The Race Is Over — Cuomo Just Doesn’t Know It Yet
Opinion: Just do something else Governor, for the love of God
It’s become almost painful to watch. The old guard, white-knuckling their legacy as the tide of history rolls over them. Andrew Cuomo is still fighting, still pretending that the empire he built through fear, loyalty, and backroom power deals hasn’t collapsed under its own weight. But anyone watching the rise of Zohran sees it clearly: the race is already over.
Zohran represents something Cuomo never could — a generational shift, not just in politics but in moral imagination. He speaks to a new coalition: multiracial, secular-yet-spiritual, unbought, and global in its empathy. His rise isn’t a fluke of demographics or digital strategy; it’s the manifestation of a political realignment that’s been brewing for a decade. The children of immigrants, the post-9/11 generation, the communities who grew up seeing American “power” as both a promise and a warning — they’re no longer content to be spoken for. They’re writing the script now.
Cuomo’s problem is that he still believes politics is about controlling the room. But Zohran’s generation knows the room itself has changed. The public square is decentralized, and moral authority doesn’t come from lineage or longevity anymore — it comes from authenticity, and from the courage to speak the uncomfortable truth. Cuomo’s version of leadership, forged in the transactional machine politics of the past, simply doesn’t translate in an age of transparency and global consciousness.
Zohran has managed to do something Cuomo never dared: build solidarity across class, race, and faith without pandering to any of them. He talks about power redistribution — not in the old Marxist sense, but in a moral sense. He’s reintroducing justice into the language of governance. And for a generation raised on disillusionment, that’s electrifying.
Cuomo can keep posturing as the “fighter,” but fighting for what? For relevance? For nostalgia? The truth is, New York isn’t looking backward anymore. It’s looking toward the world — and the world is watching, too.
The Cuomo era was about control. The Zohran era is about conscience. And no matter how many last-minute maneuvers the establishment tries, history doesn’t negotiate with those who refuse to evolve.
Yasmine is a media executive and global equity advocate from Chicago. She writes about justice, power, and the shifting moral landscape between the West and the Global South.