As Republicans eagerly look to pin the Democratic Party to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, two specific races look like early opportunities to do just that: the Michigan Senate primary and Colorado's 8th Congressional District.
In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed hopes to become the state's next U.S. senator. In Colorado, Manny Rutinel is running to unseat freshman Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo.
On both fronts, the Republican National Committee (RNC) hopes audiences will see a connection to the mayor-elect in New York.
REPUBLICANS PUSH TO MAKE MAMDANI THE NEW FACE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
"Manny Rutinel and Abdul El-Sayed have anchored themselves to Mamdani, thinking he will get them across the finish line. Republicans are watching," RNC spokeswoman Delanie Bomar told Fox News Digital.
Republican strategists hope that the efforts to tie socialism to Democrat candidates will diminish their chances outside of New York. For the Democrat candidates themselves, that introduces a question: Will the immediate momentum of the Mamdani brand bring the long-term downsides Republicans are counting on? Or could similarities to Mamdani's recent success help them stand out?
El-Sayed is walking that line carefully. When asked if he would embrace the idea of becoming Michigan's Mamdani, El-Sayed said he would carve out his own image.
"I am the Michigan Abdul," he said. "I always have been. I always will be."
But like Mamdani, El-Sayed has made affordability - and the role of government - key pieces of his campaign. In addition to calling for lowering housing costs, he's advocated for Medicare for all, opposes corporate tax carve-outs, and he supports tuition-free access to higher education. He expects voters from New York, Michigan and beyond to continue in that direction.
"You're seeing that kind of resonance here in Michigan for sure. And I'm not surprised that you're seeing that in New York, too. Government ought to be available to set an equal playing field for everybody and to offer those basic things that everybody needs and deserves," El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed endorsed Mamdani ahead of the mayoral election last week.
WILL ELECTION DAY 2025 BE REMEMBERED AS THE RISE OF THE SOCIALISTS?
Rutinel, the Democrat challenger in Colorado, hasn't made his policy platform as clear. The first-term state representative doesn't have any positions listed on his website. And besides signing a letter calling for the release of an ICE detainee, he hasn't publicly made statements that would separate him from most of the Democrat Party.
That hasn't stopped the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) from drawing the Mamdani connection anyway.
The CLF, an arm of the House Republican fundraising apparatus, highlighted a video posted to Instagram of a Mamdani campaign rally, offering it as proof that Rutinel belongs in the same bucket as Mamdani.
The video briefly shows someone who looks like Rutinel standing behind Mamdani.
"What does the CO-08 race have in common with the NYC Mayoral Race? Democrat Manny Rutinel is campaigning in both," CLF pointed out recently in one of its ads.
Rutinel's campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The office of Evans, the current representative for Colorado's 8th Congressional District, didn't immediately draw a connection to Mamdani but made the case that New York and Colorado have very different electorates. They suggested that an attempt to replicate Mamdani's strategy in Colorado would play out differently in the Centennial State.
"When people tell you who they are, believe them. Democrats have fully endorsed the far-left socialist, extremist base of their party - the same base that's anti-law enforcement and handcuffs work rather than rewarding it. Those policies may sell in New York, but Coloradans aren't buying it," a spokesperson for Evans said.
DNC EMBRACES SOCIALIST MAMDANI AS RESURFACED ANTI-ISRAEL REMARKS RAISE ALARM: 'BIG TENT PARTY'
A strategist familiar with the thinking of campaigns in Colorado and Michigan believes that more Democrats may use an apparent similarity to Mamdani to stand out in the short term, especially in the wake of Tuesday's election.
"I think - at least in crowded primaries - many candidates are just thinking they need to get through the primary," the strategist said. "It riles up the base. The base sees Mamdani as the new face of the party. They finally have someone."
"I just don't think it's going to be helpful in a general election," they added.
Bomar, the RNC spokeswoman, said that if more Democrats decide to lean into that connection, Republicans will be waiting.
"Americans want no part of socialism and Mamdani will ultimately sink Democrats' chances around the country," Bomar said.
