After Zoran Mamdani won the New York mayoral race on Tuesday night, his campaign announced that former FTC Chair Lina Khan would be one of four co-chairs of his transition team.
Mr. Khan is an ally of Mr. Mamdani and praised his work helping small business owners in an op-ed in the New York Times. But her appointment to a formal role on the transition team sends a message to Wall Street and the tech industry. The most powerful industry players have already criticized Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist who has angered tech elites by criticizing billionaires and proposing a 2% tax on incomes above $1 million.
“What we saw last night is that New Yorkers are not just electing a new mayor, they are clearly rejecting a politics in which the power and money of big corporations dictate our politics,” Khan said in a speech Wednesday.
Khan described Mamdani’s victory as “a clear mandate for change so New Yorkers can move forward and all workers and small businesses can not just survive, but thrive.”
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and investors including Bill Ackman and Mike Bloomberg each spent millions of dollars opposing Mamdani and defending former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who finished second in the polls. DoorDash also donated $1 million to a pro-Cuomo super PAC. However, Mamdani’s platform advocated for tighter regulation of delivery apps and protection of subcontracted gig workers.
Like Mamdani, Khan has enemies in high places. Khan, an outspoken critic of big tech companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google, moved to block a variety of high-profile technology mergers during the Biden administration. Even when those actions failed, many in Silicon Valley still held Mr. Khan responsible for slowing down the deal.
Even those who supported the Biden-Harris presidential ticket, such as LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and billionaire investor Vinod Khosla, have publicly criticized Khan. In an interview with TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos last year, Khosla described Khan as “not a rational person.”
Khan, a professor at Columbia Law School, is described on Mamdani’s transition website as “the country’s leading antitrust advocate.”
In addition to Khan, the other three co-chairs include Grace Bonilla, president and CEO of the nonprofit United Way of New York City; Maria Torres Springer, former First Deputy Mayor of New York City. Melanie Herzog, president and CEO of the nonprofit New York Foundling;
The four are led by Mamdani campaign adviser Elana Leopold, who held various senior positions in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration.
Douglas Farrar, a spokesperson for Mr. Khan, told TechCrunch that “Lina is focused on ensuring that the company is well-positioned to support the transition on the economic and human resources front.”
Updated on 5/25/11 at 2:20 PM ET with comments from Douglas Farrar.
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