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Mayor Mamdani Wednesday praised Abdul El-Sayed and predicted the newly minted Democratic Senate nominee can win in swing-state Michigan with a similar progressive message to the one Hizzoner rode to victory in deep-blue New York City.
“To win this race … is a testament to what he ran on and also how he ran the campaign,” Mamdani told reporters at a City Hall press conference. “That’s the kind of work it’s going to take to ensure we are winning in November. So kudos to him.”
Mamdani noted that El-Sayed, 41, overcame a flood of $60 million in spending mostly by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that backed rival Rep. Haley Stevens. He wound up winning by a narrower-than-expected margin of about 1%.
The 34-year-old mayor said there’s no reason El-Sayed cannot win a general election in a purple Rust Belt state with the same message of affordability that resonated in the Big Apple.
NYC mayor Mamdani congratulates El-Sayed on Michigan win
“He was able to prevail with a focus on a cost-of-living crisis,” Mamdani said. “The message of money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for All is something even New Yorkers can relate to.”
Progressives have generally been on a roll in their fierce battle with moderates for ascendancy in the Democratic Party ahead of the midterms, although most of their wins have come in House and local election races, not statewide swing-state contests like the Michigan Senate race that El-Sayed won.
Three Mamdani-backed progressive candidates defeated establishment-backed choices in New York City congressional primaries, including knocking off incumbents Rep. Dan Goldman and Rep. Adriano Espaillat in two districts in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
In Michigan, Donavan McKinney, a Democratic Socialists of America member, ousted incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar in a deep-blue Detroit district. And progressive William Lawrence beat two moderates to win the Democratic nomination to take on GOP Rep. Tom Barrett in one of the nations most closely watched swing districts.
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