Zohran Mamdani isn’t the most famous Democrat in America. But the frontrunner to serve as New York’s next mayor is well on his way — and he’ll get there, if Republicans have anything to say about it.

Immediately after the previously little-known state assemblyman from Queens won the Democratic nomination for mayor, stunning his party’s political establishment, Republicans got busy upping Mamdani’s name recognition. In every upcoming contest in every corner of the country, Republicans are attempting to cast Democrats as the party of Mamdani.

President Donald Trump, himself a former New Yorker, led the charge.

“It’s finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line. Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming Mayor. We’ve had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump is prone to crude exaggeration and hyperbole. But Mamdani, 33, affiliates with the Democratic Socialists of America and has proposed raising taxes significantly on corporations and the wealthy; freezing rents; opening city-owned grocery stores; using taxpayer dollars to make daycare and bus service “free;” and reducing police funding. Mamdani has also refused to repudiate the phrase “globalize the intifada,” a phrase many American Jews interpret as an antisemitic call to violence.

It’s no wonder Republicans are eager to turn every Democrat into a Mamdani, especially rising Democratic centrists and pragmatists who appeal to a broad base of voters; offer the GOP stiff competition; and could potentially cure what ailed the party in 2024. It also happens to be Politics 101, practiced by both parties whenever the opportunity arises.

In other words, for the Republicans, it’s smart strategy.

If swing voters and moderate independents in close races buy the GOP’s message that Mamdani is representative of most Democrats, Republicans stand to benefit. A Mamdani-centric message also has a reasonable chance of pressuring center-left Democrats to field distracting questions about Mamdani and his agenda, rather than their own policies. Regardless of how deftly they parry, there’s a risk of disappointing both their progressive activist base and rank-and-file voters.

“It takes up space in your campaign to have to answer questions about (Mamdani’s) positions over and over and over again,” Matt Gorman, a veteran Republican campaign adviser, told me.

Moderate Democrats are not hiding their concern, noting the GOP wasted little time turning Mamdani into a cudgel.

Matt Bennett, chief spokesman for Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank in Washington, went so far as to warn the party that embracing Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America platform is an electoral loser. “It took about 5 minutes for GOPers to start weaponizing them against other Dems,” Bennett said in an X post . “Dems in swing districts/states would be wise to publicly distance themselves from anything DSA-related.”

The New York mayor is not just any local official and the campaign to elect the five boroughs’ chief executive is not just any political contest. New York is America’s most populous city, the nation’s cultural and financial hub, headquarters to major media institutions and an international gateway. So, deserved or not, Hizzoner at times gets outsized attention and is imbued with political significance exceeding the city’s borders.

Mamdani isn’t a shoo-in. Democrat-turned-independent incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is getting a fresh look from those desperate to keep Mamdani out of Gracie Mansion. The Democratic primary’s runner-up, disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, might continue his quest for a political comeback as a third-party candidate.

But there’s no doubt Mamdani begins the general election campaign as the heavy favorite. Republicans are proceeding accordingly, seizing a chance to portray Democrats in disarray.

A super-PAC affiliated with House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana issued a press release highlighting four articles about Democrats responding to Mamdani’s nomination, including a New York Post story headlined: “NY Reps. Tom Suozzi, Laura Gillen, distance themselves from lefty NYC mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani: ‘We’re not socialists.’”

The House GOP campaign arm promptly responded with a press release portraying Democrats as a party in chaos. “Conveniently AFTER Hakeem Jeffries announced his support for Zohran Mamdani, Gillen called him "the absolute wrong choice for New York," and Suozzi said he has “serious concerns” about him,” the missive read. “Hakeem obviously has no control over his own base, and Suozzi and Gillen have zero respect for their boss.” Jeffries, the House minority leader, represents a New York district anchored in Brooklyn.

And less than 48 hours after Mamdani had secured enough votes to ensure his nomination, the Republican Governors Association communications director texted me her statement attempting to tie Mamdani to U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for governor in New Jersey. Sherrill is a mainstream, pragmatic Democrat who served as a Navy helicopter pilot and, while liberal, is hardly a socialist.

“It’s not that hard to disavow socialism, and Mikie Sherrill’s official comments saying she shares the goals of socialist Zohran Mamdani is not only absurd, but it is disqualifying, period full stop,” RGA spokeswoman Courtney Alexander said. Of course, some might find that interpretation of Sherrill’s remarks a bit gratuitous. Per Politico, here’s the key excerpt from her answer to a question about Mamdani: “… while I have plenty of disagreements with Mr. Mamdani, I share his voters’ goal of making life more affordable…” Indeed, both Mamdani and Sherrill have focused relentlessly on “affordability” in their respective campaigns.

I imagine the Democrats subjected to the Mamdani treatment will spend a lot of time crying foul and accusing Republicans of egregious spin. But this is a strategy of opportunity that Democrats have also employed — with abandon — over the past decade and are likely to continue using. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you which prominent Republican has played the starring role.

We’ll find out soon enough if it works this time around for Republicans. For that matter, we’ll find out if it is working for Democrats, too — by the time all the votes are tallied on Election Day 2026.

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This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

David M. Drucker is columnist covering politics and policy. He is also a senior writer for The Dispatch and the author of "In Trump's Shadow: The Battle for 2024 and the Future of the GOP."

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