillionaires.” He added, “Our message to the oligarchs: bring it on.”
Others, like Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), praised the DSA-aligned victories. “We are very lucky to have a principled leader and someone who understands who it means to be a leader carrying for their whole constituency,” Omar said in a social media post riddled with errors, congratulating Chevalier, who is a convert to Islam. “Congratulations sis and welcome to Congress!” She added, “Alhamdulillah,” a phrase which means, “All praise be to Allah.”
Over the past two years, following Trump’s 2024 election victory, Democrats have been grappling with losing both the electoral college and popular vote to Trump and both the House of Representatives and the Senate to Republicans. While some strategists have stressed that attacking Trump is not a winning strategy on its own — and risks imperiling the party when Trump is no longer on the ticket in 2028 — both moderate Democratic voters and independent voters have reported that the Democrats are too extreme on a host of issues — chiefly immigration and gender transitions for children, but also longstanding Democratic Party issues like abortion.
The “civil war” within the ranks of the Democratic Party has allowed for the rise of far-left, openly socialist figures like Mamdani, whose hyper-progressive policies are likely to further alienate an even broader swath of voters, both in the critical midterm elections and in the 2028 general election.
The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/Socialist-Victories-in-Dem-Primaries-Spark-Concerns-among-Establishment-Party-Leaders.jpg336640Family Research Councilhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngFamily Research Council2026-06-25 15:34:412026-06-25 15:38:06Socialist Victories in Dem Primaries Spark Concerns among Establishment Party Leaders
Rational Americans must not underestimate the Democratic Socialists of America. Otherwise Democrat Socialists of America candidates will be elected across the country to all levels of government.
Washington Post: The DSA wing of the Democratic Party made a major play for power in New York City. Three radical DSA members were on the primary ballot, facing two powerful Democratic incumbents, and making a play for an open seat. All three were endorsed by Zohran Mamdani. Final results won’t be certain by the time this goes out, but the likeliest outcome is Mamdani’s candidates winning all three races. The only race in doubt is New York 13, with Mamdani’s candidate Chevalier taking out Espaillat, the current Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. It will be close. Washington Post: Mamdani has endorsed Brad Lander, the former city comptroller, over Rep. Dan Goldman in a district that stretches across Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn; Darializa Avila Chevalier, a doctoral student who participated in the pro-Palestine encampment at Columbia University, over Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in a district that includes Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx; and state assemblywoman Claire Valdez over Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in the race to replace Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez in a district that includes Brooklyn and Queens. The races now pose a test of Mamdani’s political power, putting him at odds with several national and local progressive power centers. But when we asked the mayor about this, he made clear he relished this fight and saw its results extending far beyond the Hudson River.
“The communists are taking over the Democrat Party. Mamdani backed 3 congressional candidates in NY Democrat primaries tonight. All three won and not by small margins. Two took out powerful Democrat incumbents. All 3 are self proclaimed socialists but all 3 are really communists. One also boasted about wiping her dirty hands on the American flag. They all demonize. This is who the Democrats are now.” (Robbie Starbuck)
If current results hold, Mamdani will have established himself as a kingmaker, even more powerful in Blue districts than House leaders.
Mamdani-backed lefties sweep in NYC congressional primaries — as socialist mayor’s influence grows to D.C.
Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s far-left slate of Big Apple congressional hopefuls prevailed in Tuesday’s Democratic primary — with firebrand Darializa Avila Chevalier projected to pull off an AOC-style upset.
Former city Comptroller Brad Lander and state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez were quickly projected by the Associated Press and NY1 to win over their establishment Democrat opponents.
Avila Chevalier held a razor-thin 49.3% to 46% lead over Rep. Adriano Espaillat with 86% of votes counted late Tuesday, leading the five-term incumbent to concede.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 23: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYC Congressional candidate Claire Valdez embrace during a primary-night watch party at 99 Scott Studio on June 23, 2026 in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. Valdez won her race against Brooklyn borough President Antonio Reynoso in the 7th District to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY). Valdez was one of three progressive candidates endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The projected win by Avila Chevalier and the congressional race victories — coupled with a likely clean sweep of Democratic Socialists of America candidates in state races — signaled Mamdani could expand his socialist wave beyond New York City, to Washington, DC.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani displays a T-shirt featuring the candidates he supports at Rivington and Pitt streets on Manhattan’s Lower East Side during New York’s primary election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
Michael Goodwin: Mamdani’s silence in the face of vile antisemitism speaks volumes to the darkness in his soul
Massive ‘Mamdani surge’ does not materialize in contested NYC House races
DSA-backed House candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier storms out of radio interview when questioned about old social media posts
“This is a moment when voters have the opportunity to vote in who would be a partner in fulfilling the affordability agenda,” Mamdani said earlier Tuesday as he stumped for Lander.
The win by Avila Chevalier over Espaillat in New York’s 13th House District echoed the stunning 2018 victory by her fellow DSA diehard Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over Democratic fixture Joe Crowley.
Mamdani endorsed Avila Chevalier, Lander and Valdez with the explicit promise that the lefty candidates would advance his “affordability agenda” in DC
Just two members of Congress — Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) — are DSA members. The primary victories by Avila Chevalier and Valdez, in the Seventh House District, put two more closer to Congress — a fact not lost on supporters.
“DSA! DSA!” chants erupted at Valdez’s victory party in East Williamsburg.
The candidates hold a slew of far-left views that were once fringe within the Democratic Party.
Valdez and Avila Chevalier both campaigned on their staunch opposition to Israel — labeling the Jewish state’s actions in Gaza a genocide — and on pushing their pro-Palestinian values. Like Mamdani, the pair called for a full divestment of Israel and cutting off of any sales of US arms to its ally in the Middle East.
Valdez also echoed the Mamdani admin’s radical housing platform, pushing for the seizure of property from bad landlords.
All three also want to abolish ICE and Avila Chevalier, a community organizer and doctoral candidate, has even said she doesn’t believe foreign criminals should be deported.
Brad Lander, Meg Barnette, and Zohran Mamdani smiling among supporters at an election night watch party.
Lander, for his part, isn’t a DSA member but scored Mamdani’s backing by hitching his political wagon to the socialist after their chummy contest in last year’s mayoral primary.
Over a decades-long career in New York City politics, the former city comptroller and Brooklyn councilman established himself as an outspoken progressive advocate.
He became even more vocally leftist after embracing Mamdani, telling CNN as the race for the 10th House District was called in his favor that the US needs to “reset” its relationship with Israel.
“We shouldn’t be taking corporate PAC money from Wall Street and crypto and AI and AIPAC,” he said.
“We’ve got to fight harder for working families and have people see us fighting for them, and we have to reset the U.S. relationship with Israel.”
While the trio of endorsements and victories drew cheers from Mamdani’s DSA pals, he ruffled feathers among establishment Dems and even his allies in the progressive Working Families Party.
Mamdani’s endorsement of Valdez, a one-term Queens state Assemblywoman, managed to tick off the retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
Democratic Congressional candidate Claire Valdez speaks during an election eve rally at Silo on June 22, 2026 in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City.
Velázquez had backed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to succeed her in the district covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens.
Reynoso, a progressive, himself had backed Mamdani’s mayoral run. But he wasn’t part of the DSA, like Mamdani.
New York has repeatedly served as the proving ground for national movements on the radical left.
The first National Students for Justice in Palestine conference took place at Columbia University in New York City. Years later, the encampment movement that ignited campus unrest across the country also began at Columbia. New York-based activists such as Nerdeen Kiswani and Amin Husain (from Within Our Lifetime and Decolonize This Place) developed mass protest tactics around the Palestinian cause, drawing from organizing models used by the Women’s March, Antifa-aligned networks, the George Floyd riots and other protest movements. Those models were replicated nationwide.
Now, we are seeing the same pattern with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). This election cycle, starting with the June 23 primaries, the New York City DSA chapter is building its playbook. It’s a strategy meant to be exported nationwide.
NYC Mayor and DSA member Zohran Mamdani (in black) at a DSA protest
NYC-DSA is the largest DSA chapter in the country, with more than 14,000 members – more than double the size of DSA-LA, the next largest chapter, with roughly 5,000 members.
DSA launched its most ambitious – and successful – political experiment to date with the election of its member, Zohran Mamdani, as mayor of the most powerful city in the world. It was a decisive win, which energized NYC-DSA to reach for more, creating a template for national replication.
DSA’s agenda is not merely progressive reform. It’s not even what the name implies, “democratic socialism.” Most of its politicians are outright Marxists. Their agenda is nothing less than deliberate and total destruction of American norms as enshrined into law: prison decarceration, abolition leading to the ultimate dismantling of all prisons, defunding the police, “anti-imperialism” (i.e., alignment with hostile regimes such as Cuba, Iran and China), open borders, catch-and-release policies, DEI radicalism and the degradation of educational standards. These are not accidental outcomes. They are destruction by design.
Their candidates run on a carefully constructed narrative: Our politicians are authentic; the opposition is corrupt. Our candidates fight for working people; their opponents serve the billionaire elite. Our candidates are willing to get arrested, speak uncomfortable truths, and break the rules; their opponents defend a broken status quo that keeps ordinary people suffering.
This is not authenticity. It is manipulation.
DSA Candidate for Congress Darializa Avila Chevalier. Before her run, she deleted thousands of extremist social media posts.
Most of their candidates have records marked by extremism, hypocrisy and scandal. They often present themselves as champions of the working class while coming from elite institutions and privileged networks. They attack traditional Democrats – including progressives who were once their allies – because their worldview allows no middle ground. In their politics, anyone who is not fully with them is treated as the enemy.
This pattern is visible in various “progressive” candidates across the country – Mamdani in New York, Chris Rabb in Philadelphia, Adam Hamawy in New Jersey and Graham Platner in Maine. During their campaigns, serious scandals have emerged involving alleged connections to extremist organizations, support for terror, abuse, arrests, antisemitism and other disturbing conduct. This is a feature, not a bug.
How do we know this is true? These candidates do not respond to scandals the way traditional politicians do. They do not simply deny, apologize or move on. Instead, they absorb the scandal into their political identity. They treat it as proof that they are dangerous to the status quo. The scandal becomes a credential.
They signal to their base that the accusations matter less than the identity of those exposing them. They frame criticism as an attack by billionaires, Israel supporters, establishment Democrats or other supposed villains.
In doing so, they turn scandal into confirmation: Look, I belong. Look, the bad guys are trying to destroy me. Look, I am different from ordinary politicians. I alone will fight for you.
DSA Candidate for State Assembly Diana Moreno (looking at the camera) being arrested at an anti-Israel protest less than two weeks after the October 7, 2023 massacre of 1,200 Israelis by Hamas terrorists
The pattern has a common narrative. Get arrested, as Mamdani and Avila Chevalier have, and the arrest becomes a story of integrity – proof of passion, of risk, of personal sacrifice for the cause. Carry a troubled past, as Platner and Hamawy do, and you simply wave the accusations away as trivial while redirecting attention to the billionaire money or Israeli money supposedly behind the exposé – which only confirms you’re the real deal, because the villains are coming for you.
Hold the traditional Democrats in open contempt, as all of them do, and that, too, becomes a virtue: proof you’re the one with the courage to change the guard and remake the party in a bold new image.
The central lie is that these candidates are “of the people” and “for the people.” They are not. They are disciplined ideological actors using scandal, outrage, and anti-establishment resentment to build power. Their controversies do not weaken their campaigns; they are folded into the campaign narrative itself. The scandal becomes proof of concept. It tells the base that the candidate is authentic, embattled and willing to fight the enemies they have been taught to hate.
It is a closed loop. Praise them, and they’re authentic. Attack them, and they’re authentic. Nothing can ever count against them – which is the surest sign that what you’re looking at isn’t authenticity. It’s marketing.
That is the model. And it is now being exported as a nationwide template.
Key Findings
DSA is not running independent candidates; they’re running a bloc. The “Socialists in Office” committee binds elected DSA officials to weekly meetings to “align their votes” and act as a “party within a party.” Candidates say it out loud: “I’m not going in as myself.” As one NYC-DSA leader said about Mamdani, “We wrote the platform with him.”
NYC-DSA is a national template. With 14,000 members and 90,000 volunteers, NYC-DSA is the largest DSA chapter in the country by more than double (Los Angeles DSA has 5,000 members in comparison). It built the operation that elected Mamdani and is explicitly designed to be copied (see below the “a thousand Zohrans” strategy and the “inside-outside strategy”). NYC isn’t just a chapter; it’s the template.
The scandal-as-credential. Across the slate, arrests, deleted posts and terror-adjacent statements are treated not as liabilities to apologize for but as proof of authenticity. Claire Valdez lists her arrest as an achievement. Moreno posted proudly about hers. Mamdani “doubled down” on Avila Chevalier after 3,600 horrific deleted tweets surfaced.
“Working class” candidates are often elites. Mamdani came from a wealthy family and was educated in private schools. David Orkin is “the scion of [a] famed… doctor” and was raised in a wealthy suburb. Darializa Aliva Chevalier went to undergrad at Columbia University and is currently working on a PhD at CUNY.
They’re more extreme than they sound – and they’ve said it themselves. Behind the talk about affordability, the actual positions are radical: abolish ICE, the police, prisons and the border. One candidate, a public defender, said even rapists, child molesters, and murderers shouldn’t go to prison – and that people who oppose prisons should get on juries and vote “not guilty” no matter what the evidence shows.
DSA’s first target is establishment Democrats. The slate is aimed at challenges to longtime Democratic incumbents, even radical progressives. The message: If you’re not with them, you’re the enemy.
The machine is built on expanding, not persuading, the electorate. Turning out low-propensity young, immigrant and Muslim voters was the strategy that elected Mamdani.
The NYC-DSA slate of new candidates. From L: Eon Huntley, Christian Celeste Tate, Conrad Blackburn, Aber Kawas, Diana Moreno, Claire Valdez, Samantha Kattan, Darializa Avil Chevalier and David Orkin (not pictured: Illapa Sairitupac)
New York: The Model
Buoyed by the stunning win of Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) member Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City, the NYC chapter of DSA is pushing an ambitious slate of new candidates in the upcoming June 23, 2026 Democratic primaries.
These candidates – all running as insurgent challengers – are part of the organization’s attempt to broaden DSA’s base and influence in New York and its larger plan to take over the city and state’s Democratic institutions.
It’s also a blueprint for the country.
What does that blueprint look like? An influx into the American political landscape of socialist ideology – from government intervention in the free market (housing, transportation, childcare) to, ultimately, the communist endgame of seizing the means of production.
In addition to traditional socialism (whose endgame is ultimately Marxism), the DSA brings its signature ideology of extreme anti-Americanism in the fold. The DSA’s contempt for the country, which it calls “Empire,” stems primarily from the perception of America as an imperialist world power and a racist persecutor of foreign and domestic minorities.
Who Is NYC-DSA?
In recent years, NYC-DSA has transformed from a small, peripheral group of activists into one of the most powerful and organized left-wing electoral operations in the United States. The chapter helped launch the political career of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and initiated the elections of the nine current New York State DSA legislators.
In These Times, a socialist magazine, reports that “the chapter says it has been able to mobilize more than 10,000 people into actions, phone banks and letter campaigns, including thousands of prospective members.”
NYC-DSA Co-Chair Grace Mausser
According to Grace Mausser, co-chair of NYC-DSA, the chapter has 500 “field leads” (field leaders) and 90,000 volunteers. After hovering around 6,000 members for years, the chapter saw major boosts following the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, the reelection of President Donald Trump and Mamdani’s mayoral bid.
Membership in the chapter requires joining national DSA and paying monthly dues.
In These Times also noted, “This surge reflects the growing number of individuals who are seeking avenues to uplift the Palestinian cause, and who see DSA as a viable vehicle for this struggle.”
In fact, opposition to the existence of Israel has become DSA’s signature objective and driving force in recent years. As noted by Michael Arria, writing in the far-left, anti-Zionist site Mondoweiss, opposition to Israel is now perceived as an electoral plus:
“Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory over the pro-Israel Andrew Cuomo last year showed that previous assumptions about the issue had flipped. Up until that point, many still viewed Israel as a third-rail issue that would inevitably hurt a campaign. Now, many candidates understand that highlighting Palestinian human rights is viewed as a positive attribute by most voters.”
Deviation from even one of the conditions enumerated in DSA’s anti-Zionist platform precludes not only any endorsement from the organization but is also grounds for member expulsion.
Influencer Hasan Piker at a NYC-DSA event introducing the candidates
Organizational Strategy: “A thousand Zohrans”
Post the Mamdani victory, where the newly elected mayor came from behind to pull off a stunning victory over the Democratic establishment, NYC-DSA’s strategy can be summed up by Marxist influencer Hasan Piker, who posted, “let a thousand zohran’s bloom. the countryside yearns for it.”
This is precisely the DSA’s plan. It has been a long time in the making.
As revealed by David Orkin, DSA candidate for New York State Assembly District 38:
“The reason why we’re able to have this electoral project is because of years and years and years of organizing that has happened outside of the electoral space.
“… a lot of people look at Zohran [as] this embodiment of this movement at the moment. And in so many ways, he is, and also he is an extension of the organizing that’s been happening across the city for years and years.”
NYC-DSA provides an army of volunteers mobilized to man phone banks, canvass and get out the vote. It operates under a hierarchical structure. Seasoned members are placed in key campaign staff roles to keep the campaign’s political home deep within the NYC-DSA organization.
In addition, the chapter provides a community for young people, offering social events for a population often disaffected in the age of social media.
DSA’s targeted expansion into immigrant communities, especially tapping into the youth, has provided the organization with a broadened volunteer – and voter base – in the city.
The logo of the New York Socialists In Office website
DSA’s Control of Candidates Once in Office
Following the 2020 elections, NYC-DSA suddenly went from having one or two isolated representatives in Albany to a sizable number of legislators. To prevent the co-opting of their politicians by Democratic Party leadership, the NYC-DSA established the Socialists in Office (SIO) committee.
SIO is a support and accountability mechanism to bind DSA politicians to the grassroots movement. It also allows DSA to get strategic political information from the inside. The committee consists of the elected officials, their key staffers and leaders from NYC-DSA’s branches and working groups. DSA lawmakers are expected to attend weekly SIO meetings to review upcoming legislation, align their votes and map out a coordinated strategy.
Because they answer to the socialist collective rather than party bosses or corporate donors, the bloc acts to absorb and withstand the political pressure that can be put upon individual lawmakers.
Unlike traditional politicians who operate as independent agents, SIO members explicitly agree to share legislative power with the DSA, operating as a unified “party within a party.”
The legislators form a “Socialist Caucus” to vote as a bloc and to support each other and the DSA agenda.
As explained by Mausser, the SIO was formed “… at both the state and the city level …in order to execute what we call the inside outside strategy … the idea is that those of us on the outside of government can coordinate, take lessons, take strategic insight and information from people in the inside of government in order to make our tactics most effective.”
Mausser notes that Mamdani played “a major part of developing that strategy and this model … which is part of the reason we’re excited that he’s in office, too, because we know that he has experience and interest in bringing outside organizations with him into governance …”
“Let’s be honest,” says Orkin, a DSA candidate for NY State Assembly. “If you go in without the DSA, you have a staff of two people, maybe three people, and then you have all this work to do. And then there’s these lobbyists banging on your door, and the donors who fund them banging on your door, trying to do the work for you so they can have their way in the legislature.
“But [with] the DSA, you have this incredible resource … you have people who are doing research for you, helping you draft policy … and helping move the agenda forward.”
Orkin says, ultimately, it’s about “accountability … every move I make in Albany is going to be supported and checked by them… such that I’m always moving in tandem with their priorities. [emphasis added]”
These sentiments were echoed by Aber Kawas, candidate for state senator, who said, “I’m not going in as myself … I’m bringing all those people with me into office, because they’re going to be the makeup of my office. They’re going to be the ones who help me figure out what my policy is, what the direction that I want to set is, and they’re going to be the people that I have those conversations with.” [emphasis added]
The Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011
How NYC-DSA Gained Power
Many of today’s NYC-DSA members came of age in the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement, which deliberately refused to elect leaders or participate in traditional politics. The movement eventually fragmented when the physical camps were cleared.
Activists (and their funders) who cut their teeth in Occupy Wall Street learned from this strategic failure. They realized that to make lasting structural changes, they needed to transition from decentralized, horizontal protests to the construction of a durable, institutional infrastructure. This realization funneled a highly trained generation of NYC organizers straight into the DSA.
Five years later, the failed presidential candidacy of Bernie Sanders (who was popular with younger voters) provided the massive increase in membership that DSA needed to become a force to be reckoned with. Youth, disaffected with the Democratic Party, which they perceived as having strong-armed Hillary Clinton’s nomination, were ready for something new, something transgressive to challenge the American democratic system.
At the same time, Black Lives Matter activists were looking for a home, which many found in the DSA. Hamas’ war with Israel breathed new life into the campus Red-Green alliance of SJP and DSA youth activists, which was cemented with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
A Within Our Lifetime protest a month after the October 7, 2023 massacre of Israelis by Hamas
The Trajectory: How Candidates Get Recruited to DSA
Most of the candidates now on DSA’s slate began as community and union organizers or political activists. Common among the candidates is their involvement with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) or one of the other radical anti-Israel groups, such as Within Our Lifetime (WOL).
“DSA is very good at turning organizers into politicians,” says Orkin.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, for example, a congressional candidate, was a member of SJP at Columbia and an organizer of Columbia’s 2024 pro-Hamas encampments. After graduating, she embedded herself deep within the progressive infrastructure of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, including DSA’s Upper Manhattan and Bronx chapter – one of the fastest-growing DSA chapters in the city.
Avila Chevalier put in her time knocking on doors and organizing for high-profile socialist figures, including Mamdani in his bid for the mayorship. Now, she has a cadre of DSA volunteers doing the same for her.
Orkin, who currently works as an immigrants’ rights and a “movement” lawyer, founded a Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) chapter in Tucson, Arizona. He built his connections to NYC-DSA by door-knocking for DSA state assembly candidates Samy Nemir Olivares and Claire Valdez in 2024, and by organizing a fundraiser for Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest.
“There’s no way that I would run for office without DSA,” he says.
Claire Valdez, a union organizer turned congressional candidate, was a foundational supporter of Mamdani’s political movement. Valdez was the only elected official to stand with Mamdani when he initially launched his mayoral bid. With the organizing muscle of the DSA behind her, Valdez is projected to win her primary, even though she faces a strong progressive challenger who is currently endorsed by the retiring incumbent who has held the seat for more than three decades.
Diana Moreno, who took over and is now vying for Mamdani’s NY assembly seat, is a long-standing leader within the NYC-DSA in Queens and on the citywide steering committee. Moreno spent years coordinating local progressive and socialist campaigns before stepping in to run herself.
“In terms of my professional and political trajectory, I consider myself an organizer first and foremost,” she says. “… if it weren’t for the support and the infrastructure of DSA, what it offered me, incredibly dedicated, committed volunteers, the expertise of comrades who have done this before, I would not have felt [I could have taken] on all of it alone. And it was because of DSA that I did it, and it was because of DSA that I won.”
A canvassing event for Mamdani in May 2025 in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY
How the DSA “Movement” Works on the Ground
The “movement” Orkin refers to has optimized the following key components to create a winning model:
Mass volunteer mobilization with the implementation of a hierarchical, iterative volunteer structure (canvassers, field leads, field coordinators)
Expansion of the electorate to include non-voters, young people and immigrant communities (specifically Muslim and South Asian voters), specifically targeting undecided and low-propensity voters
Highly effective communications operations utilizing high-quality video and social media content
Deep organizational integration with NYC-DSA as the campaign’s political home
Recruitment of “cadre” DSA members for key candidate and campaign staff roles
Strategic partnerships with labor unions and community organizations
Optimizing rank-choice voting, which discourages candidates from “punching left”
Utilizing public campaign matching funds
Why the Democratic Party
While not officially a political party, the DSA functions as such while running on the Democratic ticket. Piggybacking on the Democratic Party as a vehicle for ultimate political dominance versus advancing a more puritan, independent socialist party is an ongoing argument within the organization. These discussions reflect the tension between the more “election-focused” members and those committed to the “movement” at all costs.
Nevertheless, in function, NYC-DSA recruits its own candidates, staffs their campaigns, shapes their policy platforms and organizes massive volunteer canvassing operations.
Watch NYC-DSA member Daniel Goulden, a faculty member in visual and critical studies at the School of Visual Arts and a delegate at the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) National Convention, openly say, “The Zohran campaign was always eager to work with us… We’re like that [gestures closeness]. We wrote the platform with him. The team was so happy to work with us on this. And now he’s going to be mayor!”
Goulden also declared that “with Zohran, we’re in basically the best possible position to seize state power.”
Endorsement Politics: Mamdani and AOC
At the state level, Mamdani has intentionally endorsed only five of the DSA candidates – those running in open seats to avoid damaging his working relationship with New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a powerful politician. Mamdani needs Heastie on his side for city budget and policy requests.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) doesn’t have such considerations at the state level, prompting her to pick up the mantle for the rest of the DSA candidates that Mamdani has refrained from endorsing.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) with Mamdani in June 2025 at the Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC
However, AOC has a similar problem at the federal level. Thus, Mamdani is actively backing high-profile federal primary challengers, such as Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is running against Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a five-term incumbent who is also chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Not coincidentally, Mamdani and AOC released their primary slates simultaneously as part of this coordinated, complementary strategy.
Darializa Avila Chevalier — U.S. Congress District 13
Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is challenging five-term incumbent U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat in New York’s 13th Congressional District, has been the subject of headlines.
First, there was the shock when Mamdani, who reportedly promised Espaillat, the powerful chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, that he would endorse him, then gave his endorsement to Avila Chevalier.
Just days later, thousands of deleted Twitter posts written by Avila Chevalier were made public. The posts “express[ed] support for abolishing police, prisons and borders, as well as seizing private property and nationalizing major industries and call[ed] into question Israel’s right to exist,” according to CNN, which broke the story.
“Seize the means of production,” she posted in 2019
Speaking about the police, she posted, “F**k you. We’re gonna defund and abolish. You don’t get to water down our movements” and later, “… [end] policing full stop. Period. No more police at all ever”
In April, 2020, she reposted, “This is for the DNC u big fraudulent white nasty status quo bitch why u took bernie off the muhfuckin race with ur trifflin dirty voter suppressing ass u holding elections during a pandemic ass bitc [sic]”
The posts also:
Lambasted Black and Arab men for “fetishizing ugly colonizer women”
Boasted about wiping her dirty hand on the American flag
Called former President Joe Biden a “rapist”
Commented, “f*** Kamala Harris”
Demanded, “No more police at all ever”
Asserted Mayor Bill de Blasio “hates Black people” and is “a piece of shit”
Called American military veterans “child murderers” who are guilty of “war crimes”
Avila Chevalier also shared a post stating that “Israel doesn’t exist.”
A Facebook post by Darializa Avila Chevalier championing Rasmea Odeh, a Palestinian terrorist convicted of masterminding a bombing in a Jerusalem supermarket that killed two students. Odeh was released in a prisoner exchange and lied about her history to enter America. She was ultimately deported for immigration fraud.
The deleted tweets, which numbered more than 3,600 and were dated between 2018 and 2022, were archived by Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
Despite the posts, Mamdani doubled down on his support for her, effectively converting the scandal into credentials.
In March, while attending Friday prayers at the Al Khoei Islamic Center in Queens, she accused her opponent of being “bought by the Israel lobby to stay silent” in an address to the congregants.
The center is linked to the Alavi Foundation, which has been cited by the DOJ as an Iranian regime front. During the prayer, the imam prayed for the Mahdi to kill the infidels by his sword.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, a convert to Islam, at the Al Khoei Islamic Center, which has been linked to the Alavi Foundation cited by the DOJ as a front for the Iranian regime
In April 2026, she was arrested at a protest coordinated by Jewish Voice for Peacecalling on Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to vote against selling weapons to Israel.
Avila Chevalier’s platform includes abolishing ICE and ending military support for Israel, which she cites as motivating her to run for Congress.
“I am running for Congress because I see the links between the violence that Palestinians face under Israeli apartheid and the violence Black communities face from American law enforcement,” she posted.
She openly promotes the Deadly Exchange conspiracy theory against Israel, accusing American police of being trained by Israel to enact racist policies.
Avila Chevalier is a Dominican-American and convert to Islam who was one of the leaders of the pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia University. She is an investigator at Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem, a public defender’s office in New York City, a current PhD student at CUNY.
Her race is being viewed as a test case of Mamdani’s power and his bid to expand DSA’s political control.
Claire Valdez — U.S. Congress 7th District
Claire Valdez (R) being arrested at an anti-Israel protest in August 2025
Claire Valdez is a deeply entrenched DSA member and activist. In August 2025, while serving as a first-term state assembly member, Valdez was arrested at a JVP anti-Israel protest outside the Manhattan offices of U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. In September 2025, she was arrested by DHS agents at an anti-ICE protest in Lower Manhattan.
Valdez’s congressional campaign launch featured Mahmoud Khalil, a controversial SJP (now CUAD – Columbia University Apartheid Divest) and JVP leader and organizer of Columbia’s pro-Hamas student encampment who is slated for deportation.
In fact, a bio given out to campaign volunteers to introduce her listed one of her big “achievements” as an assembly member was signing onto a letter calling for the release of Khalil, who had been detained by ICE. (The three other “wins” on her bio were that she rents an apartment, is a member of a union and was an early backer of Mamdani’s mayoral bid.)
After joining NYC-DSA in 2019, she climbed the organizational ranks to serve on her local branch’s Organizing Committee, the city-wide Steering Committee and as a leader for major DSA initiatives like the “Tax the Rich” and “Union Power” campaigns.
Valdez’s priorities include abolishing ICE, fighting for a “free Palestine,” ending all weapons sales and military aid to Israel and a host of big government socialist programs, including “affordable” childcare and healthcare for all.
While in the NY State Assembly, she co-sponsored the anti-Israel “Not on Our Dime” act, which removes the tax-exempt status of non-profit charities if they are deemed to be supporting “illegal settlements” or military operations in Israel that violate “international law.”
Valdez is locked in a race against progressive Antonio Reynoso, who has been the Democratic Party’s Brooklyn borough president since 2021. Her primary race has been characterized “as testing the emerging strength of NYC-DSA against the more institutional [non-DSA politicians] left in the city,” according to an analysis by City and State NY.
The Times quotes Michael Lange, a writer with ties to both factions, who says that, “This is the new battle line in New York City and urban politics.” Lange coined the term “Commie Corridor” to describe the district’s overwhelmingly young and left-leaning electorate.
It also has the city’s largest concentration of socialists, with more than 2,600 active NYC-DSA members.
Diana Moreno — NY State Assembly District 36
Diana Moreno at an anti-ICE protest
DSA candidate Diana Moreno is running to hold on to Mamdani’s former State Assembly seat, which she won in a 2026 special election by 74 percent against the opponents she faces today.
On October 20, 2023, two weeks after Hamas’ massacre of Israelis, Moreno was arrested at an anti-Israel rally in NYC. The next day, she posted proudly, “Last night I was arrested alongside 100+ New Yorkers demanding the bare f**king minimum: Ceasefire NOW! Our government is complicit in the genocide of Palestinians…and complicit in aiding and abetting the genocidal Israeli regime…”
Moreno also participated in the illegal anti-Israel encampment at New York University (NYU) and supported the encampment at Columbia University.
Moreno is virulently anti-ICE and NYPD, and advocates for restricting the role of police.
Diana Moreno at an anti-Israel protest
She is a social organizer and a DSA leader in Queens, as well as a member of the DSA city-level steering committee.
While in Albany, she reintroduced the “Not on Our Dime” bill, which removes the tax-exempt status of non-profit charities if they are deemed to be supporting “illegal settlements” or military operations in Israel that violate “international law.”
The bill was originally proposed in 2023 by Mamdani, then a state assembly member, but failed to pass. Moreno led a coalition of Democratic legislators who reintroduced the bill in May 2026.
Aber Kawas — NY Senate District 12
Aber Kawas speaking at an anti-Israel protest
Aber Kawas, a Palestinian-American anti-Israel activist running for NY’s 12th State Senate District in the upcoming Democratic Party primary, is a close ally of NYC Mayor Mamdani.
Kawas has stirred controversy by dismissing the severity of the 9/11 attacks, saying, “The system of capitalism and racism and white supremacy and Islamophobia have all been used to colonize lands, to take resources from other people, so this is a long trajectory and we’re just seeing the manifestations of that continuation with 9/11.”
“The idea that we have to apologize for a terror attack that a couple people did,” she continued, “and then there is no apologies or reparations for genocides and for slavery, et cetera, is something that I kind of find reprehensible.”
As reported by the Jewish Insider, in a series of now-deleted blog posts, Kawas expressed solidarity with a man convicted of providing material support to al-Qaida as well as the Holy Land Five, all of whom she called “imprisoned heros.[sic]” The Holy Land Five were Muslim Brotherhood-associated operators in America convicted in 2008 of sending $12.4 million to Hamas through the Holy Land Foundation in the largest terror-funding prosecution in U.S. history.
In 2026, at an anti-Israel rally built around the message, “America is not our friend,” she was filmed wearing a Hamas headband while leading a chant, “Stand up, fight back!”
Kawas credits Linda Sarsour, well-known anti-Israel activist and strategist, for her entry into politics and for being her mentor.
USCPR is a coalition of radical, American-based anti-Israel organizations (including CODEPINK, JVP and SJP chapters) that promote the BDS movement and lobby the U.S. Congress to adopt anti-Israel policies and end government support for Israel.
Aber Kawas showing her support for an anti-Israel bill in the NY State Assembly originally introduced by Mamdani
Kawas first met Mamdani in 2017 “to discuss centering Palestine in electoral politics – it’s what brought us together years after that to build the Not on Our Dime Campaign.”
“Not on Our Dime” is a bill introduced in the New York State Assembly by Mamdani that removes the tax-exempt status of non-profit charities if they are deemed to be supporting “illegal settlements” in or military operations in Israel that violate “international law.”
Kawas is locked in a highly competitive race against Steven Raga, a fellow DSA member who has spent over 20 years working in the community and then representing it as a state assembly member in an overlapping district.
However, whereas Raga is perceived as a reform-minded institutional player, Kawas (who just moved into the district) is viewed as a socialist insurgent, which is likely why she received Mamdani’s endorsement.
David Orkin — NY State Assembly District 38
David Orkin (second from right)
NYC-DCA wants to replace incumbent Jenifer Rajkumar, a moderate Democrat and a critic of the progressive left. DSA member David Orkin, a lawyer for the George-Soros-backed immigrant rights group Make the Road New York and long-standing anti-Israel activist, is their man.
Despite promoting himself as a “working class” candidate, “Orkin is the scion of famed tush doctor Bruce Orkin and grew up in the wealthy Maryland suburb of Rockville,” reports the New York Post. “The lefty candidate, who is white, wrote his senior thesis analyzing “whiteness” at a Poughkeepsie farmers market.”
Orkin is a down-the-line DSA ideologue. He wants to pass the “New York for All Act,” which includes provisions to ban informal cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE. Orkin’s platform also includes raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030.
His anti-Israel activism also borders on expressions of support for terrorists. In a post, he applauded the release of Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi national who was accused by U.S. authorities of being the intended “20th hijacker” in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
While at CUNY Law, he signed a letter of support for the terror-supporting group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
He also founded a chapter of the anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace in Tucson, Arizona, before moving to NYC. If elected, he intends to pass the “Not on Our Dime” bill, which removes the tax-exempt status of non-profit charities if they are deemed to be supporting “illegal settlements” or military operations in Israel that violate “international law.” The bill was introduced in the NY State Assembly by Mamdani, then an assembly member.
Orkin knows he’s in it for and with the DSA. “Let’s be honest,” he says, “… [with the DSA] you have people who are doing research for you, helping you draft policy … and helping move the agenda forward … I’m always moving in tandem with their priorities. [emphasis added]”
Conrad Blackburn — NY Assembly District 70
Conrad Blackburn
DSA recruited Conrad Blackburn, a lawyer for non-profit group The Bronx Defenders, to unseat one-term incumbent Jordan Wright, who was just named head of the Manhattan Young Democrats. Wright’s father, Keith, previously held the seat and is now chairman of the Manhattan Democratic Party.
Blackburn’s candidacy marks the NYC-DSA’s first foray into the political landscape of Harlem.
Blackburn is a radical decarcerationist. “Even if, like, the client is guilty as f–king sin, I still don’t think that the punishment, like, meets what happened,” he said on “Brothers In Law,” a podcast which he co-hosts. “I still don’t think that person deserves to be thrown in a cage and locked away for the rest of their life.”
“…It’s like cool, this person did maybe … something bad to somebody,” he continued. ”But, like, what are we gonna do about that? … I don’t think it’s prison.”
In a March 2025 episode, Blackburn intimated that criminals who shoot and kill innocent bystanders during gang-related feuds also shouldn’t automatically be tossed in prison. “I think what we envision is some sort of separation from society,” he said. “One that doesn’t have to look like a cage … Maybe community supervision, right? Included in that [are] classes for this individual to understand why what he did harmed society.”
In the same episode, he advocated for “prison abolitionists” to take part in jury duty so they could vote to acquit, regardless of evidence.
DSA Candidate Conrad Blackburn
Based on a January 2025 episode, the Post reported, “Blackburn claimed society’s ‘appetite’ for ‘abolishing police’ is stronger than its desire to abolish prisons, [but] thinks the general public is more ‘open-minded’ about getting rid of jails than most people think.”
Blackburn also considers every criminal, including rapists, redeemable – except racists. In March 2024, he said, “We’re talking about rapes, like predatory sexual assaults of children and homicides … I think everybody is a redeemable person, except racists and people in power who are racists.
“… I think there are people that have issues that aren’t their fault; they were born with whatever is going on inside of them, or they developed it from some sort of trauma. So, even your predatory sexual assault or sexual assault of children client, it’s not like a lot of those times these people are choosing, in the sense of the word ‘choosing’, to do these things…”
Blackburn is a union organizer, which motivated his run for public office. “So the only way we could protect union rights is by getting socialists elected into office. That really solidified my view that [the] time is now to run for office and that DSA was my political home in addition to UAW,” he says.
Blackburn, who identifies as a “racial socialist,” has also expressed reverence for Karl Marx and Che Guevara.
On April 27, 2026, Blackburn was featured on a panel at the People’s Forum NYC, a Marxist organization, alongside Hasan Piker (who canceled) and Mohsen Mahdawi titled,
“Columbia & Palestine: A Test of Democracy — Featuring Hasan Piker & Guests.” Mahdawi has since been slated for deportation.
Blackburn also made a promo video with Hasan Piker, who he calls his “homie [slang for friend].”
As per Mamdani’s political strategy, he has refrained from endorsing Blackburn because of the elder Wright’s enormous influence.
Christian Celeste Tate — NY State Assembly District 54
Christian Celeste Tate speaking at a ‘Tax the Rich’ protest
DSA is running Christian Celeste Tate to unseat Erik Dilan, a moderate Democrat, 10-term incumbent and a leader of the Puerto Rican and African American communities.
In January, Tate, a community organizer who got his start in the Black Lives Movement and continued with the DSA, was arrested at a protest against ICE.
Christian Celeste Tate being arrested at an ICE protest
Like Mamdani, Tate is deeply rooted in socialist principles, believing that government should play a larger role in guaranteeing basic needs. He is anti-development, pro-rent control and plans to pass the “New York for All” bill to prohibit state agencies from collaborating with ICE.
Tate has made Palestine a “local issue,” claiming that “the oppression, violence, and displacement we are fighting against here at home are part of the same power imbalance we are witnessing across the world.”
Tate is committed to passing the “Not on Our Dime” act, which removes the tax-exempt status of non-profit charities if they are deemed to be supporting “illegal settlements” or military operations in Israel that violate “international law.”
Tate also believes in the Deadly Exchange conspiracy theory, vowing to “end training collaborations between the NYPD and Israeli Occupation Force.”
Like Mamdani, Tate supports decriminalization for sex work and pro-prostitution policies. “Sex work is work!” he wrote in a candidate questionnaire.
DSA has repeatedly tried to unseat Dilan. They came closest in 2022, when Samy Nemir Olivares lost by five points (about 200 votes) in the Democratic Party primary.
Even though Tate is a Mamdani ally who worked as a field coordinator on the mayor’s campaign, Mamdani has not endorsed him, as per his political strategy of refraining from endorsing DSA insurgents challenging incumbents like Dilan to maintain allies in Albany.
However, he has been endorsed by AOC.
Eon Huntley — NY State Assembly District 56
Eon Huntley at an anti-ICE protest
Eon Huntley got his start in socialism during the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests. His next boost came in 2016 with Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.
He claims he wants to “resist war and imperial oppression,” yet protests in favor of Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon and the Iranian regime. Of his June primary, he says, “Palestine is on the ballot.”
Eon Huntley at an protest against the war on Iran
He claims he wants to “resist war and imperial oppression,” yet protests in favor of Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon and the Iranian regime. Of his June primary, he says, “Palestine is on the ballot.”
DSA is running Huntley, a retail employee and corporate fashion designer, for the second time against establishment Democrat Stefani Zinerman, who has the endorsements of U.S. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and state Attorney General Letitia James.
During the last election, which Zinerman won by a narrow margin, Huntley was lambasted for living outside the district in a fancy condo that received developer tax breaks, a policy he opposed. He has since moved into the district.
Huntley’s platform is long on giveaways but lacks a plan for funding them. He supports:
Free childcare
Free CUNY and SUNY
Free buses
Free healthcare and “reproductive rights”
Expanded rent control
$30 minimum wage
He also supports a Green New Deal for New York, an end to “new fossil fuel infrastructure,” funding for climate “resilience,” no utility rate hikes and gender-affirming care.
Eon Huntley at an anti-Israel protest
If elected, Huntley has vowed to pass the:
“New York for All” act, which would end NY’s cooperation with ICE detention, and
“Not on our Dime” act, which removes the tax-exempt status of non-profit charities if they are deemed to be supporting “illegal settlements” or military operations in Israel that violate “international law”
While Mamdani has refrained from endorsing him (to keep his influence in Albany), Huntley has endorsements from Bernie Sanders, AOC, the Working Families Party and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ). He has also done a promo with far-left influencer Hasan Piker, who has himself expressed support for terror.
Samantha Kattan — NY State Assembly District 37
Samantha Kattan
Samantha Kattan is a long-standing DSA member and tenant organizer running for the seat vacated by Claire Valdez (a fellow DSA member and now congressional candidate).
Kattan’s journey within the DSA is a premier example of a grassroots activist rising through the ranks of the organization – from a volunteer to a strategist, a legislative staffer and ultimately a candidate.
Kattan joined NYC-DSA in 2017. She was the first research co-chair of NYC-DSA’s Electoral Working Group, where she volunteered on Julia Salazar’s successful 2018 state senate campaign. Upon entering the chapter, she immediately plugged into its media and organizing apparatus, helping to found “The Thorn,” NYC-DSA’s prominent chapter newsletter.
Kattan recruited Phara Souffrant Forrest, a nurse and activist, to run for office. Forrest has been a DSA assembly member since 2021. Between August and December 2023, Kattan served as her deputy chief of staff and her chief of staff.
Kattan also helped mobilize the massive socialist field operation that pressured Albany to pass the 2019 New York Rent Laws expansion, a legislative package that radically overhauled New York’s landlord-tenant laws.
In addition to the DSA, she has been endorsed by Mamdani, Bernie Sanders, the Working Families Party and JVP Action.
She has done a campaign promo with far-left influencer Hasan Piker, who himself has expressed support for terror by framing the actions of U.S.-designated terrorist groups – including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis – as legitimate forms of “resistance” against Western imperialism and Israel.
Her published platform follows the standard DSA talking points, such as free childcare, taxing the rich, anti-ICE (which is a central part of her campaign) and railing against “threats from a fascist federal regime.”
Kattan faces a challenge in the primary from Pia Rahman, a former DSA member who says she wants to bring “stability” to the district. (Rahman accuses DSA members of using the district to launch their political careers.) Kattan is also being challenged by Melissa Orlando, a former Chamber of Commerce president.
Illapa Sairitupac — NY State Assembly District 65
Illapa Sairitupac
Illapa Sairitupac, who describes himself as a “housing” and “anti-ICE organizer,” is a key player in the NYC-DSA’s organization and its electoral strategy.
He served as co-chair of candidate recruitment, a position from which he resigned when he decided to run for office himself. He also recently served as co-chair of NYC-DSA Electoral Working Group.
In a 2021 interview, Sairitupac explained that before joining DSA, he volunteered for different activist organizations, including the Release Aging People in Prison campaign. After attending a Lower Manhattan DSA branch meeting and hearing a presentation about political power, he felt he had found his “political home.”
He then attended a meeting of the NYC-DSA Ecosocialist Working Group and became deeply involved, citing climate change and indigenous perspectives on protecting “Mother Earth” as major motivations for his activism. He later served in other DSA roles, including:
NYC-DSA’s Ecosocialist Working Group
The Anti-War Working Group organizing committee
NYC-DSA’s “Latino Socialistas” group (which he co-founded)
In 2022, Sairitupac ran for the seat with endorsements from NYC-DSA and the New York Working Families Party, but lost the election by 14 points to current Assembly Member Grace Lee. Lee is now running for state Senate, leaving the seat open.
Sairitupac has been endorsed by Mamdani, who won 65 percent of the district over Cuomo in the last Democratic primary. However, Sairitupac faces two serious rivals, Jasmin Sanchez and Mariama James, who are both community activists leaning into housing affordability in their respective campaigns.
Mamdani is worse, far worse, than even the most dire predictions.
“This is purely politics at a time when real services are needed,” Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told The Post. “We have real deficits and this mayor is spending five million dollars to put 40 political operatives on the payroll. It’s morally incomprehensible . . . It’s outrageous.”
Mamdani is planning to hire an additional 26 comrades by next year, at an average salary of $125,000, based on details in the budget.
Another $30,000 is being set asides for non-staff expenses, new docs reveal.
Taxpayers are on the hook for $5.2 million to pay the swollen salaries of the information ministers in socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new City Hall propaganda bureau – a staggering 175% more than first thought, The Post can reveal.
It’s barely been open for business for a month, but the Office of Mass Engagement has already seen ts headcount balloon 186% from 14 to 40, with $5,123,756 earmarked for salaries, according to the city’s recently released 2027 executive budget.
The Post exclusively reported in March the agency had begun hiring for 14 cushy jobs totaling roughly $1.6 million in taxpayer cash, with gigs that included a $150,000 campaign director, whose job description mirrored the work of a political campaign staffer.
Another $30,000 is being set asides for non-staff expenses, new docs reveal.
“This is purely politics at a time when real services are needed,” Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told The Post. “We have real deficits and this mayor is spending five million dollars to put 40 political operatives on the payroll. It’s morally incomprehensible . . . It’s outrageous.”
“This isn’t for anybody’s benefit but the mayor’s.”
The purported purpose of the office is to get New Yorkers involved in policy making, but critics have slammed the move as classic Soviet-era politics — using taxpayer dough to stifle opposition to his agenda.
The budget didn’t reveal the 40 job descriptions. Those hired so far include Commissioner Tascha Van Auken, Mamdani’s campaign field director, and Mohamed Alharbi, the office’s deputy borough director for Queens.
Mayor Mamdani smiles while holding Executive Order No. 7 establishing the Office of Mass Engagement.
Workers in the Office of Mass Engagement come on top of the mayor’s own communications team, which is expected to be larger than that of any other mayor in Big Apple history, sources said.
Mamdani has budgeted $51.8 million for the mayor’s office in 2027, an increase of $7 million from former Mayor Eric Adam’s budget last year.
When he announced its creation, Mamdani claimed the new office would get marginalized communities involved in city government. But so far it’s catered to the mostly white and wealthy DSA base who put him in office.
This week, three workers were seen by The Post canvassing the Lower East side to get people to turn up to Rent Guideline Board hearings, ahead of its June vote whether to green light the rent-freeze Mamdani campaigned on, which would impact the 2 million residents of the city’s rent-stabilized apartments.
It’s part of the office’s first mission, dubbed Organize NYC, recruiting volunteers and doorknocking, using tactics reminiscent of the DSA, which won him the election
Workers have been canvassing since early May in parts of the Bronx, Queens, lower and upper Manhattan and Brooklyn, but not on Staten Island — though a city spokesperson assured The Post a borough representative had been hired and the city’s only Republican stronghold wouldn’t be left out.
The new office also drew comparisons to former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who churned out more than 250 promotional videos in his first two years in office.
A City Hall rep told The Post that the office has also made outreach to landlord advocacy groups to testify at the hearings, and claimed the office will not advocate for any specific outcome.
“Every New Yorker should have a say in the future of their city,” said Penelope Birnbaum.
Pundit Bill O’Reilly recently said he was “surprised” that ex-NY governor Andrew Cuomo lost to Zohran Mamdani in the 2025 NYC mayoral race.
“I thought,” he told Cuomo during a May 14 discussion, “you were going to wax them [your competitors].”
Do you know when I realized Mamdani would win?
The very first time I saw him on TV.
No, it wasn’t that Mamdani was promising to rob Peter blind to pay Paul and then send both home to rent-frozen apartments on a free bus. It was that I understand the Luciferian Beauty Principle.
Now, you can take the following as metaphor if you’re not a theist. In Christian theology, Lucifer chose pride over God, rebelled and became the purest manifestation of evil: Satan. But he also was something else: As Lucifer, whose name means “light bringer,” he was known as the most beautiful of angels.
There is an all-important lesson there. It’s not just that evil doesn’t appear comic-book style, with a pitchfork and horns; it masquerades as something beautiful and impressive. Rather, it’s also that the malevolent know how easily humans are seduced by what pleases the eye and ear. We see this, for example, whenever a man is deceived by a comely gold-digger.
As for Mamdani the power- and national grave-digger, he’s a good-looking young guy with an easy smile, charisma on command and the most silvery of tongues, eloquent and articulate to the hilt. Note here the studies showing that it doesn’t matter what you say; if you say it well, you will sway people. It’s a testimonial to the power of style over substance.
Mamdani isn’t alone, either.
In fact, it appears that the hard-left (e.g., socialists) have possibly been purposely, actively applying the Luciferian Beauty Principle for a number of election cycles now. It’s a dangerous phenomenon, too, one threatening to vault us into tyranny.
I wrote about the appearance imperative in 2011 in “That Presidential Look: The Bad, the Beautiful and Voting-booth Realities.” I asked, essentially: When was the last time an unattractive, bald, fat and/or bespectacled candidate won the presidency?
If you say, “Prior to the television era,” go to the head of the class.
In fact, the last time we elected a balding president was 1956 (Dwight Eisenhower). Four years later we witnessed history’s first televised debate between presidential candidates—Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy—and got an immediate lesson in the Luciferian Beauty Principle.
That is, Americans hearing the debate only on radio thought the more intellectual, but pale, sickly-looking and sweaty Nixon won. Those watching it on TV supposed that the younger, far more handsome Kennedy won.
Donald Trump would seem an exception to the appearance imperative with his generous girth. But, first, he carries it well; second, he did generally shed pounds during campaigns. Most importantly, however, Trump is a singular, historic, transformational figure (e.g., the first to win the presidency despite no military or prior political service). He’d long been a celebrity and a star on television, a member of the glitterati.
Speaking of which, the late Rush Limbaugh would say that politics “is just showbiz for the ugly.” Well, the Democrats generally, and their far-left fringe puppeteer crew in particular, may be applying a formula: Put an uber-attractive, ultra-articulate candidate who delivers his lines splendidly in ugly-people showbiz and “Voilà!” He perhaps can’t lose.
Lest you think I exaggerate, question: Do you know how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) entered politics?
She was chosen by “progressive” PAC the Justice Democrats, from about 10,000 applicants, through what was, essentially, an audition-like process.
Yes, really.
The result was one of the biggest upsets in recent congressional history: Cortez trounced 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in the 2018 Democrat primaries by 14 points.
By the way, don’t kid yourself, Cortez does fit the bill. She is attractive (I know some make fun of her), especially relative to the ugly-showbiz, female-pol norm. She certainly can talk chicken off the bone, too.
Oh, it’s empty talk, you say? Cortez is ignorant?
Sure, but you are not going to vote for her no matter what. You also probably wouldn’t buy snake oil. But the snake-oil salesman doesn’t need your business. He doesn’t have to know anything about medicine. He just has to be sufficiently charismatic and glib to convince enough suckers that he does, and he becomes wealthy. That is Cortez.
Rest assured, too: If she bested 10,000 other applicants, she has some skills—not at being a statesman, but a politician.
To cement the point, it’s instructive noting why professional commentators, and politics wonks generally, under-emphasize the Luciferian Beauty Principle. Such people are more likely than average to proceed intellectually, to evaluate candidates on their positions. But even the smartest among them can make a very human mistake: projecting your own mindset onto others.
The reality is that many voters, and probably most, often make decisions on emotional bases, not rational ones. This is perhaps especially true of the “undecided vote,” which can be 20-plus percent of the electorate early in campaigns. Also known as the swing vote, capture most of them and you win. And Luciferian beauty will entice them.
This brings me to the last style-over-substance candidate I’ll mention, Texas Democrat James Talarico. Running for the U.S. Senate, he’s polling even with each of his two possible Republican opponents: Senator John Cornyn and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton. This is in a “red” state, mind you, and despite Talarico’s radicalism (e.g., he firmly embraces abortion and sexual-distortion—aka “transgender”—treatments for children; he also believes there are six “genders” and fancies God “nonbinary”).
Now, I know polls can be manipulated and often are. But I warn you: Talarico can win (this isn’t to say he will). He has Luciferian beauty in spades, being young, handsome, charismatic and silver-tongued. He also claims Christian status—advantageous in Texas—and skillfully makes his un-Christian positions look pretty, too, with Luciferian rationalization.
We may wonder at this point how much of the Democrat’s beauty play is conscious strategy. We know it was planned with Cortez, chosen via her “audition.” And though Mamdani rose through the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) ranks more conventionally, his comrades surely recognized and decided to capitalize on his political skill. Talarico’s ascendancy was perhaps more typical still, but this brings us to another point.
With liberals being characteristically emotion-driven, they’re more likely than conservatives to subordinate substance to style. This being so, they’d perhaps be more likely to deliver in the primaries a Luciferian-beauty candidate.
Whatever the case, at issue here is a real phenomenon. Research has shown that in politics, the more charismatic and attractive candidate wins more often than not. Why, one study found that via exposure to candidates’ faces for as little as 100 milliseconds, research subjects picked actual congressional and gubernatorial race winners with 57-68 percent accuracy.
So perhaps one reason, aside from Americans’ declining virtue, we chose better candidates in the pre-TV/radio age is that most Americans never saw or heard major-office candidates; they perhaps only read about their positions in newspapers.
What’s for certain is that the Luciferian Beauty Principle combined with the idiot vote is a toxic mix. It can deliver an absolutely beautiful package—hiding a demonic inner ugliness that’s deadly to a republic.
After a wave of Islamic mob attacks and riots aimed at Jewish synagogues and communities in New York City that began after October 7th — many of which were titled “Flood,” echoing the name used by Hamas for those attacks — the state’s top prosecutor finally took action.
Against the Jews.
Even as she failed to take action against the Islamist mobs waving genocidal terrorist flags and chanting, among other things, “We support Hamas!”, New York Attorney General Letitia James proudly announced that she had shut down Betar, a pro-Israel group whose members had rallied to protect Jewish institutions, accusing it of the “widespread persecution of Muslim, Arab, Palestinian” because its “members repeatedly referred to keffiyehs — traditional Palestinian scarves — as ‘rape rags’ and claimed that Muslims ‘hate America.’”
This shutdown of legal First Amendment¹ speech was all the more shocking because it came even as James had conspicuously failed to act to prevent Muslim attacks on synagogues and harassment of Jewish neighborhoods. After the Betar shutdown, a number of Jewish groups asked James to tackle pro-terrorist Muslim groups like Within Our Lifetime. However, no action has been taken by her office.
What was behind James’ systemic antisemitism?
Some pointed to her alliance with New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and his coalition — which merges Islamists and the Far-Left, both groups that were responsible for the attacks on Jewish communities.
But signs point to something far darker: the growing Islamization of the Attorney General of New York’s office under James as a likelier explanation for her systemic two-tier actions.
James had developed close ties to Islamist groups, and even before targeting Betar, she had threatened Steven Emerson, one of the earliest counterterrorism figures to monitor and expose Islamic terrorism in New York, as well as the nonprofit The Investigative Project on Terrorism for monitoring activities by Islamist terror-linked groups. The press release by James’ office objected that The Investigative Project on Terrorism had been monitoring Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an unindicted terror funding co-conspirator whose leader praised the October 7th attacks, and which has links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
“As we enter the holy month of Ramadan, it’s more important than ever that we show our support for our Muslim communities and stand up to Islamophobia,” James warned in her press release, promoting her illegal assault on a counterterrorism organization on behalf of an unindicted terrorist funding co-conspirator.
The surveillance of CAIR had not even been taking place in New York State, but in Ohio. However, James was caught picking up materials and agendas from CAIR despite its ties to terrorism and support for the murder of Jews.
Why was James so desperate to pander to Islamists?
Her political aspirations have become entangled with Islamic political elements, and her office has become Islamized on her watch.
Last month, Halimah Elmariah, James’ Egyptian Muslim press secretary, announced she was stepping down to become the press secretary for the New York and New Jersey Port Authority.
Elmariah had previously referred to Israel’s response in 2013 to the Hamas kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers (one of them also American) as an “assault on Gaza,” and compared Israel’s campaign against Hamas terrorists to the Holocaust.
Beyond Israel, Emariah appeared to adopt conventional Muslim brotherhood positions, defending former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi (who was also a senior leader and the official presidential candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt) and complaining about his successor “who crushed all political opposition, including most notably the Muslim Brotherhood, which he dubbed a terrorist organization.”
For good measure, Hamas is a direct offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Elmariah claimed that counterterrorism programs in New York City were “spying on Muslim communities,” and she defended Qatar, a state-sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as the Syrian “rebels” — a mostly Islamist movement spanning the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda.
In her departure post, Elmariah bragged about how “alongside Umair Khan and Mamadou Bah, we led the Attorney General’s efforts to convene roundtables with community leaders, share resources, speak out against anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate, host Iftars, and most importantly, hire the office’s first-ever Muslim Affairs Director.”
Unfortunately, I was not able to find any evidence of a “Jewish Affairs Director” in Letitia James’ office.
The position of Muslim Affairs Director went to Mohammad Awais, who was featured at an event of the Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS) that included Mamadou Sire Bah, previously mentioned by Elmariah, who had advanced from James’ scheduler to a “senior advance associate” on her team. Partners of MAPS include CAIR and other Islamist groups with a history of supporting terrorism. Journalists have noted ties between MAPS and Islamic groups linked to terrorism.
Umair Khan occupies an even more prominent position: a senior advisor and special counsel to James, whose problematic alliance with Islamists goes back to when Dabah “Debbie” Almontaser was serving as an early “advisor on cultural and religious diversity issues” for James back when she occupied the position of “public advocate.” Almontaser had become a controversial figure over her “Intifada NYC” branding. The board member of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York is alleged to have played a significant role in the political career of Zohran Mamdani, who also came through the Muslim Democratic Club of New York.
James’ desperate courting of Islamists led her into an alliance with Mamdani and CAIR, while undermining the security of New Yorkers and their First Amendment rights. Earlier this year, in January, James rushed to brag:
“For the first time in our state’s history, January is officially recognized as Muslim American Heritage Month! This month, and every month, we celebrate the invaluable contributions, recognize the rich culture, and honor the traditions of our Muslim communities in New York.”²
The “invaluable contributions” from Muslims that James may be most interested in are not to New York, but to her personal political career.
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Islamization-of-New-Yorks-Government.jpg370640The Geller Reporthttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Geller Report2026-05-26 14:10:082026-05-26 14:13:59The Islamization of New York’s Government
With an antisemitic flag hoist above an NYU celebration and pro-Hamas mobs besieging synagogues and marching through Jewish neighborhoods screaming “Zionism will fail!” and beating up Jews who cross their paths, what are New Yorkers of good will to do?
Not just Jews: They’re the target now, but the whole city needs to counter this venom.
Well, the whole city except for our mayor, since Zohran Mamdani keeps justifying the haters as “enforcing international law” or “protesting genocide” or whatever.
That’s why it’s hard to disagree with ex-Assemblyman Dov Hikind’s call to boycott the Jewish heritage event Mamdani’s hosting Monday at Gracie Mansion, urging Jewish leaders “to take a stand. Show pride. Have self respect.”
Meanwhile, the City Council and Legislature must step up to maximize protections against the haters who’ve weaponized the First Amendment.
The council needs to override Mamdani’s veto of Intro 175-B, a bill to allow — not require — the NYPD to establish protest buffer zones outside schools simply to ensure free entry and exit.
The mayor and his allies claim this would stifle civil liberties, but whose? Goons eager to surround schools and harass students and teachers?
State lawmakers, meanwhile, should back Gov. Kathy Hochul’s push for a law protecting all houses of worship with buffer zones that keep demonstrations back, reinforcing a city law (one Mamdani didn’t veto only because he knew he’d be overridden).
Genuine liberals need to start drawing a line against the “progressives” who justify violence — including attacks on law enforcement — in the name of protest.
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/STAND-TALL-WITH-STUDENTS-AGAINST-ANTISEMITISM.png358640Beverly Newman, Ed. D.http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngBeverly Newman, Ed. D.2026-05-17 06:51:232026-05-17 07:13:31While students stand tall against anti-Semitism, where are “the adults in the room?”
