TAMPA, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis has indicated that Florida might soon welcome a wave of New Yorkers following the election of Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani as mayor.

In a conversation with Sean Hannity on Fox News Tuesday night, the Republican governor remarked that New Yorkers were essentially “shooting themselves in the foot” by choosing Mamdani.

Mamdani, who emerged victorious over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, is poised to become the city’s most progressive mayor in decades, identifying as a Democratic socialist. The election saw over 2 million New Yorkers casting their votes, marking the highest voter turnout in more than half a century.

Predictably, DeSantis critiqued Mamdani’s policies, suggesting that they will prompt New Yorkers to consider moving to Florida.

DeSantis spoke about Mamdani’s previous comments about defunding the New York Police, saying, “The No. 1 thing that moves people to wanna flee these jurisdictions is the collapse of public safety.” 

The governor went on to say that out of all the states, more Republicans have moved to Florida than Democrats. 

During his Fox News appearance, DeSantis also noted the shift in political affiliations within the state.

“When I got elected, we had 300,000 more registered Democrats in Florida. Today, we have 1.4 million more Republicans. Nobody has ever seen a change that profound,” the governor said.

DeSantis even posted a poll on X asking Floridians what his response to a Mamdani win should be. His three options were, “Build a FL border wall,” “Tariff all transplants” or “Recruit new transplants.”

In short, only time will tell. 

A recent poll conducted by JL Partners for the Daily Mail found 9% of New Yorkers will “definitely” leave the city if Zohran Mamdani were elected mayor. That means 765,000 people would leave, since the current population is 8.5 million. Polls also found 25% would “consider” moving in the event of a Mamdani mayoral win.

Other Republicans echoed this sentiment, including Tampa Bay-area Rep. Greg Steube.

“If you thought the influx of New Yorkers to Florida was extreme during COVID, just wait until this guy gets elected,” he posted on X on Oct. 27 in reference to Mamdani.

Luxury realtors in Miami told CBS Miami that New Yorkers are exploring moving to Florida due to fears of crime and taxes rising in the city.

Zohran Mamdani was the Democratic candidate for mayor, but has called himself a Democratic socialist. 

There isn’t a single definition for the political term, but it’s about wanting to shift power from corporations to workers. 

The New York Times reported that in the United States, Democratic socialists don’t want to completely abolish capitalism, but rather work within the system to create left-wing priorities, such as raising the minimum wage. 

“It places them further to the left than the average Democrat,” the publication stated.

Democratic socialists push for policies such as universal health care, more taxes on the wealthy and freezing rent. 

Among his campaign’s promises are free child care, free city bus service, city-run grocery stores and a new Department of Community Safety that would send mental health care workers to handle certain emergency calls rather than police officers.

Mamdani was a fierce critic of the New York Police Department in 2020, calling for “this rogue agency” to be defunded and slamming it as “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.” He has since apologized for those comments and has said he will ask the current NYPD commissioner to stay on the job.

Mamdani’s campaign was driven by his optimistic view of the city and his promises to improve the quality of life for its middle and lower classes.

Mamdani is also a longtime advocate of Palestinian rights. He has accused Israel of committing genocide and said he would honor an arrest warrant the International Criminal Court issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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