The collapse of Mayor Eric Adams' candidacy has turned New York City's mayoral race into one of the most nationally consequential elections of 2025.
On paper, the contest looks parochial: Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee; Andrew Cuomo, the former governor turned independent; and Curtis Sliwa, a Republican.
In practice, however, the outcome will reverberate across American politics, with implications stretching to the 2026 midterms and beyond.
The problem is not simply that Mamdani is a radical who is out of step with the city he seeks to govern. It is that his victory would immediately become a national symbol.
Republicans are desperate to argue that Democrats are controlled by their socialist flank.
Nothing would bolster that narrative more than the election of a mayor of New York City -- America's most visible urban stage -- who is a self-described democratic socialist. With Sliwa likely siphoning a fifth of the electorate, Mamdani could win with a bare plurality, and Republicans would have their proof.
The consequences for the Democratic Party would be profound. Vulnerable incumbents from Long Island to Pennsylvania to Arizona would be yoked to Mamdani's agenda whether they like it or not.
His hesitation to condemn calls to "globalize the intifada" would be replayed endlessly, not only as a question of antisemitism but also as evidence that Democrats cannot be trusted to draw lines against extremism.
For Jewish Americans -- who have long been a bedrock of the Democratic coalition -- the message would be chilling: Their safety, and the repudiation of anti-Jewish incitement, is negotiable.
This is why Democratic leaders in Washington cannot remain neutral. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have thus far withheld their endorsements, citing legislative battles in Congress.
That luxury of delay has now evaporated. A Mamdani victory would not merely be another headache for Democrats; it would be the defining talking point of the Republicans' midterm campaign. To stand aside, or worse, to capitulate under pressure, would be to invite catastrophe.
The alternative is former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. No one should romanticize his candidacy. His resignation in disgrace left deep wounds, and his governing style was imperious.
Yet politics is about choices, not wishes. Cuomo is damaged but competent, tarnished but tethered to reality.
His election would spare Democrats the spectacle of explaining Mamdani to every swing voter in America. And for the Jewish community, Cuomo offers something Mamdani cannot: the assurance that the nation's largest Jewish population is not led by someone equivocal about its security.
This is the moment for Schumer and Jeffries to show spine. Their responsibility is not to indulge the purity of progressive activists, nor to hedge in hopes the storm passes. It is to protect the viability of their party and the stability of the city that is its showcase.
Endorsing Cuomo would be controversial. Failing to do so would be reckless.
New York City residents may believe they are only deciding who will govern their city. They are not. They are determining whether Democrats will hand Republicans the most potent political weapon of 2026. The stakes are not municipal; they are national. And the time to
act is now.