Rabat – On Tuesday the democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won New York’s mayoral race as the youngest, first Muslim and south Asian New York mayor, defeating the former governor Andrew Cuomo twice — first in the Democratic primary, and then in the general election.
According to the NYC mayoral election results, Mamdani received 1,029,196 votes, which is 50.4%, in the general election.
The first mayor born in Africa, first of South Asian heritage
Zohran Kwame Mamdani is a politician and activist, born and raised in Kampala, Uganda. He moved with his parents to NYC at the age of seven. Both his parents are from India; his mother, Mira Nair, is an Indian film director and producer. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is anthropologist and professor.
From the beginning, Mamdani was a promising, proactive leader. Alongside his degree in Africana studies, he was an arts’ enthusiast. In high school, he cofounded his school’s first cricket team, and played cricket and soccer throughout college. His artistic side was evident with his work alongside his mother on her film sets, and his hip-hop collaboration with a friend.
Mamdani has always been strongly expressive in his views. In college, he co-founded the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a pro-Palestinian student activism organization, in which they addressed Israeli violations of human rights and participated in events and protests, acting as the campus’ voice for the Palestinian struggle.
In 2018 Mamdani became a naturalized American citizen. In his early professional positions, he worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor in which he assisted low-income homeowners across Queens, fighting alongside them so they did not lose their homes.
Political involvement
In 2015, Mamdani volunteered in the political campaign for the special elections of the 23rd district of the NYC Council. Afterwards, he joined the NYC chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in 2017, where he served as a manager for numerous political campaigns — one of which renowned Lutheran pastor and Palestinian-American community organizer, Khader El‑Yateem, ran in the 2017 Democratic Party for the NYC Council.
Inspired by his experience in political campaigning, Mamdani created his own. In 2019 he announced his run for candidacy in NY‘s 36th State Assembly district, representing the Queens neighborhood of Astoria. He won in 2020, and was reelected twice. Mamdani was the first South Asian and third Muslim member of the NYS Assembly.
Mamdani’s 2025 political campaign results in victory
Mamdani ran as a democratic socialist in the 2025 NYC Mayoral Election. At the heart of his campaign is the idea that “this campaign is for every person who believes in the dignity of their neighbors and that the government’s job is to actually make our lives better.”
His political campaign was characterized by using social media platforms, which attracted an impressive audience, and built a constituency made up of young New Yorkers. He shared videos and followed trends in collaboration with influencers, artists, and politicians. Mamdani also shared videos of his direct engagement with people in public, highlighting the importance of such face-to-face interactions in politics.
Mamdani has excelled in reaching the different linguistic and cultural groups which make up NYC. He made various content in English, Hindi, Spanish, Urdu and even Arabic, ensuring his messages were communicated and received by all targets. He said, “We ran a campaign that tried to talk to every New Yorker, whether I could speak their language or simply tried.”
He targeted both older and younger voters, emphasizing the restoration of public trust in politics and lawmakers. His successful social media campaign and promise for transparent politics helped his polling numbers go from 1% to an astounding 46%.
Campaign promises
Mamdani promised New Yorkers policies such as rent freezes, free buses, no-cost universal childcare, city-owned grocery stores, and — perhaps the most controversial — raising taxes by 1% on big corporations, companies, and the wealthiest New Yorkers.
Mamdani’s campaign targeted one of NY’s biggest crises: increased rent prices. He proposed freezing rent increases for all rent‑stabilized units, stating that he will “immediately freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent.”
Mamdani promises fast, fare-free buses, given that NY has the slowest buses in the nation, and lacks serious safety measures. “He’ll permanently eliminate the fare on every city bus — and make them faster by rapidly building priority lanes, expanding bus queue jump signals, and dedicated loading zones to keep double parkers out of the way” stated his campaign website.
To lower the cost of living for working class New Yorkers, Mamdani suggested a revenue-raising plan to achieve his election promises. Within his campaign promises, he said he will raise the corporate tax rate, bringing in $5 billion, and tax the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers – those earning above $1 million – annually.
What this means on a larger scale
Mamdani’s victory is an incredible feat. He claims many “firsts” as Mayor of New York — first Muslim mayor, first mayor born in Africa, and youngest mayor of NY in nearly a century. Whoever is the mayor of NY has always been a political barometer for the United States as a whole, and his campaign changes the fabric of the Democratic party — some say for the better, others not so much.
US President Donald Trump has been critical of Mamdani, calling him a “communist.” He even threatened to cut NY federal spending if Mamdani won, which is against US law. Mamdani’s victory poses a clear challenge to Trump’s agenda and the larger state of the federal government and Republican party.
Mamdani’s pro-Palestine stance has also sparked debate, with many claiming that the massive Jewish population of New York would feel marginalized by his campaign.
This speculation was evidently wrong, as an earlier poll showed nearly 70% of Jewish voters under the age of 44 supported Mamdani’s campaign. Trump, hypocritically, called Jewish voters that supported Mamdani, “stupid.”
These polls, statistics, and Mamdani’s victory as a whole, further show that his dazzling community engagement with New York’s diverse communities overcomes the division and polarization that the current president is attempting to instill throughout the country.
