Zohran Mamdani's politics can work in Appalachia
The only thing radical about NYC's new mayor is how in touch he is with ordinary people
Zohran Mamdani toppled a political dynasty last week, and will now be the mayor of the largest city in the country. Lots of people have blistering hot takes about this — with many “centrist” pundits dismissing his win as irrelevant to the rest of the country due to New York City being a deeply Democratic, left-leaning city.
While I’m normally sympathetic to the “New York City isn’t like the rest of the country” mantra, I think the above fundamentally misunderstands what made Mamdani so appealing and popular.
What made it successful
While no campaign can be boiled down into one simple answer for its success or failure, Zohran Mamdani’s policies cut to the heart of what New Yorkers desperately needed: affordability.
Mamdani made his entire brand a relentless focus on affordability.
Not only that, but he made it VERY easy for people to understand and relate to.
Fast and free buses (simple, gets to a core issue for working class residents)
Freeze the rent (simple, cuts at the biggest expense for rent stabilized NYers)
No cost childcare (simple, likely the second-biggest expense for most people)
The list goes on.
He also made his vehicle to accomplish these goals extremely simple and palatable: raise the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey’s.1 By comparing it to New Jersey’s tax rate, it made the feat seem way more achievable because such a thing already existed right across the river.
New York City is one of the most expensive cities in the country, and people there are struggling to get by. Almost every single resident aside from the top 1% have to deal with the consequences of a lack of affordability. Zohran knew this, came up with tangible solutions to the problem, and has the charisma and charm to communicate this to people. That is a recipe for success.
Lastly, one of the reasons people distrust politicians is that they often make big promises and can’t deliver on them. Zohran’s promises, while some of them will have hurdles with state government, feel achievable. He cited instances where rent freezes and free buses have been done, and replicating that to scale. If he is able to do this, it will instill a lot of earned trust in him that other politicians do not have.
People EVERYWHERE, including Appalachia, are struggling to get by. Affordability is a universal problem. Too often, politicians are extremely out of touch with the day-to-day struggles of average constituents to realize this.
Zohran’s model of relentlessly focusing on affordability can, and SHOULD, be tailored to communities in Appalachia. It really is that simple, but let me explain a bit more.
Fast and free buses is not something that will necessarily resonate in most communities in Appalachia, where residents are much less reliant on public transit than in NYC. But there are dozens of other universal affordability problems in our communities. Identifying a solution to that problem, finding a way to communicate it very simply, then pounding that message in a way that shows you can actually deliver.
Let me spitball some ideas for you. And keep in mind, I’m neither a policy wonk nor a slogan machine. So before anyone starts yelling at me about the specifics of this, THESE ARE HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLES.2
Utility costs: Most communities in Appalachia are suffering from their electric bills skyrocketing. This is a universal affordability problem for people because everybody pays an electric bill. A candidate for local or state office can address this situation through an innovative solution and boil it down simple for people. For example:
Stop data centers: An affordability politics approach could easily be adapted in communities where data centers are trying to be developed. There is evidence that electric bills are tied to their development and consumption of power. This is a very easy issue to communicate that voters can understand.3
Rent and housing costs: Another universal issue in Appalachia is housing costs — whether you rent or buy
Slumlord Accountability: Passing stricter regulations on landlord that prevent them from unreasonably raising rents and compelling them to comply with more timely repairs
Freeze the property tax: For homeowners, this is a policy that could help them plan for the annual expense of property taxes and not have to worry about rate increases.
The point with writing this is that it is not hard to see how Zohran’s affordability campaign can be applied literally anywhere. I want people to stop looking at Zohran Mamdani as someone with extremely radical views, because they aren’t.
Affordability is and will be a universal issue. The takeaway from his campaign is that relentlessly focusing on affordability while tailoring solutions to the community is a way to reach people authentically, and effectively.
You’ve made it to the end, congrats! Here is a pic of Big Dog.
Easy to understand policy is an enormously valuable thing to help brand a campaign — just look at Donald Trump’s first election win in 2016 (Build the wall, lock her up, MAGA). It’s not an endorsement, obviously, but it’s undeniably successful.
Also, keep in mind that I have moved around constantly the past 10 years and while I know Appalachia very well, I am less connected to an individual community and therefore do not know a lot of community-specific issues that would allow for a good 1-to-1 comparison with the Zohran model.
While this alone doesn’t inherently address the cost issue, it prevents it from exacerbating
Zohran's model is based on a simple premise: put people first. His NYC-specific policies is just a distillation of this main premise, fit for the needs of New York. Maybe his specific policies wouldn't work for the Appalachias, but the DNA of his approach will, and must: money is energy. You either direct it to the people, or the 1%. To bettering people's lives, or to data centers serving the few on the backs of the many.
I’m glad I’m not the only one! I’m from Texas, and so many of the potential solutions you brought up apply there too. People don’t have A/C units. You can 100% offer to provide for your community and tailor your tone to better suit the neighborhood. The underlying ideas are still the same. I hope we see more of this in future elections!