There are many opinions on how the left should understand and relate to Zohran Mandani’s upstart victory. What is the attitude of the RCA?

To start, we should be clear that revolutionary communists are not opposed to participation in bourgeois elections in principle. Although we understand that the capitalist electoral system is an instrument of the ruling class, we also see it as an arena of the class war that can complement mass struggles outside of the halls of power—if used correctly.

Electoral campaigns can serve as useful platforms, not only for presenting a revolutionary program to broader layers of workers, but for exposing the class nature and hypocrisy of bourgeois “democracy.” Instead of “running to win” at all costs, a revolutionary communist campaign for elected office would base everything on the principle of class independence. It would wage a determined political battle against the ruling-class parties, candidates, media, and other institutions, seizing every opportunity to show how elections are rigged against the interests of the working class.

In the case of the New York City mayoral election, a communist candidate would not claim to represent “all New Yorkers,” but would fight as a representative of the workers against Wall Street, the state governor, and Washington, DC. The entire campaign would be an attempt to highlight—not blur—the class divide in society, explaining to the workers who their class enemies are.

So what happens if we win? A communist in office would introduce legislation to meet the real needs of the working class: a 20-hour work week coupled with substantial increases in real wages, free universal healthcare and education, rent capped at 10% of income, and more. All of this could easily be paid for, not by raising taxes on workers, but by expropriating the Fortune 500 companies and placing them under workers’ control.

These measures would be met with bitter resistance from the media and ruling establishment. They would also pose the question: who stands with the workers and who stands with big business? Are these unrealistic demands? Not at all. The obscene wealth of the American capitalists is more than sufficient to provide for all. Whether the demands are achievable depends entirely on how organized the workers are in this struggle.

Two key conditions would be required to guarantee victory. First and foremost, a class-independent party accountable only to the workers and entirely free from the influence of the capitalists—the capitalist Democrats would be the fiercest enemies and saboteurs of these proposals. Secondly, we’d need serious numbers; not only a majority on the city council, but an organized citywide force capable of mass mobilizations, strikes, and workplace occupations.

Needless to say, the revolution won’t succeed simply by winning the mayorship of a city. It would provoke a serious conflict with both the state and federal authorities, which would have to escalate into a nationwide struggle for a workers’ government.