Has Mamdani toppled a political empire? – The Financial Daily

Is His Victory a Shift from Duopoly to Multipoly – or the Dawn of a Third Force in US Polity?

By Ambassador Ghulam Rasool Baluch

“Tonight we have toppled a political empire.”

– Zohran Mamdani, on his victory as Mayor of New York City

The words echoed across New York like a thunderclap, reverberating far beyond its skyline. In that single, defiant sentence, Zohran Mamdani – a young, progressive, first-generation American of Ugandan-Indian origin – declared not only his own triumph but perhaps the beginning of a political reckoning in the United States. What was supposed to be another routine Democratic coronation turned into an insurrection against the entrenched duopoly that has dominated American politics for more than two centuries.

A Revolt from Within: Mamdani’s ascent was nothing short of a political upset. Armed with little more than conviction, volunteers, and small donations, he took on the most formidable Democratic machinery in the country and won. His campaign was rooted in the grievances of ordinary New Yorkers – rent freezes, affordable transport, higher taxes for the ultra-rich, and a city administration that puts citizens before corporations.

He turned a mayoral race into a moral crusade. Walking the length of Manhattan from Inwood Hill to Battery Park, greeting workers, students, and immigrants, Mamdani transformed politics from a spectator sport into a shared civic act. The symbolism was powerful: a leader walking alongside the people rather than speaking down to them.

The Democratic Divide: For the Democratic Party, Mamdani’s victory is both vindication and warning. It is vindication for those who believe the party can still speak for the working class – and warning for those who think cosmetic progressivism is enough to sustain voter loyalty. His triumph exposed the widening gulf between the party’s centrist establishment and its insurgent grassroots.

The Democrats’ traditional coalition – labour, minorities, intellectuals, and progressives – has frayed under the pressure of inequality, housing crises, and corporate capture. Mamdani’s victory revives the original spirit of social democracy that animated the New Deal and civil-rights eras. Yet it also forces the party to confront a hard truth: if it remains too comfortable with the privileges of power and too detached from the pains of the people, it risks being overtaken from within.

Republicans: Witnesses to Change: The Republican Party, meanwhile, stands as both spectator and potential casualty. For years it has claimed to champion the “forgotten American,” only to drift toward culture wars and donor-driven populism. Mamdani’s rise demonstrates that economic populism – when separated from xenophobia and cynicism – can energise disillusioned voters far more effectively.

Unless Republicans reinvent their economic narrative beyond tax cuts and corporate favoritism, they may find themselves outflanked not by Democrats, but by a new populism that is neither red nor blue – but genuinely reformist.

Lobbying and the Capture of Democracy: At the heart of this upheaval lies voter exhaustion with the perverting impact of lobbying. Over time, both major parties have become captives of powerful interest groups that bankroll campaigns and shape legislation. Decisions that once stemmed from ideological conviction now emerge from donor spreadsheets.

Mamdani’s campaign was a deliberate rebellion against this system – a throwback to people-powered politics. His victory signals that Americans, long numbed by political advertising and corporate spin, are beginning to reclaim ownership of their democracy. When both parties appear to serve Wall Street more faithfully than Main Street, the search for a third voice becomes inevitable.

The Third Force Question: Is Mamdani the beginning of a third political force? Perhaps. His victory resonates with a growing pattern: local insurgents challenging establishment candidates across America – teachers, nurses, climate activists, and community organisers running on justice-driven platforms.

If these isolated revolts connect into a national current, the United States could be entering an era of political multipoly – where multiple movements compete for legitimacy, reflecting a more plural and participatory democracy. The conditions are ripe: widespread economic anxiety, generational disillusionment, and a public hungry for authenticity over theatrics.

Governing the Empire He Dethroned: Yet toppling an empire is easier than governing its ruins. New York’s governance is a labyrinth of budgets, unions, landlords, and vested interests. Mamdani’s administration will need extraordinary skill to translate moral authority into workable policy. His success or failure will determine whether his victory remains a symbol or becomes a blueprint for a new politics.

Generation Z and the Search for Authentic Leadership: A key undercurrent in Mamdani’s victory is the awakening of Generation Z voters, the youngest and most globally connected cohort in American history. Having grown up amid economic precarity, climate anxiety, and social fragmentation, these voters are no longer swayed by partisan loyalty – they seek purpose, integrity, and relevance. Mamdani’s age, candour, and inclusive style made him a natural magnet for this demographic. He speaks the language of empathy and equity rather than ideology and partisanship. For many young Americans, he stands as a role model of generational leadership – proof that political power can be reclaimed by youth who choose participation over cynicism. His campaign may well become the template for how Generation Z redefines democracy in the digital century.

A Republic at Crossroads: The deeper message of Mamdani’s rise is not about one city or one man; it is about a democracy struggling to renew itself. The American experiment has endured because it periodically disrupts itself – through abolitionists, suffragettes, civil-rights marchers, and now, perhaps, a new wave of economic-justice movements.

When citizens lose faith in representation, democracy decays into oligarchy. Mamdani’s insurgency reminds America that democracy’s lifeblood lies in participation, not passivity.

Conclusion: Zohran Mamdani may not have dismantled a political empire overnight, but he has cracked its marble façade. His victory is a mirror reflecting what millions of Americans quietly feel – that the two-party system has become an echo chamber of privilege and performance.

Whether this moment matures into a third force or fades into another cycle of hope and disappointment will depend on whether the movement he represents outlives the man himself. But for now, one thing is certain: the empire has heard the tremor – and the people have found their voice.