Mamdani says Democrats must keep their “foot on the gas” after midterm victories

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — one of the most influential members of the Democratic Party’s leftward flank — said Wednesday that “this country has elected a new generation of leadership” in the midterms, and the left must now keep its “foot on the gas.” 

“Going through yesterday evening, it’s a realization that it’s a new dawn in America,” Mamdani told reporters.

Mamdani suggested that Democrats’ decisive wins in the House and Senate mean the party “can go from being on the defensive to being on the offensive.”

“The defensive means trying to prevent as many New Yorkers as possible from losing their SNAP benefits or losing their health insurance,” Mamdani said, taking aim at the Republican-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut back some of those programs. 

“The offensive is delivering to make life more affordable for them,” continued Mamdani, whose platform is centered on lowering costs for New Yorkers.

Democrats last won a majority in the Senate in 2022. This time around, the party has flipped at least seven Republican-held seats, some of which are in deep-red territory. The party also flipped dozens of House districts.

“We have to use that power to deliver change that Americans can feel in their wallets,” the mayor said.

Mamdani, who rose to the national spotlight through his mayoral campaign in 2025, flexed his influence in the primaries by endorsing three progressive House candidates in deep-blue New York City districts. All three — Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier — won their respective races on Tuesday. Lander and Avila Chevalier will unseat incumbent Democrats whom they defeated in the primaries. 

Valdez and Avila Chevalier are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, along with Mamdani, who said he “can’t wait to count on them as partners for our affordability agenda at the federal level.”

Two fellow New Yorkers who don’t hail from the Democratic Party’s progressive wing could play an outsized role in Congress starting next year: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who are seeking to lead their respective chambers come January.

On Wednesday, Jeffries announced his candidacy for speaker of the House, while Schumer told reporters on the same day that he believes he will be elected as Senate majority leader.

“I think that having leaders in Washington be from our city and of our city is of incredible importance to our city,” Mamdani said. 

“Because for them, the struggles of New Yorkers are not intellectual concerns or ones that are being mediated through the prism of media or politics. It is one that they experience and hear from their constituents about every single day.”

Mamdani said he spoke with Jeffries to congratulate him on the victories across the board and added that the two “have a good working relationship.”