Last Tuesday, Zohran Mamdani, a member of Democratic Socialists of America, won the Democratic nomination for Mayor of New York City. This sent shock waves through some parts of the Democratic establishment, but I would argue that it shouldn’t have.

The success of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has spent 34 years combined in the US House and then Senate, and four-term congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demonstrated that DSA members can gain traction and build careers within the Democratic Party.

It should also be noted that Andrew Cuomo was a singularly unappealing candidate, who had left office under a cloud of suspicion around allegations of sexual harassment as well as of hounding his accusers. It’s possible that a centrist Democrat with fewer negatives, and more grassroots support, could have bested Mamdani.

Both candidates were focused on ideas to improve the standard of living of New Yorkers, especially in terms of affordable housing. Cuomo proposes building 500,000 housing units; Mamdani supports freezing increases in rent-controlled apartments. Both are interested in improving policing, with Cuomo proposing additional funding for police and Mamdani proposing creating a department of public safety, so that police would not have to do work better done by social workers. (This plan should sound familiar to Burqueños.)

For me, what the Mamdani victory shows is that the Democratic Party should focus on its core values, helping the middle class get ahead, helping the working class earn a living wage and make it into the middle class. Some opposed Mamdani because he proposes a 2% tax increase for earnings over a million dollars a year. But for me, this is completely in alignment with the goals of the broader Democratic Party. To provide the services that people need, to have a just society requires investment, and it’s only fair that the people who have built vast incomes on top of the services and infrastructure that governments have provided, should pay their fair share. They can afford it, and they should want to live in a city surrounded by people living in affordable homes and working at jobs that pay a livable wage.

These are the values of the Democratic Party as a whole; not only of the DSA wing of it. The candidates who can make the best case for lifting up the working and middle class will be the ones who win, and who should win. They are guiding us to the core of our party and our purpose.

This is my last week as editor of Blue Review. I have appreciated having the opportunity to be editor during the past year. I will be moving on to new challenges with a couple of educational non-profits and looking for new ways to promote Democratic principles.