Mansoor’s Musings: Mamdani win heralds new political era

By Mansoor Ladha on November 19, 2025.

Three cheers to Zohran Mamdani for toppling a political dynasty to become the mayor-elect of New York. Mamdani’s decisive victory in the mayoral race broke records in more ways than one.

For a long time, the working people of New York have been neglected politically by the wealthy and well-connected. New York voters elected a servant of the people to lead them. Seventy percent of voters between 18 and 44 cast their ballots for Mamdani. More than two million votes, the most since 1969, were cast.

Branded as “communist lunatic” by President Trump, Mamdani, was idolized by New Yorkers like no candidate since Barack Obama, who was so impressed with him that he even offered his counsel.

Mamdani’s win, which is a severe blow to Trump and his gang in the Republican Party, constantly trumpeting an anti-immigrant agenda, has had a ripple effect in other U.S. states where Democrats won their gubernatorial races in Virginia, New Jersey and California. Abigail Spanberger will become Virginia’s first female governor and Mikie Sherrill New Jersey’s first female Democratic governor. Democrat Ghazala Hashmi, an educator, is the lieutenant governor-elect of Virginia.

In his victory speech, Mamdani proudly announced that “New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant. So, hear me, President Trump, when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”

Apart from being an immigrant born in Uganda, Mamdani is also a Muslim and a South Asian in a white majority country. – a testimony to both the candidate and the voters, reflecting the diversity and maturity of the electorate.

His agenda includes freezing the rents for more than two million rent-stabilized tenants, making buses fast and free, and delivering universal childcare across the city. He promised to stand up for “whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many Black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall. Your struggle is ours, too.”

While all this was happening in Trumpland, “Tariff Trump” is upset with Canada because of the ads run by the Ontario government. We shouldn’t be surprised at his reaction. He would have found something else to enrage him anyway. Trump’s outrage is his latest ploy to sabotage any progress made by the Canadian negotiating team.

Those who are blaming Prime Minister Mark Carney for approving the ads before they ran are forgetting that Ontario’s Doug Ford is known for doing what he wants, and Carney’s objections wouldn’t have mattered. The ads were aimed at educating the American public about what their shameful president was doing to the country’s long-standing friend, trading partner and neighbour.

Canadian premiers are used to acting unilaterally, without consulting the federal government; we have classic examples of Alberta’s Danielle Smith singly dealing with U.S. officials – and now B.C. Premier David Eby says he’s not backing down from his province’s planned anti-tariff ads that will run in the U.S. Like Dough Ford, Eby maintains that Americans must hear tariffs raise prices.

There are no guarantees the President won’t rip up a trade deal in a fit of annoyance about some imagined offence. Canada is the only G7 country that has yet to reach a trade deal with the U.S. Trump always appears to be annoyed with the slightest thing that Canada does, snubbing our sovereignty, national interests and foreign policy.

Throughout his term, Trump has provided myriad examples of revenge and vengeance against his former critics and political opponents. The list includes former FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and New York Attorney General Letitia James – all of whom were involved in investigations or impeachment cases against him. Recently, former Trump national security adviser John Bolton was indicted on charges of unlawfully transmitting and retaining classified documents.

Earlier this year, Trump said he would fire Lisa Cook, Federal Reserve governor, because she committed mortgage fraud by improperly designating both her homes in Georgia and Michigan as her primary residence. Cook, who has denied any wrongdoing, said that she would continue to serve in her role as a Fed governor, and she subsequently has filed a suit against Trump over his move to fire her.

“President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook,” said her attorney Abbe Lowell. “His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action.”

His list of vengeance also included former presidents Biden and Obama, claiming that Biden was “essentially found guilty” of retaining classified documents in 2024 after a special counsel declined to charge him. Trump has accused Obama of treason by alleging, without evidence, that he led an effort to undermine Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Trump also revoked Secret Service protection for Kamala Harris, his opponent in the 2024 presidential election.

He has fired or forced out U.S. government officials perceived as disloyal or critical of his administration. Trump has purged high-powered officials who testified against him. Trump’s puppet, U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, who has adopted his boss’s obnoxious, arrogant and undiplomatic style when dealing with Canada.

Prime Minister Mark Carney must be applauded for being patient and diplomatic in his dealings with Trump. The tariff talks had reached a crucial stage when the ad fiasco erupted. Carney was gracious enough to apologize to Trump, but apparently, it didn’t satisfy Trump, who has not resumed talks with Canada. It’s now a waiting game until one sunny morning, Trump the Great wakes up in a good mood to forgive Canada

Mansoor Ladha is a Calgary-based journalist, travel writer and author of Canadian Experience; Aga Khan: Bridge between East & West; Memoirs of a Muhindi: Fleeing East Africa for the West; Off the Cuff and A Portrait in Pluralism: Aga Khan’s Shia Ismaili Muslims. He was publisher of Morinville Mirror and Redwater Tribune.

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