Republicans looking to next year's midterms plan to use self-proclaimed Democrat Socialist Zohran Mamdani as a major talking point in competitive House and Senate races.
State Assemblyman Mamdani, a 33-year-old Muslim born in Uganda, is the likely Democrat candidate for New York City mayor after winning the first round of the ranked-choice primary election on Tuesday.
Among the promises Mamdani has made to voters are free city bus travel, city-owned grocery stores, making New York City an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
GOP lawmakers already are citing Mamdani as a symbol of the progressive Democratic Party.
"Every Democrat will have to answer for this, just like for years, Republicans have had to answer proudly for President [Donald] Trump," said Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Politico reported.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) said every "vulnerable House Democrat will own" Mamdani.
"If you engineered the modern Democrat Party in a lab, you'd get Zohran Mamdani: Antisemitic, anti-police, and anti-American. Every vulnerable House Democrat will own him, and every Democrat running in a primary will fear him," NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement.
"The NRCC looks forward to seeing Minority 'Leader' Hakeem Jeffries [D-N.Y.] and his new socialist mascot Zohran Mamdani meet and campaign together – all we ask from them is for lots of photos. After all, House Democrats, Jeffries, and Zohran are all cut from the same radical cloth," Marinella said in another statement.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) tied progressives in Minnesota and Michigan to Mamdani.
"The grassroots Democrat energy behind socialist Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and radical Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota is a serious threat to everything Americans elected President Trump and Senate Republicans to protect," NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez said, The Hill reported.
Mamdani could also be a topic in gubernatorial races.
Stefanik and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., both eyeing to become New York governor, sent out fundraising appeals that connected incumbent Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul to Mamdani.
The Republican Governors Association (RGA) issued a statement tying New Jersey Democrat gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill to Mamdani.
"It's not that hard to disavow socialism, and Mikie Sherrill's official comments saying she shares the goals of Socialist Zohran Mamdani are not only absurd, but it is disqualifying, period full stop," the RGA said in a statement.
Stefanik did warn fellow Republicans that using Mamdani as a democratic symbol likely depends on the November outcome.
"I think it'll really only play in the midterms if he wins the general election," she said, Politico reported.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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