It’s Tuesday, Nov. 4: Election Day 2025. The day began with the death of Dick Cheney and ended with the election of Democrats and Democratic Socialists all over the country.
I grew up in Astoria, Queens — the heart of the NYC Democratic Socialists of America with Tiffany Cabán, Zohran Mamdani and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez as my DSA-endorsed representatives. Ever since the Democratic primary, I had been counting down the months, days and, by 8:59 p.m., the seconds until New York City would elect a Democratic Socialist as our mayor.
At the same time as Zohran Mamdani’s campaign, here in Ithaca, Cornell’s chapter of YDSA was organizing to elect Hannah Shvets ’27 — the youngest successful candidate endorsed by DSA — for Ward 5 Common Council.
This election cycle yielded incredible news for leftists all around the country. In New York City, Mamdani won with over 50 percent of the vote. Kelsea Bond became the first Democratic Socialist to be elected in Atlanta, winning over 64 percent of the vote. It was a victory for Democrats as well, with decisive wins for governors in Virginia and New Jersey, managing to flip a significant number of Republican voters. Here in Ithaca, DSA-endorsed candidates Jorge DeFendini and Hannah Shvets won seats in the Ithaca Common Council.
For the first time, there was something that I was excited to vote for in US politics. As a nine-year-old, I rode the tide of Bernie Sanders enthusiasm, yelling out “Feel the Bern” with my parents at political rallies — the only time I have ever attended them. After that, it was disappointment after disappointment with Trump’s first far-right candidacy and disillusionment over Biden’s support of Israel in its genocide of the Palestinian people. With the Harris and Trump electoral race, my choice was between a center-right and far-right candidate.
Compared to the international political spectrum, United States politics is skewed to the right. Our “left-wing” representatives, the Democratic Party, are, to borrow from folk musician Phill Ochs, “ten degrees to the left of center in good times [and] ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally.” In the first 2024 election debate, Kamala Harris affirmed that she was pro-military, pro-fracking and against gun control. “Radical” Democratic Socialists such as Mamdani, who Republicans have branded as “communist extremists,” base their platform on policies taken for granted in most European countries. Abroad, free public transit, universal childcare and rent freezes are programs of common sense and empathy.
Yet, Mamdani’s victory proved that grassroots organizing can triumph over oligarchy. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign raked in $55 million from a handful of power brokers, calculating to $65 a vote. A large sum went into an Islamophobic smear campaign featuring racist AI-generated ads, including one infamous video depicting an AI-generated Mamdani eating with his hands and a Black man wearing a keffiyeh and shoplifting.
Zohran’s campaign, on the other hand, was powered by over 100,000 unpaid volunteers. Daily, people knocked on doors, called voters and organized within their communities. Every time I went back home, I would spot “Vote for Zohran” messages written on the sidewalk in chalk.
It was the same story for Hannah Shvet’s campaign ever since she narrowly won her primary against landlord and former factory CEO, G.P. Zurenda. After losing to Shvets, Zurenda then proceeded to pull an Andrew Cuomo by running as an independent in the general election. Like Cuomo, a small number of big corporations and property owners paid large sums of money to his campaign. Zurenda averaged $362 per donor while Shvets averaged $15.64 from 448 contributors.
In an interview with me, Shvet’s campaign reported that volunteers knocked on 2,479 houses, registered close to 200 students to vote, tabled outside for weeks, assembled scores of buttons and made 3,670 phone calls. All this was organized by students who have their hands full with classwork in one of the most elite universities in the nation. “I think just being present around campus this month helped a lot,” said Shvets in the interview. “We got to know so many people and told them about the race, how to vote and why it's so important for Cornell students to engage in local politics.”
Hannah Shvets won with a staggering margin of 243 to 134 in an election with historic voter turnout. In NYC, we saw the greatest number of voters in half a century. These elections demonstrate the formidable strength of grassroots organizing. That’s certainly not a new revelation, but it needs to be said. It needs to be yelled out from rooftops and spread from city to city. Most importantly, it needs to continue to ensure that our elected Democratic Socialists can fulfill their promises.
Although I believe that capitalism must ultimately be replaced for true liberation, these electoral wins matter right now. Rent stabilization, free child care and higher minimum wages can alleviate the symptoms of oppression and have the capacity to help millions — indisputably, an incredible victory. “We can mobilize people around these issues,” said Shvets. “Coming to public comment at City Hall, writing letters to Cornell, holding rallies, etc., are all things that go into getting meaningful legislation passed.”
But the fight is not over. The forces of oligarchy and fascism — through real east lobbies, police unions, billionaire donors, AIPAC and conservative media ecosystems — are prepared to smother these victories. They will spend billions to undermine our elected Democratic Socialists, starve them of resources, and then proclaim that “once again, socialism failed.”
This is why the work after election day is even more important. The real power gained from organizing to elect Mamdani, Shvets and many more, is the momentum that comes from learning how to mobilize renters, students and the community. Electoral politics will not guarantee us a new world, but these wins open up a small crack in the current system. And historically, from these cracks slip through revolutions. As Mamdani said in his victory speech, quoting Eugene Debs, “I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.” As the Red Sun Rises on this new dawn, it is up to us to make sure it reaches its zenith in the sky.
Mina Petrova '29 is a Freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences studying English, History, and Government. Her fortnightly column ‘North Star’ studies the past and critiques the present, focusing on politics, protests and activism that strive toward a more equitable future. She can be reached at mpetrova@cornellsun.com.
