A David Upset That’s Hard to  Duplicate in The Philippines

By Alex P. Vidal 

“Nobody roots for Goliath.” – Wilt Chamberlain 

WE didn’t have to wake up Wednesday (June 25) morning to learn that a giant upset rocked the Democratic Party primary for New York City mayor.

Never mind the three-day deadly heat wave currently impacting the Eastern United States, with triple-digit temperatures and extreme heat warnings in place across major cities and surrounding areas in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. that experienced temperatures approaching or exceeding 100 degrees, with some breaking all-time June temperature records.

Tuesday night (June 24), news was all over the United States that Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a 33-year-old upstart born in Kampala, Uganda scored one of the biggest upsets in the history of New York City by toppling 67-year-old career politician, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

Mamdani’s conquest of Cuomo is hard to duplicate in the Philippines, where politics is based on personality, dynasty, machinery, moneyed political party.

But it happened in the Big Apple, the so-called “City that never sleeps.”

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Highly regarded Cuomo didn’t wait for the entire vote to be tabulated to concede even as a winner hasn’t been officially declared due to the city’s ranked choice ballot system.

The former governor told his supporters less than two hours aftr he polls closed that “tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night,” underscoring a seismic shift in American politics.

Mamdani made gains on Cuomo in recent weeks but still trailed in most polling against the former New York governor, who instantly entered the race in March as the clear favorite. But Mamdani rose rapidly as the primary approached, The Hill reported.

Mamdani’s rise is one of the most stunning in recent memory.

He entered the Democratic race to replace embattled Mayor Eric Adams (D) as a little-known state legislator who had only served in office since 2021.

He started out in single digits in polling, well behind Cuomo, and found himself in the middle of a pack of other, more established candidates trying to break through.

His momentum was apparent in recent weeks as he closed the gap behind Cuomo in the polls and gained several high-profile endorsements from top progressives such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

The progressive Working Families Party also called on voters to rank Mamdani first on their ballots.

How much he closed the gap seemed up in the air, with polls varying significantly. While one independent poll showed Mamdani within range of Cuomo and prevailing in the final round, most of the polls consistently showed Cuomo ahead.

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But that apparent lead didn’t materialize as voters headed to the polls. Mamdani is currently on track to be ahead after the first round and won’t need as much support from other candidates’ voters to reach a majority.

The Hill reported that with 92 percent of the estimated vote in as of Tuesday night, the New York State Assembly member led the pack with close to 44 percent of the vote, while Cuomo had 36 percent of the vote and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander sat at 11 percent.

Ultimately, Mamdani’s victory is likely to go down as one of the most stunning upsets in recent history.

Cuomo’s concession of the Democratic primary on Tuesday may have added to the stunning effect of the night’s results, but New York City voters might not have seen the last of him.

Cuomo announced in May that he would also run in the general election under the banner of the Fight and Deliver Party, saying at the time that he wanted to secure the largest coalition possible and appeal to those disillusioned with the Democratic Party.

As long as he receives enough signatures to appear on the ballot, and assuming he decides to go forward, this would likely ensure him a spot facing off against Mamdani again.

But Cuomo seemed uncertain about whether he would go through with this general election campaign, saying he’ll take time to decide how to go forward.

“I want to look at all the numbers as they come in and analyze the rank choice voting,” he said in a statement. “I will then consult with my colleagues on what is the best path for me to help the City of New York, as I have already qualified to run for mayor on an independent line in November.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)