“Tonight, we made history,” said Zohran Mamdani as he stood on a crowded Queens rooftop in the early hours of June 25th. The speech was the 33-year-old self-described democratic socialist’s victory lap after he defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary in a stunning upset. Relatively new to the political scene, Mamdani ran an energetic and progressive grassroots campaign to harness a diverse coalition of New Yorkers. He went on to defeat Cuomo, as well as Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa, in the General Election, winning the majority of votes in a mayoral election that had the highest voter turnout in 60 years.
Who is Zohran Mamdani?
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, but became a naturalized United States citizen in 2018. If elected, he will be the city’s first Muslim and first millennial mayor. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is an Indian-Ugandan professor of government at Columbia, while his mother, Mira Nair, is a celebrated Indian-American film director. At the age of seven, Mamdani immigrated with his family to New York City. He attended the Bronx High School of Science, (and according to history teacher Robert Montera, visited Fieldston’s Film and Literature class with his mother.) When applying to colleges, Mamdani checked the “Asian” as well as “Black or African American” boxes, according to the New York Times. Describing the boxes as “constraining,” he explained to the Times that he checked multiple boxes to accurately capture his background as an Indian-Ugandan. Mamdani attended Bowdoin University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies, an academic field that focuses on the culture, politics and history of people of African descent. At Bowdoin, he co-founded a chapter of the organization “Students for Justice in Palestine.”
After graduating from Bowdoin, he worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor in Queens, an experience he has said inspired him to run for office. He also worked a side hustle as a rapper in the local hip-hop scene. In 2020, Mamdani ran for office for the first time, becoming the first South Asian to serve in New York’s State Assembly after defeating 4-term incumbent Aravella Simotas in the Assembly’s Democratic primary. Having won the 2022 and 2024 elections unopposed, he has represented New York’s 36th district – which includes the Jackson Heights neighborhood in Queens – since. As a state assemblyman, Mamdani introduced more than 20 bills that focused on affordability, particularly affordable housing, free public buses and raised taxes on big corporations and the wealthiest New Yorkers.
What Does He Stand For?
Economic Policy:
Mamdani has described himself as a “democratic socialist.” The movement does not have a standard definition, but broadly sees capitalism in its current manifestation as incompatible with progressive values. Other examples of self-described democratic socialists include Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; democratic socialist policies have been implemented in many European countries to varying degrees. Democratic socialists in the United States promote policies that emphasize social support within capitalism rather than seeking to end it. This distinguishes democratic socialism from communism, which advocates for a society without capitalism. President Trump has accused Mamdani of communism, prompting Mamdani to clarify on NBC News that he is not a communist. He explained that his identification as a democratic socialist is inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who once said, “call it democracy, call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country,” in a 1961 speech.
Amid rising NYC costs, Mamdani’s campaign focused on his economic agenda. To address the housing crisis, he advocates for rent freezes on all rent-stabilized apartments, where more than two million New Yorkers live. He pledges to crack down on dangerous housing conditions by strengthening renter protections, to support homeowners by ending deed theft, and to use public dollars to create affordable housing. Over the next ten years, Mamdani has promised to construct 200,000 new housing units. To combat rising food prices, Mamdani pledges to establish a network of city-owned grocery stores which will keep prices low and operate in areas with limited access to produce. He wants to eliminate city bus fares to improve public transportation accessibility, and pledges to protect workers by banning non-compete clauses, hidden fees and NDA-protected secret corporate deals. He plans to raise the minimum wage to $30 by 2030 and increase support for small businesses. In terms of childcare and education, Mamdani will provide free childcare for all New Yorker children from 6 weeks to 5 years, give free baby baskets of essential items to all families of newborns and invest in public K-12 schools and CUNY. To fund this ambitious agenda, Mamdani plans to raise the corporate tax to 11.5% (the same as New Jersey’s) and implement a 2% flat tax on New Yorkers who earn more than $1 million annually.
Mamdani’s supporters praise his economic plans for creating a blueprint to make the city affordable, considering that 1 in 4 New Yorkers live in poverty, nearly double the national average. His critics say he has the wrong solutions. The Washington Post published a scathing editorial following Mamdani’s primary victory, warning that Mamdani’s economic policy will “hurt the people they are supposed to help.” It argues that the raised minimum wage would depress low-skilled employment, the rent freeze would decrease the housing supply and quality, taking away bus fares would decrease transit funding, and city-run stores would lead to poor service, shortages and closures of privately run stores. However, regardless of the potential efficacy of his economic agenda, his campaign’s success demonstrates that the current economy is failing many New Yorkers and is a top voter concern.
Safety of New Yorkers:
Mamdani has also pledged to ensure the safety and security of all New Yorkers. He promises to safeguard New York from the Trump administration’s attacks on LGBTQIA+ protections and end cooperation with U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has been raiding the city and targeting immigration courts. On X, President Trump has falsely claimed that Mamdani is in the United States illegally and threatened to arrest him if he interfered with New York ICE raids.
To combat crime, Mamdani pledges to establish a Department of Community Safety that will invest in mental health programs and crisis response. Mamdani says he will implement outreach programs at subway stations and expand gun violence prevention programs — a plan he says will reduce crime by preventing violence, rather than responding to it. Mamdani’s opponents consider him soft on crime, and have condemned him for resurfaced statements that contained anti-law enforcement sentiments. Mamdani has since walked back those statements. He has said he will keep moderate Jessica Tisch as police commissioner, due to her popularity among business leaders and top Democrats.
Mamdani has pledged to tackle antisemitism and stated, “As mayor, I will be standing up for Jewish New Yorkers and will be meeting them wherever they are across the five boroughs, whether it’s at their synagogues and temples or in their homes or at the subway platform.” While he has said that he believes “that Israel has a right to exist as a state with equal rights,” he has also been sharply critical of Israel’s military operations, which he has referred to as a genocide, and has expressed support for the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Prominent Republican leaders have portrayed Mamdani as dangerous to New Yorkers and accused him of supporting terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism. Stephen Miller wrote that Mamandi’s victory “is the clearest warning yet of what happens to a society when it fails to control migration.” Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene posted a cartoon of the Statue of Liberty wearing a burqa. Representative Nancy Mace posted a photo of Mamdani dressed in a kurta, writing, “After 9/11 we said ‘Never Forget.’ I think we sadly have forgotten.” Mamdani has received a barrage of threatening messages, including one that said, “The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.”
How did he win the Democratic Mayoral Primary and General Mayoral Election?
Despite these attacks, Mamdani has not shied away from discussing his identity. His campaign was multi-ethnic and multi-lingual, reflecting the broad cultural diversity of the city. He campaigned on the ground, and walked the length of Manhattan to drum up support. Viral clips showed Mamdani discussing policy in a humorous and personable manner while speaking to people at street corners and eating at food vendors. Despite being outspent on TV ads, slammed in newspaper editorial boards and starting the campaign unknown, Mamdani successfully built a strong social media presence and personally connected with voters.
In contrast to Mamdani’s energy, Cuomo, his main challenger, ran a relatively apathetic campaign, with limited public appearances, relying on his veteran experience and platform as the former New York governor. Cuomo resigned as governor of New York in 2021, after a New York Attorney General’s investigation found that he had “sexually harassed several current and former New York State employees.” He denied the allegations of sexual harassment and became a heavy favorite to win the primary after he announced his campaign for mayor. However, on the Democratic primary night, Mamdani’s dramatic lead over Cuomo became immediately apparent, with Cuomo conceding even before all the ranked-choice voting results were in. Mamdani won 56% after three rounds of ranked-choice voting tabulations, propelled by the support of the majority of Asian American, Latino and white voters, as well as young, college-educated, middle and upper-class voters. In the general election, more than 1 million voters cast their ballots for Mamdani; he won over 50% of the vote, beating Cuomo by almost 9 percentage points.
President Trump reacted to Mamdani’s win by threatening to cut federal funding to the city, referring to Mamdani as a “Communist Lunatic.” In his November 4th victory speech, Mamdani offered him four words: “Turn the volume up.” He ended his speech with a promise to fulfill his economic campaign pledges – freezing rent, free buses, and universal child care.
Over the next four years, New Yorkers, and the broader world, will see if he can deliver.
