Copyright Fast Company
New York City has elected a democratic socialist as its next mayor. Across the internet, progressive internet users are hopescrolling for the first time in years and proudly declaring: “woke is back.” With his victory, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will become the city’s first Muslim mayor, the first of South Asian heritage, the first born in Africa, and the youngest in more than a century. During his victory speech, Mamdani reaffirmed his support for workers’ rights, immigrants’ rights, and the rights of all vulnerable New Yorkers, including LGBTQ people. “BREAKING: WOKE IS BACK!,” one X user posted. “THERE ARE 25 GENDERS. WE’RE GOING TO TRANS THE ECONOMY. DEI FOR EVERY CHILD. AND WE’RE RELEASING THE EPSTEIN FILES!!!” “Zohran win got me feeling so woke i might detransition just to transition again,” another joked. “TRANSGENDER FOR EVERYBODY WINS AGAIN,” wrote another. “If i was zohran i would choose this precise moment to come out as a proud bisexual,” another quipped. For the online left, long disillusioned with American politics and a Demoractic party they feel no longer speaks for them, on Tuesday night, something shifted. Mamdani won over the vast majority of voters ages 18 to 29 (78%) and 30 to 44 (66%), according to exit polls from NBC. He also received 82% of LGBTQ+ vote, compared to just 15% for Cuomo. advertisement People are feeling so hopeful, they are proudly libbing out on main. For the uninitiated, to “lib out” has been part of the political lexicon for a few years, and means to abandon cynicism, even just for a night, and indulge instead in hope and optimism. “Forgive me father for I am libbing the fuck out,” one wrote. “Sorry to lib out but for so many of us this is the very first time we cast a vote that wasn’t framed to us as ‘the lesser of two evils,’” another posted. “We actually believed in someone, canvassed for him, and saw him…win??? like??? Something…worked???” One simply put: “New York City you have shocked the world by voting for a normal guy instead of a deranged pervert.” Even the official X account of the Democratic Party tried, too late for some, to get in on the act. “LIBBING TF OUT,” read its post. Mamdani, speaking to supporters in Brooklyn after his victory, said: “today we have spoken in a clear voice: hope is alive.” After Kamala Harris’s loss to Trump in the 2024 presidential election, many were quick to blame wokeness for his return. “Woke is broke,” wrote Maureen Dowd for The New York Times. Former White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, writing for the Washington Post, suggested “debates over pronouns, bathroom access and renaming schools” lost Democrats the vote. He added “campaigns of joy in an era of rage don’t win elections.” Tell that to the smiling democratic socialist, Muslim, south asian mayor of New York City.
