Politics

Last week, progressives received more good news in their quest to retake the Senate. Former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper and insurgent Texas state Senator James Talarico soared through their respective primaries. To the extent that betting markets’ predictions mean anything, they now place the odds of Democrats flipping the upper chamber closer than ever to even money.

But these elections aren’t the only stories offering hope in these times. In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has hit the ground running—advancing a path for universal childcare, introducing a fairer budget and a plan to balance it, and continuing to civically engage the public with his magnetic social-media presence and charismatic interviews.

Underpinning it all has been a quiet, methodical effort: building out his administration.

Three recent appointments demonstrate Mamdani’s commitment to that long-cited political adage that personnel is policy. He and his team are drawing qualified, visionary, sometimes unconventional talent from the best of previous administrations—all deployed to pull on as many levers as possible to make New York a more just and affordable city.

My god! Competence porn!