The Insurgents Ep. 420: Election Day In NYC ft. Ravi Mangla
Nov 4, 2025
Ravi Mangla, the national press secretary for the Working Families Party, sheds light on the recent NYC mayoral race and the desperate tactics employed by Cuomo's campaign. They discuss how negative strategies were ramped up in the final weeks, including fear-mongering to dampen voter turnout. Ravi critiques the abandonment of genuine policy dialogue for sensational attacks and highlights the role of AstroTurf super PACs in orchestrating negative campaigning. He emphasizes the importance of post-election organizing to advance Mamdani's agenda.
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Campaigns Can Pivot To Division Over Vision
- The Cuomo campaign abandoned affirmative policy arguments and shifted to fear, division, and turnout suppression tactics.
- Ravi Mangla argues this reflects a strategy to depress enthusiasm rather than persuade voters with vision.
Depressing Turnout As A Winning Tactic
- The campaign seemed focused on depressing turnout by creating fear and division rather than winning converts.
- Mangla describes this as a strategy to remove excitement from the race and keep potential supporters home.
Gimmicks Replace Policy When Vision Is Missing
- The campaign resorted to gimmicks like an AI Halloween video and paid attack texts when it lacked policy substance.
- Mangla calls these tactics ludicrous, racist, and symptomatic of a campaign bereft of vision.