The elections of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NJ Governor Mikie Sherrill creates an interesting experiment. They each represent roughly the same number of people, but their political projects could not be more discordant. Mamdani’s platform is forward looking, but based in the successes of NYC’s past. Sherrill is looking backward, championing failed policies previously forced upon residents during periods of moral panic. They have different powers, and different styles, but this sets up a fascinating case study with the Hudson River as the narrow dividing line.

But that gaslighting is failing to hold up as ICE expands their attacks to violently target everyone, regardless of skin color or status. The escalation in violence and blatant racial targeting is forcing state and local officials to choose sides. Will Governor Sherrill choose to allow local and state police to assist ICE in enforcing civil immigration laws? Maybe the legislature will force her hand. Or will extrajudicial executions make her centrist positions politically untenable? 

The voters were clear — no more cuts, no more pain, no more terror. Invest in our neighborhoods, our schools, and our commutes, not in corporations or youth prisons. Failure to hear those voters will make Sherrill a one-term centrist failure.

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