Only a party going through the Democrats’ identity and existential crises could, nine months into Donald Trump’s second presidency, have Zohran Mamdani and Abigail Spanberger as its front-runners in two of Tuesday’s biggest races.
Spanberger is a 46-year-old former CIA officer, the daughter of a nurse and a federal agent, who sounded the alarm in Congress and now on the campaign trail about what she sees as her party’s excesses. Mamdani is a 34-year-old democratic socialist, the Uganda-born son of a university professor and filmmaker, who sprung to stardom with a focus on cost of living conveyed in buzzy, multilingual videos pushing for government to pay for more.
This isn’t a sitcom pitch: It reflects a party still deep in figuring out what it’s supposed to be and how it’s supposed to appeal to voters.
Heading into Tuesday’s elections, Democrats are far from resolving the schism between progressives and moderates that undermined them in last year’s presidential race. But many in the party are fearful of being tied to Mamdani’s democratic socialism or anti-Israel views even as they buzz about his breakthrough communications and the passion he has inspired.
Spanberger is clear about her differences with Mamdani. She spoke to CNN on Friday on her campaign bus, leaving an event in Ashland, Virginia, where the woman who introduced her said sometimes she feels she’s the only Democrat in the area.
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