Socialist Candidate Zohran Mamdani Gains Momentum in New York Mayoral Race

Zohran Mamdani, a self-proclaimed socialist and rising star of the far left, is leading the race to become mayor of America’s largest city. Recent polling shows he is ahead of his nearest competitor by double digits. His campaign reflects decades of unchecked radicalism in higher education, according to critics.

Mamdani’s father, Mahmood Mamdani, has spent decades at Columbia University championing Marxist theory and anti-Western ideology from one of the most influential academic platforms in the country. These ideas, once fringe, now fuel political campaigns and shape policy platforms, critics argue.

As a Christian university president, I have observed this trend for years. While many colleges have become breeding grounds for grievance politics and anti-American ideology, faith-based institutions are holding the line by forming students in wisdom, truth, and service. The answer to extremism in higher education is not less education but moral clarity and enduring values.

Backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Mamdani’s platform reads like a manifesto: abolish the police, cancel rent, redistribute wealth, and fundamentally remake New York’s economy and institutions. This is not progressive reform but a blueprint for ideological revolution, sold as compassion and justice.

American higher education, particularly at elite institutions, has drifted from truth and character to grievance and ideology. Instead of forming wise leaders, colleges are producing political radicals poised to take power in the most influential city in the world.

If Mamdani wins, he will set a precedent for other major cities, emboldening a new generation of activist-politicians shaped by critical theory and revolutionary rhetoric. The ideology that captured universities is no longer content to stay there—it governs now.

We need colleges that form citizens, not revolutionaries. We need faculty who challenge students to seek truth, not conform to an ideological script. The time to speak up is now.