The past week was bookended by two political moments that were extraordinary in two very different ways.
Last Tuesday, the democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani shocked New York City and the rest of the country with a thumping victory in the mayoral primary. Then on Monday, California leaders announced the most important housing-reform bill in decades. The new law clears away bureaucratic sludge and makes it easier for the housing-starved state to build downtown homes and other development projects.
In some ways, these stories couldn’t be more opposite. The former represents a triumph of socialism, while the latter represents the triumph of pro-abundance YIMBY politics. The former showcases a charismatic new media star who took his case directly to the voting public via TikTok and Instagram, while the latter represents a slow-burn legislative triumph that benefited from years of careful grassroots campaigning and behind-the-scenes persuasion.
Despite these obvious differences, however, it’s what these political moments have in common that interests me the most.
In both cases, pillars of the status quo are crumbling in the two biggest blue states. New York saw the defeat of the ultimate status-quo candidate, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, while California saw the demise of a notorious legislation known for preserving the status quo. For decades, the California Environmental Quality Act has given litigants a nifty tool to sue to stop new developments and freeze the physical world, as if behind a glass case in a museum. The result has been a catastrophic decline in homebuilding throughout the state, which has contributed to out-of-control housing costs. The fact that Cuomo and CEQA fell within a eight-day period points to an anti-establishment groundswell that is building within the Democratic coalition, even if its precise direction—toward socialism? populism? abundance? none of the above?—remains uncertain.
To discuss Mamdani, abundance, the new politics of attention, and reflections from my first week on Substack, I spent over an hour yesterday talking to Nate Silver of the excellent Silver Bulletin substack. Thanks to everyone for a truly wonderful week that’s surpassed all my expectations. If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, please share with your friends. And if you’re an unpaid subscriber, feel free to let me know in the comments what would push you in the paid column.
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