Ithaca, NY, home of Cornell U., does NYC one better and elects an actual Communist

Just two days after socialist Zohran Mamdani won the election for mayor of New York City, the city council of upstate Ithaca, New York, elected an actual member of the Communist Party USA to the Ithaca Common Council. 

Hannah Shvets, 20, a Cornell University sophomore and student organizer, defeated independent candidate and former Democratic primary hopeful G.P. Zurenda after winning the endorsement of the Ithaca branch of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Ithaca Tenants Union, according to the New York Post. 

Shvets has taken part in numerous anti-Israel protests since Hamas’ terrorist attack on the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the CPUSA paper, People’s World, which celebrated her victory.

The Texas-born Shvets shares a number of the same policy positions as Mamdani, such as protecting rent-stabilized tenants from eviction except on grounds allowed by law. She supports a $25 an hour minimum wage, while Mamdani supports a $30-an-hour figure. She also supports a just-cause employment policy, making it difficult to fire workers without good reason.

“I just think it’s really important now to bring together issues of affordability and issues of justice. We need to find ways to make Ithaca a place in which both locals and students can live and afford to live and thrive,” Shvets said, as reported by the Ithaca Voice.