The People S Strategy How Zohran Mamdani Won Social

What’s up, fam! I hope you all enjoyed the week, and if you’re in the NYC area, you managed to stay cool during the Heatwave! Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of taking over Rachel Karten ‘Link in Bio’ Tuesday newsletter! I shared my Instagram Saved strategy, thoughts on “World-building” in social, and more! Check it out here: Zohran Mamdani's masterclass social campaign

More content, trends, and brand moves that grabbed my attention. “My marketing team told me I had to record more trends for my book.” Actress Alyson Stoner sarcastically used internet trends to promote her new book “See I’m Well Adjusted.” In the video, she... It’s pretty entertaining. AI Videos are getting too real. Video generators like Google’s Veo 3 are pushing the limits of what generative video can do, creating content that blurs the line between reality and simulation. It’s lowkey getting out of hand.

At first glance, it’s getting harder and harder to tell if a video is real. NEW YORK − Some point to his viral social media clips. Others cite his Obama-esque profile, giving young voters something to believe in. Maybe it’s just his dimples. Zohran Mamdani shocked the political and business establishment by winning the Nov. 4 New York City mayoral election as a democratic socialist, leading many to wonder how it happened.

In interviews with allies, strategists and observers, Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblyman from Queens, ran a disciplined campaign across all five boroughs, flanked by an unusually large army of volunteers for a municipal race. His winning message offered easily understood ideas for cutting the cost of living in the notoriously expensive city and his universal outreach helped win over skeptical constituencies. It's a dramatic shift from moderate Mayor Eric Adams, who won just four years ago, and a flashback to Adams' progressive predecessor, Bill de Blasio, who ran on addressing economic inequality. Sitting on the subway and holding a MetroCard as a microphone, Zohran Mamdani had a hot take for New York City: He should be its next mayor. The scene was from a June “Subway Takes” TikTok video that amassed more than 3 million views — part of a broader push by Mamdani to meet voters where they lived online. By the time his grassroots campaign reached primary day, he had won the backing of major social media figures like Emily Ratajkowski and engaged with voters through popular accounts like Pop Crave.

Thousands expressed enthusiasm for his candidacy in comments on his dozens of social media videos, which experts say pitched his platform and personality to voters so convincingly that he outpaced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in polls before beating him in first-choice votes in the ranked-choice primary. (It may take a week or longer for the winner to be declared.) When Mamdani, a 33-year-old state lawmaker, announced his mayoral candidacy last fall, he was little-known and considered a long shot. He was a self-described democratic socialist and deeply critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza — factors that made him an unlikely Democratic candidate at a time when the party was veering away from left-leaning... But in the months leading up to Tuesday’s election, Mamdani skyrocketed from obscurity to internet fame, amassing more than 1 million followers on Instagram, as well as hundreds of thousands on TikTok and X.

Though his viral social media campaign has echoes of Kamala Harris’ own meme-filled presidential run, analysts say Mamdani’s exhibited key differences that helped usher him to an apparent victory. Inside the digital strategy that built New York City’s youngest and most dynamic mayoral coalition. New York City just made history, and only history will decide whether it is for better or worse. Either way, it happened online. Zohran Mamdani, 34, didn’t merely win a mayoral race; he engineered a citywide movement that migrated from screens to streets, turning likes, shares and short-form videos into votes. The story is in the data.

According to exit polls, Mamdani captured 78% of voters aged 18–29 and flipped neighborhoods that had been unreachable in the primary. In Kingsbridge, the Bronx, a two-point deficit became a 14-point lead; in Brownsville, Brooklyn, a 40-point loss turned into an 18-point win. Attention is a scarce currency, and New Yorkers are a notoriously difficult audience. Yet by mastering the algorithms that govern social media, Mamdani built a coalition that cut across age, race and borough. His campaign proved that in 2025, elections can be won the same way attention is: at scale, with precision and with energy. The 2025 mayoral victory of Zohran Kwame Mamdani in New York City represents more than a political upset — it signals a sociological transformation in the structure of urban democracy.

His success as a young, progressive, and Muslim candidate of Indian-Ugandan origin reveals how shifting demographics, economic pressures, identity politics, and generational realignments are redefining the contours of city politics. In a city long considered a laboratory of global diversity and economic inequality, Mamdani’s campaign marks a key moment in the sociology of modern urban life. His movement-based politics bridges grassroots mobilisation with digital activism, challenging traditional notions of power, governance, and belonging. This article examines the social dynamics, class factors, and ideological forces that shaped this unprecedented political development, and explores what it tells us about urban sociology in the 21st century. When Zohran Mamdani entered the 2025 mayoral race, few predicted his eventual victory. Initially polling in the low teens, his campaign soon transformed into a vibrant city-wide movement.

Within months, he overtook establishment figures, including former Governor Andrew Cuomo, by mobilising voters who felt unseen by mainstream politics. The key to Mamdani’s rise was his intersectional coalition — uniting young renters, immigrant workers, climate activists, and students under a common banner of affordability and justice. His team built relationships across class, ethnic, and neighbourhood lines, connecting diverse communities through shared material concerns: housing costs, public transit, and healthcare access. This cross-class mobilisation demonstrates what sociologists term “bridging social capital” — the ability to link heterogeneous groups through shared goals rather than identity alone. In contrast to traditional machine politics based on ethnicity or patronage, Mamdani’s base was ideological and participatory — an urban mosaic stitched together by economic anxiety and hope. You can just tweet Zohran Mamdani's name and immediately get 1000 likes.

The sentence above has been tried and tested, becoming the reason for several dozen viral posts. Zohran Mamdani, one of New York City's Democratic mayoral candidates, has been at the center of internet fervor for months leading up to the Democratic primary election taking place Tuesday, June 24. From influencer endorsements to "extremely wearable" merch, Mamdani has led a digital campaign that caught eyes and mobilized voters. Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, is the leading favorite in a race against Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who resigned in disgrace back in 2021 following allegations of sexual harassment. A poll released on Monday shows Mamdani passing Cuomo in a ranked-choice voting simulation, with Mamdani winning an estimated 52 percent against Cuomo's 48 percent. The survey, conducted by Emerson College Polling, PIX11, and The Hill, found that support for Mamdani surged over the last five months, from 1 percent to 32 percent.

And it was over these last five months that millions of social media feeds were flooded by Mamdani's presence. People in New York City will recognize the facets of his campaign immediately: Mamdani's name written in blue-and-orange tone bubble letters; grainy, aesthetic video footage of the candidate walking the length of Manhattan on... In these posts across the internet, Mamdani highlights what he hopes to deliver to New Yorkers: rent freezes, city-subsidized grocery stores, fare-free buses, and universal childcare. The candidate has spoken out for trans youth and mental health, protested against the war in the Middle East, condemned ICE snatching New Yorkers off the streets, and suggested wealthy New York corporations could... By using niche media channels and clever, relatable messaging, Mamdani connected with younger voters in record numbers, Suhas Vittal says. by Suhas Vittal, New Jersey City University 12 November 2025

Gen Zers showed up in droves to lead Zohran Mamdani to victory this past week. By utilizing social media, digital tools and non-traditional media outlets, the New York City Mayor elect reached and connected with Gen Z voters in innovative ways. In October 2024, a little known assemblyman launched one of the most effective mayoral campaigns to win the vote of the most populated city in the U.S. Mamdani’s strategy was so successful that he reached the $8 million dollar funding cap for political campaigns. By employing niche media channels, trends and clever messaging, Mamdani was able to resonate with younger voters who showed up at the polls to support him in record numbers.

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