This is a guest post on the New York City Mayoral Elections. Guest posts do not necessarily reflect the politics of positions of Left Voice. Left Voice encourages more submissions to use our pages as a place of debate for the broader left. Left Voice member Carmin Maffea wrote on the mayoral election, which you can read here.

*

Zohran Mamdani’s recent comments about Israel’s “right to exist” have sparked outrage among New York City’s pro-Palestinian base, and rightfully so. That sentiment has often been used to justify and shield Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, where over 62,000 have been killed by Israeli forces, prompting international arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. As students at the City University of New York (CUNY), we’ve faced state-sanctioned violence simply for demanding divestment from the apartheid state of Israel — just as students once did during the South African anti-apartheid movement. Having been physically attacked by the NYPD at the City College of New York encampment, and by anti-Palestinian protesters at various actions, I know too well what repression looks like. 

Palestinian organizing is already met with surveillance, intimidation, and state repression — and a Cuomo administration would escalate an already dangerous landscape. That is why — even in disappointment — I am still voting for Zohran Mamdani; not because I believe he is perfect, but because I am choosing leverage over purity in a moment that demands this strategy.

As former governor of New York, Cuomo signed an executive order that directed state agencies to divest from entities supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, a move that was heavily criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union. Last year, Cuomo joined the legal defense team of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in the genocide in Gaza. 

Cuomo’s conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism isn’t just dishonest — it weakens real efforts to fight antisemitic hate in this country. And his McCarthyist rhetoric towards higher education, vowing to hold colleges “accountable” for professors’ speech and student organizing, will only further education censorship and state surveillance on our campuses.

Meanwhile, Mamdani, a supporter of the BDS campaign, has consistently made a clear distinction between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israeli policy — championing Palestinian rights and affirming that opposing apartheid is not the same as opposing Jewish people. He has stated that, if elected mayor, he would arrest Netanyahu upon entry into New York City in accordance with the ICC’s warrant — standing firmly on the side of international law and human rights. As a State Assemblyman, Mamdani introduced the “Not on Our Dime” bill, the first legislation of its kind in New York, which would prohibit charitable organizations from funneling tax-deductible donations to Israeli settler violence and illegal occupation. 

The Left continues to struggle with purity politics and ideological gatekeeping, eating itself from within while both fascism and the pro-Israel lobby grows. As Presidential nominee Kamala Harris stood unwavering in her support for Israel, the Left failed to unite behind a single alternative. Infighting and fragmentation among candidates like the Green Party’s Jill Stein, the PSL’s Claudia De La Cruz, and the Justice for All Party’s Cornel West — combined with their inability to form a unified front — ultimately created conditions that led to Trump’s victory.

We saw in November where internal division takes us. And now, with ranked-choice voting at our disposal, we cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes. The truth is, the pro-Israel lobby doesn’t need to win against us — we’re doing a damn good job of losing to ourselves.

With a city budget of over $100 billion, the next mayor will determine whether we fund initiatives for public good, or uphold systems that empower landlords, over-policing, corporate greed, and anti-Palestinian repression. Mamdani’s ideas — like fare-free transit, universal childcare, taxing the top 1 percent, increasing the minimum wage, social housing, and more — reflect a vision rooted in collective liberation. As organizers, we must continue to hold him accountable, while also recognizing that voting is a tool for harm reduction, and doesn’t necessarily equate hero worship. We shouldn’t “believe” in candidates, but in the transformative power of the ideas they help advance.

In a moment when genocide is normalized, dissent is criminalized, and fascists are continuing to gain ground, we cannot afford to sit elections out or tear each other apart over imperfection. The stakes are too high, and a Cuomo alternative is far too dangerous.

Rank Zohran Mamdani not because he’s flawless, but because his campaign is the clearest option we have right now to shift power back to the people, advance bold, socially progressive ideas, and protect the political space we need to organize, resist, and win in New York City.