After the ‘Blue Tsunami’: Dems Await Mamdani and Hochul in Puerto Rico as Taxes Take Center Stage

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The “blue tsunami” celebrations swelled onto the beaches of San Juan on Wednesday, less than a day after Democrats regained control of the House and Senate and Gov. Kathy Hochul easily won reelection. 

The annual SOMOS convention, held by the New York Democrats in Puerto Rico after every Election Day, has seen the ebbs and flows of politics. 

“Two years ago, this looked like a funeral,” outgoing Rep. Nydia Velazquez told The City Reporter at the conference’s opening reception, remembering President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection. “Two years ago, we were here agonizing. And tonight, we are celebrating.”

Democrats routed their Republican opponents across the country, which state Attorney General Letitia James, who also waltzed to victory on Tuesday , said was “about a course correction.”  

“It’s a rejection of all the chaos, confusion, and corruption,“ she told The City Reporter.

The other contrast to 2024: New York City is now led by a socialist, Zohran Mamdani, whose historic mayoral election and win seemed far off two years ago. He’s now riding some of the highest favorability numbers of any mayor in decades and has used his popularity to help elect members of the Democratic Socialists of America to Congress and the state Legislature — doubling the number of members heading up to Albany next year, from eight to 16. 

When Mamdani and Hochul visited SOMOS last year, he was a freshly elected phenomenon while she was facing a potentially difficult reelection battle. 

While Mamdani made an early endorsement of Hochul this year and barnstormed with her across the city, she is now the target of his next campaign: for higher taxes on the wealthiest people and corporations.

MORE: Hochul Made Big Gains in NYC’s Blue Wave — Except in These Neighborhoods

Grace Mausser, co-chair of the DSA’s New York chapter, said a more progressive tax structure is a top priority — and she hopes Mamdani was able to persuade Hochul during their time together on the trail. 

“The wealthy elite don’t necessarily like Zohran, large businesses in the real estate industry don’t necessarily like Zohran. A lot of those special interests are allies of Hochul,” Mauser  said. 

Both Hochul and Mamdani are set to arrive in San Juan later this week for SOMOS. 

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D–Brooklyn) told The City Reporter conversations around more progressive taxes will start happening over the next few weeks. 

The governor has been reluctant to say whether she’ll push for a tax on the rich, although groups like the DSA and newly-elected state lawmakers have made it a priority. 

“There’s a philosophical question about who has the mandate. And the governor just won by 20 points — that is a mandate by any person’s stretch,” Myrie said. 

“But there were also very spirited primaries where voters chose them as well,” Myrie said of the new legislators. “And that is also a mandate.”

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