5 Things to Know About Zohran Mamdani
When he first declared his candidacy for mayor last fall, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani was a state legislator with a thin résumé who was unknown to most New Yorkers.
Months later, he appears poised to become the Democratic Party's nominee for mayor, having bested a far better known and more experienced cast of candidates who had deep relationships with voters across New York City.
Mr. Mamdani's campaign focused intensely on the plight of working-class New Yorkers who were struggling with New York City's affordability crisis, most notably the skyrocketing costs of housing and child care.
Here is a look at his record and some important things to know about New York City's Democratic mayoral nominee:
A Fresh Voice, a Short Track Record
Mr. Mamdani beat a four-term incumbent in a close State Assembly primary in 2020. He joined a small group of lawmakers in Albany who were part of the Democratic Socialists of America's New York chapter. His agenda in Albany mirrored his campaign priorities, but of the 20-odd bills Mr. Mamdani has introduced in more than four years in Albany, just three relatively minor items have become law.
During the campaign, he talked extensively about a program to begin making city buses free that he had helped start. The pilot program lasted one year and was not renewed. Still, colleagues said his ideas had helped to move the ideological center of the Assembly to the left.
In Albany, he was one of the Legislature's youngest members. If elected mayor, he would be, at 34, the city's youngest leader since 1917, when John Purroy Mitchel, a reformer known as the 'Boy Mayor,' was elected and served one term. Mr. Mamdani's youth and fresh vision attracted a broad swath of progressive voters, even as his opponents focused on his relative lack of experience.
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In one video viewed over 5 million times on X, he explained New York City's ranked choice voting system – and criticized Cuomo, the former New York governor – speaking in Hindi, using mango lassi to analogize the ranked-choice voting process. Mamdani has flooded multiple platforms with his content, drawing more than one million followers across TikTok, Instagram, X and other social media sites. And he's joined new media shows, podcasts, and popular accounts to broaden his reach, such as a guest appearance with comedian Stavros Halkias the weekend before the election that drew more than 50,000 likes in less than a day. 'As Stavvy was saying, freezing the rent for rent-stabilized tenants, making the slowest buses in the country fast and free, delivering universal childcare. We can only do this, though, if you come out and vote,' Mamdani says in the short-form video. The effectiveness of the tactics used by Mamdani, the anti-establishment challenger, against Cuomo, the durable establishment favorite, offers a potential test case among the party's base voters in liberal New York City that will inform the next steps on Democrat's path forward. He raised $8 million (the fundraising cap set by the city's campaign finance rules) and dominated the field in contributions from small donors. Democratic soul-searching began quickly after 2024, as the party struggled to come to grips with the sophisticated media apparatus that President Donald Trump's campaign had built on his way to victory. Questions were posed about Trump's more successful pursuit of alternative media platforms, his penchant for viral moments, and his erosion of Democrats' long-running advantage with young voters and voters of color – demographics tuned into the channels Trump dominated. Many liberals cast about for a 'Joe Rogan of the left,' nodding to the president's valuable appearance with the popular podcast host in the weeks leading up to the election. 'Win or lose, Democrats would be smart to learn from Mamdani's example. He's meeting the moment with a populist, sticky message, an instinct for new media, and a command of the attention economy that's all too rare in Democratic politics today,' said Sawyer Hackett, a Democratic strategist with experience working on presidential campaigns. But Jesse Ferguson, a veteran Democratic strategist, cautioned Democrats against taking too many lessons from the high-profile contest in New York. 'These are good tactical innovations, but tactics aren't strategy, so Democrats shouldn't learn from any of these candidates and think the underlying problems are solved,' Ferguson said. The fights that have divided national Democrats showed up in the New York race. Former President Bill Clinton headlined establishment endorsements for Cuomo,. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – two progressives also known for their social media reach and their distance from party leaders – backed Mamdani. (Mamdani's appeared for a live video on Ocasio-Cortez's Instagram a few hours before polls closed Tuesday.) The Democratic National Committee stayed neutral. But ousted DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, the Gen Z activist pushed out of leadership after vowing to back younger primary challengers, was featured on Mamdani's social media. And his group, 'Leaders We Deserve,' gave $300,000 to an organization backing Mamdani. Hogg was at Mamdani's Election Night party Tuesday. So was Ella Emhoff, stepdaughter of the party's most recent presidential nominee, former Vice President Kamala Harris.
