They Fueled A.O.C.'s Win. Can They Shape the N.Y.C. Mayor's Race? [View all]

ast summer, the rising influence of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing in New York seemed almost boundless.

Progressive activists helped knock off an incumbent congressman, fueled upsets in several state legislative races and pushed policies on taxation and policing that put an anxious business community further on edge.

Next year, the movement may face its sternest test in the New York City mayoral race, a wide-open contest that will be the city’s most momentous in decades.

New York officials and strategists across the ideological spectrum say that the Democratic electorate has plainly shifted to the left in recent years, and a unified liberal front helped make the difference in a number of high-profile congressional and legislative races in the city and around the country.

But at a time of extraordinary economic crisis, staggering public health challenges and rising gun violence, the mayor’s race may serve as a barometer of whether the electorate will be swayed more by bold, progressive ideas or evidence of managerial competence — or whether they believe a single candidate can deliver both.




https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/23/nyregion/nyc-mayors-race-progressives.html