Gubernatorial candidate; Carl Gottstein

The Trump administration’s decision to have the Justice Department review New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s so-called “racial equity plan” is not political gamesmanship. It is a necessary defense of the United States Constitution. When a major American city proposes to measure “affordability” through a racial lens—deciding who gets what based on skin color rather than individual merit or need—it does not just “sound fishy.” It is flatly illegal under the plain text of our founding document.

The Constitution Party exists for one reason: to restore fidelity to the Constitution as written. That document does not contain a single syllable authorizing government to sort citizens into racial categories and dole out benefits accordingly. The Fourteenth Amendment could not be clearer: “No State shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Equal protection means equal protection—period. It does not mean “equity” adjusted for historical grievance, demographic targets, or any other euphemism for race preferences. The Supreme Court reaffirmed this principle in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023): race-based classifications by government are presumptively unconstitutional. They are subject to strict scrutiny, and almost none survive it.

Mayor Mamdani’s plan fails that test on its face. By injecting race into the very definition of “affordability” for housing, services, or economic opportunity across the five boroughs, the city is telling some New Yorkers they will be treated more favorably—or less favorably—solely because of their ancestry. That is government-sponsored discrimination. It violates the Equal Protection Clause, the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause (which applies the same principle to the federal government), and the spirit of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that the left now pretends never existed.

The Constitution Party has always rejected the false choice between “color-blind justice” and “social justice.” There is only one kind of justice under our system: blind justice. Any policy that elevates group outcomes over individual rights is incompatible with the American experiment. We do not achieve equality by practicing inequality. We do not heal division by mandating racial scorekeeping. And we certainly do not make New York more affordable by telling working families that their tax dollars will now be steered according to a racial formula cooked up in City Hall.

As a nominee for Governor, I reject that plan in its entirety.

If elected, I will:

• Direct the New York State Attorney General to intervene against any race-based city or state program that fails constitutional muster.
• Work with the Trump Justice Department to ensure federal funds are not used to subsidize racial discrimination in housing or public services.
• Introduce legislation to enshrine color-blind standards in all state contracting, licensing, and benefit programs.
• Appoint judges and executive officers who understand that “equity” is not a constitutional value—equal protection is.

New Yorkers are tired of being divided by race for political gain. Black, white, Hispanic, Asian—every citizen is first and foremost an American endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights. The Constitution Party will never trade those rights for the latest progressive fad. Mayor Mamdani’s plan is not compassionate; it is unconstitutional. The Justice Department is right to review it. And the people of New York deserve a governor who will defend the Constitution against any mayor, any bureaucracy, or any ideology that tries to replace equal justice with racial engineering.

The choice is clear: equal protection under the law, or perpetual racial grievance.

The Constitution Party chooses the Constitution.

New York should too.

By Vice Chairman of the Constitution Party of New York & 2026 Candidate for Governor of New York, Carl Gottstein.