How Bernie Sanders laid the groundwork for a democratic socialist mayor in New York

“It was Bernie’s campaign for the presidency in 2016 that gave me the language of democratic socialism to describe my politics,” Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayor-elect, has said.

Then New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, right, hugs Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., before speaking during a rally, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in New York. Photo by AP/Heather Khalifa

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“He said when he was running to be the mayor of Burlington, that Burlington is not for sale,” Mamdani told a stadium of thousands of supporters at a rally Oct. 26 featuring Sanders as a headline speaker. “It continues to be the rallying cry for working-class people across this country, and for us, it’s that New York City is not for sale.”

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In an interview following Tuesday night’s election, Sanders said he sees the 34-year-old Mamdani, and other young elected progressive Democrats, such as New York’s Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as the future of a political movement for which he’s long been the standard-bearer.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, then New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, center, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., appear on stage during a rally, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in New York. Photo by AP/ Heather Khalifa

A Mamdani campaign video released in September intersperses clips of the mayor-elect talking to voters on the campaign trail with footage of Sanders interviewing Burlington residents when he was the city’s mayor. At the time, Sanders created a cable-access television program, called “Bernie Speaks with the Community,” that he used to make the case for some of his signature progressive proposals, including income tax reform.

There’s a clear line between Mamdani’s social media-centric campaign — which relied heavily, and effectively, on video to explain his campaign promises and connect with younger voters — and Sanders’ efforts, early in his own political career in Vermont, to build out messaging networks that don’t pass through the filter of traditional media.

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https://vtdigger.org/2025/11/09/how-bernie-sanders-laid-the-groundwork-for-a-democratic-socialist-mayor-in-new-york/