The city of Ithaca, New York, made history this week by electing a 20-year-old member of the Communist Party USA to public office.
Hannah Shvets, a sophomore at Cornell University and student organizer, secured a victory in the Fifth Ward race for Ithaca Common Council.
Her win came days after Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory in New York City, signaling a notable shift to the left in two key Democratic strongholds.
Shvets, who ran as a Democrat, defeated independent candidate G.P. Zurenda in the Nov. 4 election.
Zurenda had previously sought the Democratic nomination but lost in the primary, per reports.
The Fifth Ward of Ithaca, which Shvets will represent, covers the western half of Cornell University’s campus and parts of surrounding residential neighborhoods.
At 20 years old, Shvets becomes one of the youngest members ever elected to the Ithaca Common Council and the youngest candidate endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) to win office nationwide.
She also received endorsements from the Ithaca branch of the DSA and the Ithaca Tenants Union.
A photo circulated online showed Shvets posing with a cardboard cutout of Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected socialist mayor of New York City.
People’s World, a left-wing outlet affiliated with the Communist Party, said Shvets had participated in several anti-Israel protests on the Cornell campus following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The publication praised her activism and described her election as a “breakthrough” for student-led organizing movements.
Four of the ten Ithaca Common Council members were Cornell students before the recent election, underscoring the university’s strong influence in local government. Shvets’ victory adds to that trend, deepening student representation within the city’s leadership.
Shvets campaigned on a platform that included raising Ithaca’s minimum wage to $25 per hour, echoing Mamdani’s push for higher pay standards across New York, according to the New York Post. She also advocated for implementing a “just-cause” employment policy, which would make it more difficult for employers to fire workers without a legally valid reason.
In addition to her labor proposals, Shvets emphasized housing affordability as a central issue of her campaign.
She vowed to protect tenants in rent-stabilized units from eviction except under legally defined circumstances.
Her platform focused on what she called a “union of affordability and justice” for both students and permanent residents of Ithaca.
“I just think it’s really important now to bring together issues of affordability and issues of justice,” Shvets said, according to The Ithaca Voice. “We need to find ways to make Ithaca a place in which both locals and students can live and afford to live and thrive.”
The New York Police Department (NYPD) is currently struggling with a mass exodus of officers who strongly oppose Mamdani’s victory, Resist the Mainstream reported.
Insiders at the White House have said that consequences will follow if Mamdani continues his radicalism.
“The president will be watching to see if Mamdani keeps up the tough-guy act by poking the bear,” an adviser within the White House said. “That’s a surefire way to trigger Trump’s anger and face some heavy consequences.”
