Socialist Shockwave: How Mamdani Shook New York Politics

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary

Episode: Socialist Shockwave: How Mamdani Shook New York Politics
Release Date: July 3, 2025
Hosts: John Bickley and Georgia Howe
Guest: Ryan Gardusky, Host of It's a Numbers Game Podcast

---

Introduction

In this special edition of Morning Wire, Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and co-host Georgia Howe delve into the seismic shifts within the Democratic Party following a surprising primary election outcome in New York City. The episode, titled "Socialist Shockwave: How Mamdani Shook New York Politics," features an in-depth conversation with Ryan Gardusky, host of the It's a Numbers Game podcast, to analyze the implications of Zoran Mamdani's unexpected victory over the establishment frontrunner.

---

Primary Election Shockwave: Overview

John Bickley opens the discussion by highlighting the recent Democratic primary in New York City, where Zoran Mamdani, a radical socialist candidate, triumphed over the traditional establishment favorite. This outcome has sparked intense debate within the Democratic Party about its future direction: whether it will fully embrace its far-left faction or attempt to steer back towards the center.

---

Demographic Shifts Within the Democratic Party

Ryan Gardusky provides a comprehensive analysis of the demographic changes influencing the Democratic Party's current landscape. He emphasizes that the primary results are highly specific to New York City and may not universally represent the national Democratic base. However, Gardusky notes significant trends that could have broader implications:

• Voter Registration Trends: From February 2024 to February 2025, Republicans have seen an influx of new voters in Staten Island, the Bronx, and Queens. Notably, Donald Trump garnered over 35% of the vote in Queens County and 25% in the Bronx—remarkable numbers for a Republican without substantial ground support (Gardusky, 04:00).

• Urban vs. Suburban Dynamics: In urban centers with high-density populations and strong organizational structures, progressive candidates like Mamdani thrive. Conversely, suburban areas are witnessing a rise in Republican alignment, particularly among residents outside Manhattan's immediate vicinity (Gardusky, 03:30).

• Influence of College-Educated Millennials and Gen Z: These demographics form a substantial part of the Democratic base, often correlating with white college-educated liberals who support more radical policies (Gardusky, 05:30).

• Identity Politics: Gardusky highlights the growing influence of identity-driven politics, particularly among black women and specific immigrant communities. He asserts, "Black women are a major part of that. And certain immigrant groups... demand ethnic representation proportional to their demographics" (Gardusky, 07:10).

---

Impact on Democratic Leadership and Future Elections

The discussion shifts to the reactions from traditional Democratic figures and the potential ramifications for party leadership:

• Endorsements and Rejections: While former President Bill Clinton publicly congratulated Mamdani, there is a noticeable lack of enthusiastic support from key Democratic leaders like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. In fact, many within the establishment view Mamdani's victory as a destabilizing force, potentially leading to the "primaried out" of entrenched figures (Gardusky, 09:15).

• Future of Democratic Politicians: Leaders such as Schumer, Jeffries, and Governor Eric Adams face increasing pressure and potential challenges from the party's progressive wing. Gardusky warns of a looming crisis, comparing the progressive surge to "demonic" forces that could overwhelm the existing political structure (Gardusky, 10:45).

• General Election Implications: With both Cuomo and Adams running as independents, the Democratic Party faces uncertainty in consolidating its base for the general election. Gardusky speculates on strategic maneuvers, including possible withdrawals or realignments, to counter Mamdani's influence (Gardusky, 10:16).

---

Splintering of the Democratic Party

In addressing the broader state of the Democratic Party, Gardusky characterizes the current scenario as a "splintering" rather than a rebirth or death throes. Key points include:

• Voter Behavior: The most active and frequently voting segments are a minority that heavily leans progressive. In contrast, the majority—comprising less college-educated and less active voters—tends to align with Republican policies but remains disengaged from the political process (Gardusky, 11:50).

• Midterm Election Outlook: Gardusky predicts that the 2026 midterms will reflect this divide, with organized efforts on the Republican side to mobilize the less active voter base being crucial for countering the progressive minority's influence (Gardusky, 12:10).

• Party Strategy: The Democratic Party must navigate catering to its progressive base while attempting to engage the broader, less active majority. Gardusky likens this to the superficial appeasement seen during events like the BLM riots, suggesting that the party's current approach may prove unsustainable (Gardusky, 12:50).

---

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a reflection on the significant challenges facing the Democratic Party in reconciling its progressive wing with traditional leadership structures. The unexpected primary victory of Zoran Mamdani serves as a catalyst for ongoing debates about the party's identity and strategic direction. As Morning Wire wraps up, listeners are left contemplating the future trajectory of the Democratic Party amidst these transformative dynamics.

---

Notable Quotes:

• "Republicans have registered more new voters than Democrats in three of New York's five boroughs..."
  — Ryan Gardusky (04:00)

• "Black women are a major part of that. And certain immigrant groups... demand ethnic representation of a proportional ethnic representation."
  — Ryan Gardusky (07:10)

• "The party has changed on its face because the amount of people that were there even four years ago... have become independent or Republican."
  — Ryan Gardusky (05:00)

• "What we're seeing in the Democratic Party is kind of like the BLM riots where they would put signs in front of their stores saying don't smash the store black female business owner."
  — Ryan Gardusky (12:50)

---

This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from the episode, providing listeners and non-listeners alike with a clear understanding of the current tensions and future prospects within the Democratic Party as analyzed by Ryan Gardusky.

Transcript

[John Bickley]

The Democratic Party finds itself even further divided following a shock primary in New York City last week that saw a radical socialist candidate wipe the floor with the establishment frontrunner. Will the party fully embrace its far left wing as embodied by Zoran Mamdani, or attempt to reverse course?

[Georgia Howe]

In this episode, we sit down with Ryan Gardusky, host of the It's a Numbers Game podcast, to discuss what the New York election says about the state of the Democratic Party and where it goes from here. Here I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Thursday, July 3rd, and this is a special edition of Morning Wire.

[Ryan Gardusky]

Life doesn't happen bi weekly, so why should Payday, the money you earn, can be in your hands today with earnnnin. Earnin is an app that provides early access to your earned wages, allowing you to withdraw up to $150 per day with a max of $750 between paydays. After downloading the app and verifying your paycheck, you can access your earnings as you work and choose to leave an optional tip. Imagine a night out with friends two days before payday. If you're a little short, Earnin's got you. Download Earnin today, spelled E A R N I N in the Google Play or Apple App Store. When you download the Earn in app, type in Morningwire under Podcast where you sign up. It'll really help the show. That's Morning Wire under Podcast. Earn in is a financial technology company, not a bank. Cashouts are based on your available earnings. Standard cashouts take one to two business days with no mandatory fees option to expedite your transfer for a fee. Tips are voluntary and do not affect the service. See Cashout User Agreements for details. Service not available in all states.

[Georgia Howe]

Joining us now to discuss the state of the Democratic Party following the recent bombshell primary in New York is Ryan Gardusky, host of the It's a Numbers Game podcast. Ryan, thanks for coming on.

[Ryan Gardusky]

Thank you for having me.

[Georgia Howe]

Now we've begun to see some fallout among Democrats over Mamdani's win last week. Some are touting him as the model for how they should run. Others say he could be leading the party off the cliff. Is his brand of politics the future of the party?

[Ryan Gardusky]

So I think we have to just take a step back and look at New York City, right? Because it's very specific to New York. He didn't get a majority, right? So I don't know if in a head to head combat he could have won if there was one person and he was challenging a very problematic figure being Andrew Cuomo who had to resign in disgrace. And he was not considered an ally of progressives and a lot of other people didn't like him because of the COVID response. Had he faced a woman named like Catherine Garcia, I don't know if he would have had the same level of trash action. But if you look at New York in the Last year from 2024, February 2024 to February 2025, Republicans have registered more new voters than Democrats in three of New York's five boroughs in Staten island, the Bronx and Queens there is an increasing number of people who live without of like a 5 mile radius or 8 mile radius of Manhattan who are aligning themselves increasing with the Republican Party. You know Donald Trump got over 35% in Queens county, he got 35% citywide, he got close to 25% in the Bronx. These are astronomical numbers for a Republican, especially a Republican that had no support as far as a ground game or commercials or anything. It is completely organic and it is really happening. So who then in the two boroughs that were Democrats are registering more new voters than Republicans who are still registering Democrats? It's people who see aoc, who have seen Bernie Sanders, who have seen these kinds of identity based neo Marxists and saying this is my kind of party. So the party has changed on its face because the amount of people that were there even four years ago, let alone eight years ago, that could outnumber far left progressives have either moved, died or become independent Republican and the new registered voters have outnumbered them. That is the recipe for a lot of parts of our country. Is it everywhere? I don't know. There's parts of New Mexico that New Mexico is all Democrats. There's parts of Nevada, there's other parts where a centrist can win, lots of parts of Illinois. But in these urban areas where organization, especially around high propensity voting, college educated, mostly white, uber progressives, when they can coalesce, they vote like it is their religion, mostly because they don't have one. So and also these districts, these areas are become sponges. If you have purple hair and 36 genders and you don't know if you're a boy or a girl, why would you stay in Long island for? Why would you stay in Tennessee? Why would you stay in Ohio? You come to New York, you come to Chicago, you come to Boston, you come to places with these like minded people who all look like creatures of the night together. That is where these places may elect more of Those kinds of people, it's not everywhere. But where these people are surging in population, you are seeing it. And then one other point where you're seeing high densities of ethnic minorities who it's not like you have like a black neighbor or an Asian neighbor. And they, we are all basically alike because you have all assimilated into one culture when it's 99% Arab, 99% Chinese, whatever the case is, that demands ethnic representation of a proportional ethnic representation. So because we have mass immigration still, even under Trump, but especially under Biden, more demographics as they become more minorities, as they become more politically active, will demand elected officials cater to them. Now that could be a good thing in some capacity, but when you're doing it come solely based on left wing identitarian politics, you will almost surely get people who are more like Ilhan Omar and AOC and Cori Bush and all the rest of them. That's where you're likely to see that growth from.

[Georgia Howe]

What did we learn in New York about the demographics within the Democratic Party that are most heavily endorsing this more radical branch of it?

[Ryan Gardusky]

Certainly people who are college educated millennials and Gen Zers. That is definitely a very large part of the base. It is often correlated that it is among, you know, white college educated liberals. And that's definitely true for a lot of part of them. A big part of it's also black women. Black women are increasingly identity driven, far left radicals. Look at the cast of msnbc, none of them can read. And it doesn't matter because they're driving on identity basis and everything is about how to drive that. Like it has to be for a woman, has to be for a black woman. Over and over and over and over and over. And all the causes and all the cancer society are because of whiteness. Black women are a major part of that. And certain immigrant groups, certain recent immigrant groups, you know, we paint the pan of like just saying the words like Hispanic or whatever. But within the microcosm of Hispanic neighborhoods, we've seen Puerto Ricans are much more susceptible to socialist candidates than Venezuelans or Dominicans. So there are certain pockets in different ethnicity groups that have been more appealing to, to, to, to democratic socialism. The three groups that are the most prone to not only supporting Democrats, but supporting Democratic socialists would be white progressives, black women and Southeast Asian immigrants, specifically Pakistanis, Bangladeshis. Those communities are very far left, very hard left. And the children of those people usually assimilate very well because they all go to college, but they assimilate to, you know, part of my French but shitlib behavior. And that is where they're going to now.

[Georgia Howe]

Former President Bill Clinton, who's a traditional moderate Democrat, he congratulated Mandani and said he hopes he'll bring New Yorkers together and he shape a stronger, fairer future, etc. Are we seeing more endorsements like this for this radical wing or are there more, you know, sort of rejections of him publicly?

[Ryan Gardusky]

Bill Clinton also said his last public appearance for a campaign thing was going to be the Kamala Harris, you know, convention. So I don't know who wrote this. Maybe some assistant did. I don't know if Bill Clinton's on Twitter very much at almost 80 years old. If you look at who has made announcement, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries did not do a big giant hug. The Democrats out on Long island openly said this was a mistake. Look at the center powers of Democratic politics in the United States. They're all urban. Chuck Schumer lives in New York City. Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi represented in San Francisco. It's areas like Baltimore, it's area. The senator who's now retiring, Dick Durbin lived in Chicago. They're all going to be primaried out of this machine. And there used to be parameters that kept them in power. The black vote, unions, senior citizens, certain Jewish coalitions, those are becoming one, less powerful and two, less organized. And the population centers, as I said before, that are sponging together. The most progressive activists who would otherwise live in a place like Kentucky are their, their numbers are being dwindled and they thought that it was a manageable. But if he, if the mayor of New York City is, is Mandani. Chuck Schumer is looking at the end of his political career. Hakeem Jeffries is looking at being challenged. The governor is looking at being challenged. They're all sitting there saying, you know, it's like, it's like the movie Gremlin when they look cute when there's just one of them. But when, when they're in water and eating at night and there's a thousands of them and they're demonic, you have a real issue on your hands. And there's, it's, they are an unquenchable, they have an unquestionable, quenchable appetite for socialism, there's no end point in their mind. So I think that they're genuinely worried and I think that there would they. There's definitely Democratic politicians and political operatives and donors behind the scenes as of right now saying, how do we either get Cuomo or Eric Adams to run the general and how do we stop this guy now?

[John Bickley]

So what happens next as it relates to the general election? What's going to happen with, say, Adams and Cuomo?

[Ryan Gardusky]

So Cuomo is on the ballot in the General, so is Eric Adams. If either one of them announced that they are moving out of state, they can give up their line. Same thing with Curtis Lewis. And the party then can nominate somebody else. Although because Adams and Cuomo are both running as independents, there is no party to take over. Sleepwa would have to sit there and move out of state for that to happen. Eric Adams allegedly lives out of state already. Let's look at to see if any of them sit there and say, I'm bowing out of this. I'm going to go to my place in Florida or New Jersey for a while. Let's see what money starts rolling in on the Stop Zandani thing. I mean, the Stopman Donnie movement. And let's see if there's any Democratic power players, not elected officials, but unions, organizers, religious people, especially within the black church or the Hispanic church that are saying, let's stop this train right now. And they start organizing around it. Once you see one, a few dominoes fall, they will all fall together. The people who are making these phone calls behind the scenes, I will say they're not worried about Bill Clinton. They're worried about the future, not the past.

[Georgia Howe]

Final question. We recently talked to Brent Buchanan from Signal Polling. He gave us a sense of approval ratings for Democrats. They're not good, historically bad. There's been a lot of talk about whether or not this is sort of the death throes of the Democratic Party. Maybe that's overstated. What do you think we're witnessing here right now? Is this the, like, rebirth, rebranding of a party or the death of a party?

[Ryan Gardusky]

Well, I think it's absolutely the splintering of a party. And it bodes for the 2026 midterm elections, Andrew Cuomo won more assembly district. There are 65 assembly districts in New York City. The ultra or progressive, mostly white areas that surround Manhattan gave Mandani 33% of his votes. There's only 10 assembly districts. There's 65. So 14% of the of the population gave 33% of the vote total to Mandani. Those people who vote frequently, vote often, vote all the time. They are not the majority of this country in any way, but they vote the most frequently. And going into the 2026 midterms the working class, the less college educated, the less active, who are increasingly Republican, are not as energized to vote. It's just not part of and that's the way they've always been. If I was a Republican right now and they had unlimited monies, what they should be doing right now is organizing to somehow figure out how to get non college educated, no high school degree people out to vote early. It is the most essential thing is the only way to counter this very active, very strong minority of the population, but a majority of the voting base. And that is what we're going to see around the entire Democratic party is how they can sit there and cater to them. What we're seeing in the Democratic Party is kind of like the BLM riots where they would put signs in front of their stores saying don't smash the store black female business owner. One by one all these politicians will say, don't smash this politician. I salute, you know, Lenin, whatever the case is, that's going to be much of what we see.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, as we said, a really bombshell primary last week that's really opened a lot of people's eyes about the direction of the Democratic Party. Thanks so much for coming on, Ryan.

[Ryan Gardusky]

Thank you so much.

[Georgia Howe]

That was Ryan Gusky and this has been a special edition of Morning Wire.

[Ryan Gardusky]

If your razor company celebrates every country except America, it's time to switch to Jeremy's razors. Five stainless steel blades that destroy stubble and corporate pandering. A precision trimmer for clean lines and tight corners, and a lubricating aloe strip. Plus, don't forget about Jeremy's hair and body care essentials made without sulfates or parabens. In honor of this Independence Day, you can restore your daily ritual to its former glory. For 25% off, head over to jeremyrazors.com again. That's jeremyrazors.com today. Is your home's title still in your name? With one forged document, scammers can steal your home title and equity. But now you can protect yourself. Home title locks at million dollar triple lock protection provides 24, seven title monitoring, urgent alerts to changes. And if fraud happens, they'll spend up to a million dollars to fix it and restore your title. Use promo code [e-mail] for a free title history report plus a free 14 day trial of their million dollar triple lock protection. Head over to hometitlelock.com now with promo code Daily Wire to ensure your title is still in your name.