The Key Lesson from Mamdani’s Campaign that Nobody’s Talking About
How David beat Goliath
Friends,
It’s always hard for the little guys to fight the big guys and their money when it comes to politics.
That’s why it’s so remarkable that Zohran Mamdani won his race for mayor of New York City. He did it because of his personal power and commitment and his campaign’s focus on issues that matter to New Yorkers.
But one of the big reasons for his victory that’s not being talked about is New York City’s public financing of elections.
Powerful forces lined up to stop Mamdani: At least 26 billionaires chipped in to fund outside super PACs that spent a total of $55 million to try to defeat him.
In this week’s video, I take a look at what New York City did that gave Mamdani the ability to fight and win notwithstanding the billionaires against him — and to run on issues that mattered to New Yorkers.
There’s a valuable lesson here. Please take a look, and share.
 | A guest post by
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Public financing worked because it changed the incentive structure.
Mamdani didn’t need billionaire approval to compete, so he could run on issues billionaires hate: wealth taxes, housing policy that challenges developers, labor protections that cut into profits. When candidates require wealthy donors to fund campaigns, they optimize for donor preferences over voter needs. Public financing breaks that dependency.
But here’s the structural reality: NYC is one city. Nationally, the Supreme Court calls money speech and corporate spending protected expression. Public financing can’t scale when federal courts treat wealth as a constitutional right to control politics.
Mamdani won because NYC built a system that counters plutocratic capture. Most places haven’t, won’t, and can’t under current precedent. The lesson isn’t replicable without changing the legal framework that protects billionaire political spending as freedom.
—Johan
We need the states of RI, VA, IL, VT, CA, and DE to channel their inner David and issue arrest warrants for the underlings of Goliath for “misprision” of felony and treason. When I was a middle school guidance counselor, we addressed bullying by going after the underlings instead of the well-insulated kingpin. It didn’t take long for the house of cards to collapse. This “network” approach is used by law enforcement with organized crime. https://www.crimrxiv.com/pub/cofzjnzx/release/1