Mamdani's mayoral win shows Democrats path beyond woke culture war politics

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A Washington Post opinion columnist is acknowledging that the Democratic Party pushed "woke" politics too far and paid the price at the ballot box. The piece argued that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani may represent the kind of shift away from culture war politics Democrats need to win back voters.

Columnist Shadi Hamid argued that from 2014 through about 2023, peaking in 2020, Democrats embraced "woke" ideas that prioritized divisive cultural issues, including transgender rights and calls to defund the police.

"A growing number of Democrats and liberals have acknowledged that things may have gone too far," Hamid said.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attends a news conference at the headquarters of the New York Police Department in New York City on Jan. 6. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

"Alienating too many Americans who might have otherwise been sympathetic to [the] Democratic Party’s economic message but couldn’t get on board with an expansive and aggressive cultural agenda," he added.

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Hamid wrote in "How Mamdani shows Democrats the way beyond wokeness" that the party’s fixation on identity politics and DEI peaked around 2020 and eventually triggered a voter backlash that, he said, benefited President Donald Trump.

He points to Mamdani’s mayoral victory as a potential blueprint for how Democrats can win back voters alienated by cultural politics. While Mamdani once supported the party’s more activist-based policies, he later backed away from that rhetoric during his mayoral bid.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks after being ceremonially sworn in as the city’s 112th mayor at City Hall in New York City on Jan. 1. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

"During his campaign for mayor, Mamdani apologized for his comments," Hamid wrote, referring to Mamdani’s past description of the New York Police Department as "racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety."

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The piece noted that while Mamdani shifted away from some activist rhetoric, he continued to publicly support transgender rights, including in a video released weeks before the November election.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at a press conference during moving day at Gracie Mansion in New York City on Jan. 12. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Instead, the piece argued, Mamdani centered his campaign on everyday issues affecting New Yorkers, particularly affordability. Hamid wrote that Mamdani’s success reflects a broader shift within the Democratic Party, as culture war issues lose their appeal with voters.