Florida senator invites anti-Mamdani New Yorkers to come to Sunshine State

Sen. Rick Scott is inviting New Yorkers who cannot stomach the idea of Zohran Mamdani becoming the city’s next mayor to relocate from the Big Apple to the Sunshine State.

Mr. Mamdani is the favorite to win the New York City mayoral race, and this has sent chills down the spines of voters and political insiders who think his brand of socialism is built on pie-in-the-sky ideas that will ruin the city.

“What we are witnessing from the New York Democrat Party is a full embrace of socialism, plain and simple,” Mr. Scott, Florida Republican, said on X. “To all the New Yorkers who want to live in a safe community, pay lower taxes, and enjoy a REAL beach, I invite you to move to FLORIDA!”

The post ended with a sunshine emoji.

For Republicans, casting Mr. Mamdani as a poster boy for the Democratic Party has become a favorite pastime.

President Trump has derided him as a “communist” and said he is bad news for the city where he made a name for himself as a real estate developer.

Mr. Trump and Republicans are confident the 33-year-old Mamdani could help scare voters across the country away into the arms of the GOP - or at the very least fuel doubts about supporting Democrats.

Still, Mr. Mamdani is running strong in New York, where former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Eric Adams are scrambling to slow his momentum before it is too late. Republican Curtis Sliwa is also holding out hope that his long-shot campaign can catch fire.

Meanwhile, such Democratic leaders as Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, have yet to endorse Mr. Mamdani.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also has stayed out of the race.

Mr. Mamdani has been endorsed by some other members of the New York congressional delegation, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nydia Velasquez and Jerrold Nadler.