Zohran Mamdani’s recent victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary is no doubt the shot of adrenaline that democratic socialism needs right now. But while his win shocked most of the nation, democratic socialists have always known that Mamdani’s platform was a winning one.

We knew in 2016 that Bernie Sanders could have won. We knew it when COVID-19 hit and the stimulus checks started printing — if the government could provide something like a universal basic income for unemployed people when the economy was flatlining, could they not afford it during boom times? We knew it during the fiasco of the Joe Biden–Kamala Harris campaign while centrist Democrats ignored the economic gasps for breath from working-class America. And although New York’s primary election surprised almost everybody, democratic socialists have been excited, even exuberantly optimistic, about Mamdani’s campaign as a model for other socialists since early 2024. A bold, populist economic platform has massive appeal.

As the Zohran adrenaline courses through our networks, to the soundtrack of Bernie’s latest directive to run for office at every level, it’s no wonder many politicians are trying to jump on this winning bandwagon (and making sure to hit record on their iPhones). But in San Francisco — a city known for its progressivism — some mainstream commentators still don’t seem so sure. As Cal Matters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu asked last month: “Could we have a Zohran in San Francisco?”