CNN: Socialist’s Victory In NYC Mayoral Primary ‘Wakeup Call’ For Democrat Leaders
Charlie Kirk Staff
06/26/2025

CNN data analyst Harry Enten on Wednesday said that the shocking victory of Zohran Mamdani in the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary Election should serve as a “wake-up call” to the Democratic establishment.
“Let me tell you, this was a political earthquake that should have the Democratic establishment running scared. What are we talking about here?” he said to anchor Omar Jiminez.
“Well, New York City primary upsets like Mamdani’s. This is truly one for the record books. They’re really only two that I could think of that are anything like this. And that was back in 89 for mayor when David Dickens won over third — three-term mayor Ed Koch. Koch was running for a fourth term. The voters said, uh-uh, there was big turnout then, just like there was big turnout last night,” Enten said.
“And of course, more recently, if you want to take a look at a national picture, think back to 2018, New York’s 14th Democratic primary, going for Congress, when AOC beat House Dem-Caucus Chair Joe Crowley. This, to me, is very much like that, energizing young voters, energizing voters on the left, and providing what truly was a historic night last night in Democratic circles,” he said.
“And, you know, look, on paper, this is a mayor’s race. This is also New York City, special city. But is this more a New York City thing, or is this more of a sign of a larger national trend when it comes to the Democratic Party?” the anchor asked.
“Yes, just like AOC’s victory in 2018, this did happen locally, but I think you can take it up nationally. What are we talking about here? Well, you know, you think about Democratic establishment, you think about Democratic Party leaders. Pretty much all of them were behind Andrew Cuomo. But the bottom line is the Democratic base is fed up, done with the Democratic establishment. This is true in New York. It’s true nationally. Democrats who say their party leaders should be replaced,” Enten said.
“Look at this. This is a recent poll from Reuters/Ipsos. 62 percent of Democrats nationally say their party leaders should be replaced. Party leaders like Andrew Cuomo. Party leaders like Jim Clyburn, who, of course, endorsed Andrew Cuomo. You think about all the Democrats that were behind Andrew Cuomo in the establishment. The Democratic base is fed up with them. And the bottom line is nationally, the vast majority of Democrats think that their party leaders should be replaced. But it’s more than this, right? Of course, Mamdani ran a left, pretty far left campaign, right, compared to what we normally see in Democratic circles,” the data analyst said.
“But the bottom line is, you talked to me 20, 30 years ago, there was no way I thought a Democratic Socialist could win a nomination for mayor in New York or nationally. But look, Democrats who identify as liberal nationally in 1994 is 25 percent. You go to 2004, 33 percent, 2014, 43 percent,” he said.
“Now, the majority of Democrats nationally identify as liberal. If there are Democratic establishment folks who think this is just going to be contained in New York, I say this is a warning sign to you. It very much may not be,” he said.