Well... this is going to be great.
No, I mean it. This is a great outcome.
Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race, which was pretty much the outcome most people expected, and I'm not mad. As I wrote on Monday, if Republicans really wanted a way to win places like New York, New York first has to learn what it's like when they get everything they think they wanted in a leftist like Mamdani.
Read: The Best Possible Path for New York? Let Mamdani Happen
And indeed, it appears that New York is in for a rude awakening.
How rude?
Check out what Mamdani said during his victory speech. Anyone with any political sense and experience will know exactly what's scary about this little tidbit here.
"We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about."
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) November 5, 2025
Genuinely one of the most horrifying quotes I've ever heard from a politician. pic.twitter.com/2Je148KEvy
To quote Ronald Reagan, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.”
The reason the words are so terrifying is self-evident. Wherever government is involved, inefficiency, corruption, and incompetence follow. It's as sure as death and taxes. That basic bit of knowledge is one of the key reasons so many people are planning to flee New York as I write this.
By the way, Texas is full.
Read: Dear New Yorkers: Texas Will Break You
But I can't put it any better than C.S. Lewis did, who has warned the Western world about people just like Mamdani, and I think his words should be repeated again, and again, and again:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
Mamdani is exactly who Lewis was talking about.
But it's not all bad news. As I said, this can be a great learning experience... if Republicans are smart enough to make it one. I'm not the only person who is having that thought, either. According to my colleague, Rusy Weiss, more than a few strategists are set on making Mamdani the new face of the Democrat Party, and I think that's just swell:
House Republicans have already produced digital ads set to run across dozens of battleground districts, pointing to the "socialist mayor" in NYC, labeling him the "future" of the Democrat party and warning voters, "your city could be next.”
Your city could be next.
Mamdani won't be tangentially on the ballot solely in the House either, where you tend to get more fringe candidates somehow finding their way into the once respected halls of Congress.
Politico reports that Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) sent out donor letters noting that the fight against socialism will be “shaping every major Senate Democrat primary in 2026.”
This is the best strategy. Too many Republicans are seeing these Democrat wins as a foreboding of 2026. I disagree. These are opportunities in disguise. A teachable moment if ever I've seen one.
Republicans need to hammer Mamdani with Trump-level PR jabs. Meme him. Make fun of him. Point out his every flaw. I'm talking a real Chaucerian deconstruction to go along with what is going to become a highly public toppling of New York.
This moment cannot be missed, because if it is, then 2026 will be a problem. So will 2028, 2032, and so on. The public needs to learn this lesson, and Republicans need to hammer the message home using every opportunity Mamdani and the Democrats give them.
Not only will this strategy keep the issue of radical leftism isolated, but it could also be used to weaken the Democrat Party overall, turning this moment where the left thinks they finally got a foothold into one where they just went all-in with a losing hand.
I say, let the lesson commence.
