Lesson 2: Partisan “fusion” — municipal socialists’ nemesis

Socialists’ municipal success rose dramatically between 1909 and 1917. They won control of city government in places like Milwaukee, Hamilton, Butte, Schenectady, Bridgeport, Flint, Minneapolis, and some 180 other US municipalities between 1911 and 1920. Almost invariably, however, in subsequent elections, they faced temporary political alliances engineered by businessmen to produce a single opposing slate, typically labeled a “Citizens’ Party.” “Fusion” proved a formidable challenge to fledgling socialist city governments just beginning to implement their ambitious programs.

In Hamilton, Ohio, socialists won a controlling majority in city council in 1913 and elected the mayor. During the following two years, they implemented an impressive set of initiatives. They established a new minimum wage and eight-hour workday for city employees; reduced the police force by a third and saw crime fall by half; made major capital improvements in the city’s water, gas, and electric utilities; collected overdue fees owed by major businesses; and created a city health bureau to inspect housing and sanitary facilities. Despite a devastating flood in 1914, the city-owned utilities generated a surplus of $51,000 to fund other city services.

However, “redemption” from socialist rule came in the municipal election of 1915, when the Democrats, with tacit support of the Republicans, fielded a unity slate. The socialists fell to defeat, save for a single council position.

A remarkably similar story had played out in Milwaukee, where an impressive victory in 1910 led to considerable expansion of city services, new municipal markets, free medical dispensaries, expanded public parks and swimming pools, and steps toward municipalization of streetcars. A fusion slate defeated the socialists in 1912, only to see the socialists return stronger in 1916 and continue to govern the city for extended periods between 1916 and 1960.

Mamdani faces the prospect of fusion even before he has had a chance to govern New York City, as establishment political interests seek to winnow the field to a single Mamdani opponent. Whether he can thwart such a fusion strategy remains to be seen. But for the moment, the personal ambitions and inflated egos of Curtis Sliwa, Eric Adams, and Andrew Cuomo seem to preclude their exiting the race. Internal contradictions among Democratic Party elites, the tainted hands of Donald Trump, and the sheer momentum of Mamdani’s popularity may give him some advantage. But, in the end, grassroots mobilization of new and enthusiastic young voters may hold the key to his success, no matter what strategy opposing elites may devise.