Grassroots surge: How an underdog candidate toppled a political giant in NYC primary
On the tense final night of New York's Democratic mayoral primary, with polls closing soon, candidate Zohran Mamdani wasn't holed up in a campaign war room. He was scrambling in a Brooklyn park, searching for a ride after sending his own driver to help last-minute voters.
Campaign volunteer Charlie Dulik spotted him, according to an AP report. "He said he'd met some kids in the park who still hadn't voted, so he sent his personal driver to get them to a poll site," Dulik recalled. Mamdani hopped into Dulik's 2007 Toyota Highlander instead. Hanging through the sunroof, he made frantic last-minute appeals to passing pedestrians and cyclists, repeatedly shouting, "It's razor thin!"
That raw energy foreshadowed a seismic political upset. While votes are still being finalized, Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist and two-term state assemblyman largely unknown citywide a year ago, appears to have defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The victory stunned the Democratic establishment, leaving many asking how a candidate with less funding and experience outmaneuvered a political heavyweight.
Those inside Mamdani's camp saw it coming. They point to a candidate seemingly everywhere – talking directly to New Yorkers – and a massive, disciplined volunteer operation that relentlessly pushed his affordability-focused message.
Mamdani's win highlights a stark contrast in campaign strategies. While Mamdani embraced the streets, Cuomo, who resigned four years ago amid sexual harassment allegations, ran a notably insular campaign. He rarely published public schedules, avoided reporters, and skipped most candidate forums. Though he received fewer individual donations than Mamdani, a super PAC poured over $25 million into ads portraying a city in chaos.
"He was running a Rose Garden strategy that might've suited him as governor, but voters expect an intimacy from the mayor of New York City," explained Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist and Columbia professor. "They want to see you at the subway stop, the local pizza shop, at church."
Smikle noted even Cuomo's union backers lacked visible enthusiasm, while Mamdani's campaign channeled both "anger toward the current party and hopefulness in the street." Some voters, like former Cuomo supporter Michelle Hemmings Harrington, 70, felt the former governor was "taking our votes for granted," especially compared to the swarm of Mamdani volunteers at her polling site.
Facing low name recognition when he launched his campaign late last year, Mamdani set an audacious goal: knock on one million doors. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which counts Mamdani as a member and has experience from campaigns like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's, spearheaded the massive volunteer effort.
They used apps to track every door knock and enable "relational organizing" – volunteers texting contacts to ensure voting plans. Supporters set up shop at concerts and bars, hosting events like a "Mamdani lookalike contest" to engage younger voters. Volunteers even earned a "ZetroCard" (a play on the MetroCard) to log their canvassing shifts.
"It felt joyous and optimistic at a time when people are feeling really scared and disillusioned by the state of the world," said lead field canvasser Jason Halal, emphasizing that a relentless ground game was the campaign's backbone 'from the very beginning.'
The volunteer force exploded as Mamdani gained traction. "People would come to us who never even thought of canvassing... they wanted to be part of this," said Alvaro Lopez, electoral coordinator for NYC-DSA. "We went from basically 300 volunteers in December to being able to launch canvases throughout the city with over 10,000 people."
The message resonated widely. Lopez recounted meeting a 100-year-old former city employee in East Williamsburg. She hadn't heard of Mamdani initially, but by the end of their conversation, she wanted to contribute however she could. "Canvassing is about bringing ideas to people that can make them feel like they're part of a broader political project," Lopez explained. 'She felt like it was time for a change.'
As Mamdani turns towards the November general election, his team signals a clear plan: double down on the same boots-on-the-ground, people-powered strategy that just delivered one of New York's most surprising primary upsets.
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