Republicans have their new bogeyman, and his name is Zohran Mamdani, the Mayor-elect of New York City.
Following the Democratic Socialists’ win in New York City Tuesday night, Republicans quickly moved to tie Mamdani to leaders of the Democratic Party, with early indications showing they plan to continue doing so as part of their 2026 midterm elections messaging.
“Every Democrat running for office will have to answer for Mamdani’s socialist policies,” a Congressional Leadership Fund email read.
In an ad buy from the National Republican Congressional Committee airing in 49 districts, a voiceover says, “A radical left earthquake just hit America. The epicenter? New York.”
The voiceover continues, “The new socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, built his movement on defunding the police and abolishing ICE. Now the socialists are celebrating. They call it progress. We call it chaos. Bureaucrats instead of doctors. Social workers instead of cops. This is the future House Democrats want, and your city could be next. Stop socialism. Stop Democrats.”
In a press release announcing the ad buy, NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement, “The socialist takeover is complete. Radical socialist Zohran Mamdani’s win is the Democrat Party’s blueprint for America: defund the police, abolish ICE, and replace common sense with chaos. House Democrats own it, and we’ll make sure voters know it.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the most likely New York Republican gubernatorial candidate for 2026, released a statement Wednesday slamming Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) for her endorsement of Mamdani.
“Kathy Hochul’s catastrophic endorsement of the Defund the Police pro-Hamas Mayor has caused a MASSIVE walkout of NYPD officers,” Stefanik wrote. “Kathy Hochul and her endorsed Commie Mamdani are literally destroying New York.”
As the GOP aims to tie other candidates to Mamdani, the party has also begun a push to make him the face of the party.
“Zohran Mamdani is going to be the face of the Democrat Party in the midterms,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) told Fox News Tuesday night.
Lawler is not the only one who has sought to label Mamdani as the leader of the party, and Republicans have intensified their attacks on Mamdani as his popularity rose among New York City voters in the lead-up to the election.
“The new power center of the Left isn’t the moderates; it’s the AOCs and the Bernie Sanders and the Mamdani’s of the party,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) echoed Wednesday morning after Democrats’ sweeping victory across the country.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has called Mamdani the “new leader of the Democratic Party.”
The speaker has continuously referenced House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) sheepish endorsement of Mamdani, calling it a “dangerous ideology” and what is “motivating them” in reference to the government shutdown.
Republicans have previously sought to cast other Democrats as political boogeymen for their base, from former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and, more recently, social media star Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX).
“Republicans have been playing this sort of Whack-a-Mole for so long,” Democratic Operative Jon Reinish told the Washington Examiner. “Nancy Pelosi was the liberal San Francisco hippie Obama, super, super lefty, boogey woman, then it switched to AOC, and Hillary Clinton’s no longer such a focus. Kamala Harris skyrocketed for a minute and then lost terribly.”
Republican political action committees have flooded email inboxes with attacks against Mamdani, calling it “self-sabotage,” as they aim to tie other candidates to his policies.
“Abdul El-Sayed was quick to endorse Zohran Mamdani and has adopted his radical agenda to woo primary voters in his messy race for the Democratic nomination,” National Republican Senatorial Committee Regional press secretary Samantha Cantrell said in one email. “Democrats have anointed Mamdani as their new leader, and voters in battleground states like Michigan will reject the radical, copy-cat Mamdanis like El-Sayed in 2026.”
As of Thursday evening, Mamdani has received just over 50% of the votes that have been counted. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo came in at 41.6%, and Republican Curtis Sliwa received 7.1%. Both Cuomo and Sliwa conceded Tuesday night after the Associated Press called the race.
The Democratic operative leaned into the notion that Mamdani will only serve a small portion of constituents in the U.S., making him a less viable target at the federal level for the GOP.
“Zohran Mamdani is Mayor of New York,” Reinish said. “He ran for Mayor of New York. He is, you know, going to serve in that office for four years. He’s not running for Congress. He’s not running for Senate. He’s not running for anything else that will affect any constituent anywhere else. The only place that I can really see Mamdani’s effect translate out of New York City is in New York state itself. “
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“What last night’s elections did show us is that people care about what happens in their homes and in their backyards,” he added. “Zohran Mamdani is not happening in any home or backyard outside of New York City and its five boroughs.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Mamdani’s team for comment.
