Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory in New York City has made him the next star in American politics, with liberal pundits like Robert Reich declaring the young socialist “the bright future of the Democratic Party.” While it’s true that Republicans had a rough off-year election in 2025, there are plenty of tea leaves from election night that prove that Mamdami-style politics was a losing cause rather than a winning formula for Democrats. For starters, Mamdani’s win was not impressive when you peel back the numbers. For starters, Mamdani’s win was not impressive when you peel back the numbers. New York is one of the most progressive cities in America, and Mamdani barely got over 50 percent of the vote while running against the corrupt former governor, Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. For context, Kamala Harris won around 68 percent of New York City last year, which was the lowest vote share for Democrats since George McGovern in 1972, and still outperformed Mamdani across all five boroughs of New York. It was also the highest turnout for a mayoral race since 1969. (RELATED: Mayor Mamdani: A Victory for Champagne Socialism) Luckily for Mamdani, New York is the media capital of America, where someone as youthful and charismatic as he could still run against the corrupt Democratic machine politics of the New York establishment and win. As it turns out, Mamdanism wasn’t selling with voters in other parts of the country. (RELATED: Mamdani: The Miracle Hair-Growth Salesman Who Claims to Have Found the Master Formula) In Minneapolis, the voters made a clear statement by re-electing Mayor Jacob Frey (D) over State Senator Omar Fateh, who was dubbed the “Mamdani of Minneapolis” and ran on a platform of rent control and had the backing of the Democratic Socialists of America. On the campaign trail, Mayor Frey came out strongly against rent control, correctly pointing out that it has failed in every city that has tried it, including neighboring St. Paul. (RELATED: Electing the Image: Mamdani and the Mimetic Turn in Democracy) He even pointed to the development of more housing as a way of making homes more affordable. Frey defeated Fateh by 6 points in a runoff and gave a victory speech saying, “We have to love our city more than ideology,” and the election confirms that Minneapolis voters agree with him. (RELATED: Comrade With a Condo: The Mamdani Myth Exposed) Moreover, in Detroit, Mich., Mary Sheffield, the business-friendly city council president, will succeed Mayor Mike Duggan as the Motor City’s first female mayor. More importantly, she will be a mayor who replicates the free-enterprise policies of Mayor Duggan, which have helped revitalize Detroit’s economy after the 2013 bankruptcy. Since that time, Detroit has had 12 straight balanced budgets with a $500 million emergency fund. Also, the city has moved from junk-bond status to investment-grade status. Mayor-elect Sheffield will continue the austerity approach by investing in business rather than hampering wealth creators, while remaining practical. Meanwhile, Travis County, the fifth most populous county in Texas, with the liberal city of Austin in its boundaries, has seen a boom in homelessness but has no way to end the homeless crisis. Amid rising costs for public services, Austin City Hall voted 10-1 to approve a 20 percent property tax increase. Luckily, Texas law requires voter approval for any tax hikes. Fortunately, its residents voted down the tax increase that the Democratic Party of Travis County overwhelmingly endorsed, a county that Kamala Harris won by about 40 points in 2024. Still, Austin voters rejected this measure by 27 points in a stark rebuke of city officials. Save Austin Now Co-Chair Matt Mackowiak said the vote was a “turning point for our city” and “It’s time to make affordability a real priority.” Tax increases make necessities more expensive, and Austin voters saw through that. Similarly, in New England, the well-known island of Nantucket, Mass., voted in a landslide to allow property owners to extend short-term rentals to guests, ending a five-year dispute over the matter. Opponents of STRs warn that this would lead to unwelcome activity from visitors and would have the support of the top 1 percent, who would never rent out their property. The vote was over 70 percent, a massive win for proponents of property rights and for business owners, realtors, and hospitality workers. Tourism and retail, which are vital to preserving the economy of Cape Cod and Nantucket residents, continue to keep it free from government intrusion. So, while Mamdami’s victory in November was a boon to socialists everywhere, there are still glimmers of hope that Socialism will not make it far outside the Big Apple. READ MORE from Alex Adkins: The Elusive ‘Conservative Consensus’ Meet Graham Platner: The Latest Democratic Dud for Senate Is Ro Khanna the X Factor for Democrats in 2028?