New York City's newly elected socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani is moving swiftly to consolidate far-left control by endorsing fellow Democratic Socialists of America member Diana Moreno for his vacated Queens Assembly seat, signaling the organization's aggressive strategy to expand its power base and directly challenge the city's Democratic establishment with an affordability agenda that fiscal conservatives warn will accelerate New York's economic decline.
Mamdani, who shocked the political establishment by defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary and subsequently winning the November general election with 51 percent of the vote, formally endorsed Moreno at a December 20th rally in Astoria—the heart of what activists playfully call "The People's Republic of Astoria." Moreno, a former co-chair of Queens DSA who previously served as deputy director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment and communications director for the New York State Nurses Association, was the only candidate to apply for DSA's endorsement and received it easily, positioning her as the frontrunner to represent the 36th Assembly district.
"Since Zohran's primary win in June, Democratic Socialism has soared in popularity here and across the nation. Our movement is only getting started—we will be fighting every day to win Zohran's affordability agenda and build a city for the working class."
The endorsement represents far more than a routine succession—it demonstrates DSA's calculated strategy to maintain and expand its foothold in Queens, where the organization already counts several elected officials including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Council Member Tiffany Caban, and State Senator Kristen Gonzalez. Mamdani's mayoral victory emboldened the socialist movement, which now sees opportunities to place DSA members in up to seven Assembly seats and two congressional seats in upcoming elections. The organization operates less like a traditional advocacy group and more like a party surrogate, recruiting candidates, staffing campaigns, shaping policy platforms, and organizing massive volunteer operations.
Moreno faces competition from Rana Abdelhamid, a local Muslim community organizer with ties to Representative Rashida Tlaib, and Mary Jobaida, who previously ran for Assembly in a neighboring district and can likely count on support from the growing Bangladeshi population. However, Moreno's DSA endorsement and Mamdani's backing position her as the clear favorite in a district that has become synonymous with socialist activism. The only complication involves a February 3rd special election to fill out Mamdani's remaining term, where the Queens Democratic Party will select the nominee—and the county machine is unlikely to choose a DSA activist, potentially forcing Moreno to wait until the June primary to challenge whoever wins the special election.
Mamdani campaigned on an affordability-focused platform supporting fare-free city buses, universal public childcare, city-owned grocery stores, rent freezes on rent-stabilized units, additional affordable housing, and a $30 minimum wage by 2030—policies that fiscal conservatives argue will drive businesses from the city, increase tax burdens on productive residents, and expand government control over private enterprise. His victory with over two million voters casting ballots represented the biggest turnout in a mayoral race in over 50 years, suggesting that economic anxiety and frustration with establishment Democrats has created openings for socialist messaging.
The consolidation of DSA power in Queens and Mamdani's mayoral victory represent a troubling shift leftward for America's largest city, already struggling with high costs, business exodus, and quality-of-life decline. The socialist agenda of rent freezes, fare-free transit, city-owned enterprises, and dramatically higher minimum wages sounds appealing to voters facing affordability challenges but ignores basic economic realities about how price controls create shortages, how government-run businesses operate inefficiently, and how mandated wage increases eliminate entry-level opportunities while accelerating automation. European-style social democracy that DSA advocates point to as models require vastly different economic structures, cultural norms, and tax burdens that most Americans would reject if honestly presented. Yet Mamdani and his DSA allies have successfully marketed socialism to young voters and economically anxious New Yorkers by promising free services without explaining the costs, controls, and consequences. The movement's expansion beyond Astoria into additional Queens districts and potentially citywide represents a concerning trajectory for New York's future, as socialist policies that failed in Venezuela, destroyed prosperity in Nordic countries before market reforms reversed course, and collapsed the Soviet Union somehow find renewed appeal among a generation that never experienced socialism's inevitable results.