After Mamdani’s win in New York, Democrats decided that he’s their future and they’re all trying to be him. Especially Gavin Newsom. But the thing is that for every Mamdani, there’s a whole bunch of Mohammeds who are a whole lot less slick. Like Muhammad Casim who managed to lose an election for Democrats in a blue area of Virginia.
Here’s how it started.
Muhammad Sufiyan “Sef” Casim is the Democratic nominee for the vacant Woodbridge District seat on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. Casim has faced calls to step down from members of both parties.
On Feb. 27, the Prince William County Republican Committee published a series of posts Casim had made or reposted on X between 2012 and 2015. The posts include Casim using various versions of the n-word and reposts of tweets containing misogynistic language. The committee also alleged in a statement that Casim had spread antisemitic rhetoric.
His predecessor, to her credit, disowned him. His primary opponent, Pam Montgomery, launched a write-in campaign. But the party stuck with Muhammad and he took them down with him flipping a blue seat into the Republican column. It’s not a huge game-changing win, but it ought to be a warning to Dems about where some of the lines may be.
Had Muhammad just ranted about Israel and the Jews, that would have been fine, but combine that with the N word and sexism, and enough Dems decided not to stick with him after he alienated most of the party’s base.
It’s also a little lesson to Mamdani’s opponents as to what they could have done.
