New York City socialists learned something from Zohran Mamdani’s successful mayoral primary campaign: to contest citywide elections, we have to run campaigns that redefine and expand the Democratic electorate. We did this in New York City Democratic Socialists of America (NYC-DSA) by building a coalition of newly politicized younger New Yorkers, rent-stabilized tenants, working-class Muslims and South Asians who saw in Mamdani a shared identity, reengaged “Bernie millennials,” and voters drawn to Mamdani’s vision of affordability and to his commitment to standing up for Palestinian rights.

Crucial to expanding and sustaining the Mamdani coalition to defeat Andrew Cuomo in the general election are two key strategies: a “mass action” field program, which is a volunteer-run door-knocking operation that empowers everyday New Yorkers to participate in the campaign and allows socialists to promote their politics at the doors; and a communications strategy that prioritizes engaging new voters and highlighting the need for a socialist mayor with a mass movement behind him to address the city’s affordability crisis.

Looking past the general election and implementing the Mamadani agenda, NYC-DSA can become a hub for newly politicized working-class New Yorkers who can plug into action to protect a Mamdani mayoralty, help implement neighborhood initiatives, and deliver accessible city services by onboarding new organizers and driving grassroots implementation of the Mamdani agenda.