Midterms: Can a left-wing course lead the Democrats to success?

The Democrats' leftward course Does the Mamdani effect work in the midterms? As of: October 27, 2026 • 8:59 a.m

Many attribute the Democrats' surge ahead of next week's midterms to a combative left-wing course - like that of New York Mayor Mamdani. But is this a recipe for success for Democrats across the United States?

When Donald Trump was elected to the White House for the second time two years ago, there was a mixture of shock and despair among Democrats for months. In Trump's first year in office, the opposition seemed paralyzed. That only changed a year ago - when the 34-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected as the first Muslim mayor of New York after a rousing election campaign.

Mamdani's charismatic speeches were directed not only against Trump, but also against the despondent Democratic party leadership: "This is the age in which New Yorkers expect their leadership to have a bold vision of what we will achieve. And not a list of excuses for what won't work because we are too afraid."

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Mamdani came across as combative, courageous and authentic - without fear of breaking taboos and tackling hot topics. He used social media perfectly during the election campaign. At the same time, his supporters rang doorbells on almost every door in New York.

But even more important, praises the Democratic politician Blake Ashby from the conservative state of Missouri: Mamdani discovered THE most promising topic for Democrats in the election campaign: "affordability" - in German: the affordability crisis. "The Democratic Party leadership had lost sight of what was important to voters: an economy with good jobs and affordable education, affordable housing." What once defined the Democrats has been neglected in favor of other issues, said Ashby.

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According to Ashby, Mamdani understood that those who can no longer pay their rent or food find debates about threats to democracy remote and abstract. Mamdani was supported in the campaign by two other democratic socialists: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She is considered one of the candidates for the next presidential election. Unlike the Democratic party leaders, the three democratic socialists believe a clear left-wing course is more promising.

This is contradicted by a centrist representative in the Democratic Party: Rahm Emanuel, who was formerly Barack Obama's chief of staff and mayor of Chicago. He is also interested in running for president. Obama's former chief adviser considers the political goals of the democratic socialists, such as rent caps, tax on the rich or significantly fewer police jobs, to be too radical and quixotic: "The agenda of the democratic socialists has no chance anywhere, except perhaps on the Upper West Side of Manhattan."

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The political scientist and party researcher Lane Kenworthy also warns against overestimating the left wing of the party. Mamdani, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez could inspire the left-wing party base. But no left-wing party has ever won an election in a swing-voter state, says Kenworthy: "The socialists run in very left-wing constituencies or states. When they win, it is usually against center-left politicians, not against right-wing politicians."

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Democrats are watching the Senate race in the state of Michigan with particular interest. There, a party leftist, Abdul El-Sayed, could actually win for the first time in a contested swing-voter state. However, his lead in the polls has recently shrunk.

The Democrats have now put their internal party dispute over the direction on hold in the hot phase of the election campaign. But next year at the latest, when presidential candidates warm up for 2028, it could flare up again.

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This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | The Mamdani effect: Is the left-wing course promising for the Democrats? | Oct 26, 2026 | 11:36 a.m