“I am Donald Trump’s worst nightmare, as a progressive Muslim immigrant.”- incoming NYC Mayor Mamdani
The Democrats made a clean sweep of the 2025 election, in Georgia and nationally. Among the other election wins were victories in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.
If Democrats want to win Georgia and swing states in 2026 and 2028, they must motivate -a. their base to vote and b. get independents to go blue. As a long-time Georgia political observer, it is not surprising that some ideologically biased national pundits are misinterpreting the NYC results, using their opinions to create a false prism through which this win is viewed. I would hope the state Democratic party would be wiser than that.
As a New York native who moved to rural Georgia in high school, I can guarantee you that NYC is not representative of Georgia or the rest of the nation. NYC has always had a heavy immigrant population, including my father and all 4 of my grandparents. It is very liberal, plus ethnically and racially diverse. The Big Apple ain’t Kansas (or Georgia), Dorothy.
NYC Mayor elect Zohran Mamdani did win. But barely- as opposed to the election earthquake that his national left-wing supporters would have you believe. He received the votes of just 50% of men and 51% of women.
He had weak opponents with baggage. Disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo ran as an Independent. The GOP candidate was anti-crime crusader Curtis Sliwa, who failed to make child support payments, was successfully sued and lost in 2021. So did other GOP candidates, going back two decades. Democrats beat all of them, with none of the last three even getting a third of the votes cast ( https://www.city-journal.org/article/new-york-city-republican-mayors-curtis-sliwa ).
Based on CNN exit polls, NYC’s election results become even more underwhelming (https://www.cnn.com/election/2025/exit-polls/new-york-city/general/mayor/0 ). Even with his baggage, Cuomo got 47% of the total white vote, while Mamdani received only 45%. But Mamdani got 65% of the Asian and 60% of the black male vote. These are not determining factors in any national election but are vitally important in NYC.
The results are even more telling when it comes to the religious factor. Mamdani lost every religious group voting except “other”, which includes Muslims, 9% of NYC’s residents (https://halalbooking.com/en-us/blog/new-york-the-melting-pot-of-cultures-and-experiences ). Current estimates vary, but some sources believe that there are now 1 million Muslims in NYC.
Specifically, Mamdani received 31% of Jews, 33% of Catholics, and 44% of Protestants. However, he won “other religious affiliation” by 72% (and “no religious affiliation” by 75%). In other words, the fact that NYC has more Muslims than any other USA city, and lots of agnostics/atheists versus nation, had a major impact on that election. As analyzed by a Muslim reporter ( https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/11/mayor-zohran-mamdani-beats-andrew-cuomo-brings-new-hope-to-new-york.html ).
Tellingly, less than two-thirds of the NYC residents who voted for VP Harris in the 2024 presidential election backed Mamdani ( https://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-11-05/who-voted-for-mamdani-the-new-york-election-in-seven-charts.html ).
The last Georgia election must be looked upon as much more of a bellwether event for Democrats nationally versus NYC. As a state, Georgia is a bit more conservative, with 38% identifying as conservative versus 34% nationally. But has about double the percentage of black voters ( https://prri.org/spotlight/the-2024-presidential-battleground-inside-georgia/ ).
Both Democrats running for the Georgia Public Service Commission (which regulates utility rates) won election, the first Democrats to win election to a state post in decades. They won here by emphasizing household issues. In this case, the fact that Georgia Power bills had increased dramatically with 6 rate increases in 2 years.
Voters will put their perception of who is in their corner over political party every time. That is why we ended up with Trump versus Harris, who memorably declared on the View that she would do nothing different than Biden, even though inflation was destroying the buying power of America’s blue-collar workers, including black and Latino men who failed to back her.
The bottom line for the Democratic Party here and in swing states is clear. Zero-in on realistic approaches to controlling inflation, increasing take home income and job creation. Don’t get labeled as “woke”…at least until after you get in office.
Note: This is an opinion article as designated by the the category placement on this website. It is not news coverage. If this disclaimer is funny to you, it isn’t aimed at you — but some of your friends and neighbors honestly have trouble telling the difference.
Jack Bernard
Jack Bernard is the former Director of health Planning for Georgia. He was also Chair of the Jasper County Commission and Republican Party. He is now an active Democrat.
