Dear New Yorker, after Mamdani’s mayoral victory, your city is looking like the California Dream

—2 min read—

Ocean Beach in San Diego. Photo by Ximena Del Cerro

Over one million New Yorkers who voted blue are hoping that Mamdani’s mayoral victory turns into everything he promised. Citizens will soon demand results and many fear the chance that his campaign principles might be short-lived or nothing more than a dream, but they are the California Dream, Golden State residents say.

Thursday 6th, Nov. 2025

36.7783° N, 119.4179° W

Greetings from California,

I’m writing to congratulate you on electing a mayor! Dear NYC dweller, I might not share your style, but since we are both people made mostly of aspirations, I see you. I know you love your busy city and you want it to reach its full potential. I hope Zohran Mamdani gives you his best.

California is the fourth most liberal state in the country after Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Rhode Island, according to electoral data analysed by World Population Review but its reputation over the decades has led to it being perceived as the first. Many Californians love it that way. Photos by Ximena Del Cerro, Sydney Fishman and from Mamdani’s official website.

Let me be real, folks out here obviously dig his vibe—his bold talk, his organizing roots. Californians are looking at him as they look at a breakfast burrito, a day in nature, or a new tech device with no ethical implications; we want someone just like him.

In the midst of chaotic national politics left and right, an everyday conflictive Trump presidency, and seemingly never-ending wars in Palestine, Ukraine, Syria, and many more… He is proposing some equalizing changes, the kind we are tired of only being able to tweet about.

This place, overflowing with queers, Grateful Dead-loving misfits and long-haired hippies telling stories about the Back to the Land Movement —my birthplace, my home— feels like is farther from having the California dream than you are.

Less than a week ago, Governor Gavin Newsom helped pass Proposition 50, a redistricting measure that will redraw congressional maps in California to favor Democrats and aim to elect more Democratic seats in the House in the 2026 midterms. In Texas —where, btw, peps were also following your mayoral race closely but with different takes— a similar policy was enacted recently to increase the chances of more GOP seats in the House, so we understand it is balanced.

55% of likely voters approve of the way Newsom is handling his job, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Yet, only about half say that things in California are going in the right direction, and one in four thinks the California economy will experience financially good times over the next 12 months. The thing is, although New Yorkers often see us as your worry-free frenemy who sometimes lights on fire, let me tell you, there is more. We are facing many contradictions. Newsom suddenly seems more concerned with federal politics than with statewide issues. He is flirting with a wider waverange.

It seems that, despite Newsom’s talk about wanting to create a safe haven in the state —which would have been hella rad— he can’t avoid getting involved in the one big beautiful fight.

May your new mayor keep your sassiness safe. And when you get your free bus rides, your rent costs lower than ours, your dispatch of mental health workers, we will def visit.

Sending you a tight 72°F hug,
—Californian with unmet needs