New York state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani didn’t just win his race — he crushed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by 12 points. That wasn’t a fluke. It was a warning. A new political generation is rising, and if the rest of us keep laughing off their ideas without asking why they’re winning, we’ll keep losing.

One of the most famous sayings in advertising was coined by Mad Men-era legend David Ogilvy: “The customer is not a moron. She’s your wife.”

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It was meant as a rebuke to his contemporaries in the 1950s ad industry who tended to dismiss American housewives as dumb targets of brainless commercials who could be fobbed off with stupid slogans and substandard products. Ogilvy was arguing for a more intelligent approach.

So am I in response to Mamdani’s shocking victory in New York.

Of course, we can all laugh at his ludicrous promises, such as state-run grocery stores, which, by the way, are not so far-fetched for Californians. Thanks to a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2023, not grocery stores but fast food outlets are effectively nationalized here, run by a “Fast Food Council” comprising government and unions as well as the industry.

We can all point out that the kind of socialist government control Mamdani proposes has been a spectacular failure everywhere it’s been tried. In fact, I’ve had firsthand experience of it three times in three different places.

In communist Hungary, where both my parents are from, there really were government-run grocery stores, with exactly the terrible service and shoddy quality you’d expect — all paid for by high taxes. As the saying goes, if you think things are expensive now, just wait until they’re “free.”

I saw the results of socialism in England in the 1970s, where unchecked expansion of government and union power led to inflation, poverty, stagnation, and decline, ending in the humiliating spectacle of trash piled up in the streets and the dead going unburied as local government workers went on strike for weeks on end.

And now we see the Mamdani agenda actually implemented right here in California — not just in relation to fast food but across the board as we suffer the highest taxes, most expansive and intrusive bureaucracy, most extreme climate policies, and most hostile business environment in the country.

The result? America’s highest rate of poverty, highest housing costs, and worst school results, with California ranked 50th out of 50 states on affordability and opportunity.

So yes, we can all mock the extremism and predict the disaster to come should New York follow in California’s footsteps and fully implement Zohran Mamdani’s socialist schemes.

But mockery avoids the deeper and more important question: Why did so many people, especially younger New Yorkers, vote for all this left-wing claptrap?

It’s not because they’re ignorant or misinformed. As with Ogilvy’s famous “customer,” we should give them more credit than that. The Mamdani voter is not a moron. It’s your daughter, your son, your grandchild.

The truth is, young people have been badly let down by our generation, people in their 40s and above, who, for the last half-century, benefited from policies that practically guaranteed their children and grandchildren will be worse off than they are.

Ever higher government spending has mortgaged our country, a huge burden that will be borne long after we’ve all gone.

Ever tighter restrictions on housing have made it almost impossible for young people to dream of owning their own home.

Climate extremism has pushed up the cost of basic essentials such as gas and electricity to levels that are painful for average earners.

This generation has been betrayed by the previous ones. The simple promise of America — that if you study hard, get good grades, go to college, and work hard, you’ll be able to climb the ladder of opportunity and achieve the American dream — has been completely broken.

So it’s hardly surprising that young people have turned to a candidate who spoke to these issues better than anyone else.

Soaking the rich, rent controls, state-run groceries, and free transportation — why not, a young New Yorker might think? Nothing else seems to work.

A turn toward socialism is the price we all pay for the feckless failure of previous governments — federal, state, and local, Democratic and Republican — to create the conditions for younger generations to thrive.

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This is why I’m running for governor of California. To make the Golden State once again the place where young people flock to follow their dreams, whether it’s the simple dream of a good job where you make enough to raise your family in a home of your own, or the bold ambition of building a company that changes the world.

I know that the best way to do that is through less government, not more — freedom, not socialism. We’re learning that the hard way in California. There’s still time for New York to avoid our fate.

Steve Hilton is a candidate for governor of California. @stevehiltonx