It was once said that people vote with their feet — and in the wake of Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race, a whole lot of feet might be heading south.
According to a recent Daily Mail poll, upwards of 765,000 New Yorkers say they will “definitely” leave the city now that Mamdani — a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist — is set to occupy City Hall. Another two million say they’d seriously consider it. That’s not just a political protest; it’s a potential demographic earthquake. As Daily Mail noted, that number is larger than the entire population of cities like Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, or Seattle.
Mamdani is going to be realtor of the year in way more places than Palm Beach if he wins. https://t.co/GkzdcqtVQY
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 4, 2025
And if history is any guide, they won’t be scattering randomly. The most likely destinations? States like Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and the Carolinas — places where lower taxes, less regulation, and saner governance still hold sway.
This isn’t just conjecture. It already happened once.
During the COVID pandemic, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo drove New Yorkers out in droves with draconian lockdowns and punitive policies. Florida, under Gov. Ron DeSantis, was one of the biggest beneficiaries of that blue-to-red migration. But now, DeSantis is warning that Mamdani’s far-left agenda could make that exodus look like a warm-up act.
Speaking to Sean Hannity, DeSantis didn’t mince words: “This guy’s policies, soup to nuts, are probably the most radical left that I’ve ever seen of a major party candidate in a big jurisdiction.” He even joked about needing an “entry tax” — or sending NYC refugees to Connecticut if Florida hits capacity.
But here’s the rub — and it’s a conversation conservatives in red states are having more and more: don’t bring the policies that ruined your state with you.
It’s not just about real estate prices or traffic. It’s about cultural and political survival. Time and again, voters have fled high-tax, high-crime, over-regulated blue cities — and then promptly turned purple or even blue the moment they settle in their new homes, by voting for the same types of progressive candidates and ideas that drove them out in the first place.
Southern Connecticut? https://t.co/tOrgyqQ7iH
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 4, 2025
This isn’t theoretical. Just ask locals in places like Austin, Nashville, or Raleigh, where housing prices have skyrocketed, school boards have been flipped, and city councils are increasingly drifting left. The result? The same problems: higher taxes, more regulations, more cultural warfare — and fewer places to run to next.
So let’s be crystal clear: if you’re leaving New York because of Mamdani’s socialism, don’t vote for it again once you get to freedom. Don’t demand subsidized housing, universal basic income, rent control, and government-run grocery stores in states that have thrived precisely because they reject those ideas.
So, by all means, come to red states. Start fresh. Build a life. But if your ballot still looks like it did back in Brooklyn or the Bronx, maybe stay put — and take a good, hard look at what your politics have wrought.
