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The Surprising Part About Mamdani S Win City Journal Org

Bonisiwe Shabane
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the surprising part about mamdani s win city journal org

The racial demographics of his winning coalition resembled President Trump’s from 2024. On Tuesday, 34-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoralty, defeating former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa by about nine and 43 percentage points, respectively. That outcome, more or less, was expected. Since June’s Democratic primary, polls, including one published by the Manhattan Institute last week, had predicted victory for the Queens assemblyman. The election held a more surprising result: the racial demographics of Mamdani’s winning coalition resembled President Trump’s from 2024. This was key to his success and the product of a deliberate strategy to engage New York’s ethnic communities on a granular basis.

According to a New York Times analysis, Mamdani won majority-black precincts by 26 percentage points, majority Hispanic by 20 percentage points, and majority Asian by 4 percentage points. This performance marks a significant improvement compared with the primary, in which he won majority-Hispanic precincts by 8 percentage points and actually lost majority-black precincts to Cuomo by 16 percentage points. Similarly, Trump owed his reelection last year in large part to historic gains among nonwhite Americans. He almost doubled his support among black voters from 8 percent in 2020 to 15 percent in 2024 and effectively matched Kamala Harris among Hispanic voters, losing by only 3 percentage points. Zohran Mamdani’s upset win in the Democratic mayoral primary was driven by voters in crunchy granola Brooklyn neighborhoods — but the socialist also made surprising gains among black and Hispanic New Yorkers. The 33-year-old Queens assemblyman wiped the floor with former Gov.

Andrew Cuomo in the brownstone liberal bastions of Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene and the surrounding, predominantly white areas, early data from Tuesday’s primary shows. But Mamdani also fared better than predicted with voters who don’t traditionally back Democratic socialists. He made inroads in black and Hispanic neighborhoods across the city where Cuomo expected to coast to victory on the backing of more middle-of-the-road Democratic voters, said John Mollenkopf, director of the Center for... “Mamdani developed a much broader coalition than you might have expected from the fact he was a (Democratic Socialists of America) candidate,” he said. November 4, 2025 will be remembered as the day Wall Street elected a socialist mayor. Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City, winning more votes than any mayoral candidate since 1965—including a majority in the Financial District.

It’s easy to dismiss Mamdani’s victory as a one-off in an overwhelmingly liberal city. His main opponent, Andrew Cuomo, was a deeply flawed candidate–responsible for disastrous COVID policy that killed 12,000 nursing home patients and credibly accused of sexually harassing 13 women. Mamdani, telegenic and energetic, hammered both points mercilessly. Cuomo, by contrast, ran a lethargic and late campaign. To boot, withdrawn candidates like current mayor Eric Adams still appeared on the ballot, further confusing the antisocialist vote. But Mamdani’s victory is certainly far more than that.

For it proves that Millennial American elites are willing to vote for—indeed, even to spearhead—socialism. To understand Mamdani’s victory, you must first grasp the role of the city, the polis. New York has flown three flags in its history: Dutch, English, and now American. It existed before America, and will continue to exist when we become a space-faring civilization. Since time immemorial, cities have been important because they attract important people. Two thousand years ago, though much of the Roman Empire was farmland, you could visit the City of the Seven Hills and see civilization—roads and rhetoric, the monuments to mere subsistence transcended.

Cities, then as now, are where politics come to life, where man’s future is decided. Why, then, does New York City matter? This century belongs to the Pacific, not the Atlantic; both San Francisco and Shenzhen stand to play a much bigger role in the affairs of man than New York. But the Empire City remains home to America's elite class (outside technology and perhaps politics), and this makes it worthwhile to study. Updated on: November 5, 2025 / 11:32 AM EST / CBS New York Mamdani promised to bring New York City into an age of "relentless improvement" as he claimed victory in the mayoral race late Tuesday night.

He said his win was one for the working people of New York and reiterated his campaign promises on affordability. "Let the words we've spoken together, the dreams we've dreamt together, become the agenda we deliver together," Mamdani said. "New York, this power, it's yours. This city belongs to you. Thank you." To watch his full victory speech, click here.

Interview with John Tarleton, editor-in-chief of The Indypendent, New York City's free progressive monthly newspaper, conducted by Scott Harris New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani surprised many with his decisive victory over former disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the June 24 Democratic party New York City mayoral primary election. Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, ran a positive, media savvy campaign pledging to make affordability in one of America’s most expensive cities, his number one priority. Mamdani’s win was historic in that he won more votes than any other candidate in the city’s primary election history. Mamdani defeated Cuomo by 12 points in the final ranked-choice vote count, thanks largely to enthusiastic support from young voters.

The 33-year-old candidate, who was born in Uganda into an Indian family that emigrated to South Africa, then the U.S. when he was seven years old, has pledged to make bus service free, freeze rents on stabilized apartments, build city-owned grocery stores and offer free early childcare. While Mamdani has promised to fight antisemitism, he’s criticized Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and its conduct in the war in Gaza — a view that has stoked opposition among some Jewish political groups such... Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with John Tarleton, editor-in-chief of The Indypendent, New York City’s free progressive monthly newspaper. Here, he discusses how Mamdani overcame the odds to win the mayoral primary, the obstacles ahead in the November election where he’ll face Cuomo, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa – and... JOHN TARLETON: Zohran ran for a state assembly seat in Western Queens against a five-term incumbent in 2020 — who had the backing of all the kind of traditional power centers — you know,...

And one of those kind of early moments was he participated in a 15-day hunger strike organized by taxi drivers here in New York, who had essentially been financially swindled by the city and... Forwarded this email? Sign up for free to have it sent directly to your inbox. NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI ON ELECTION NIGHT. (MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO VIA GETTY IMAGES)

The Democratic primary was on June 24, and — it looks like we could have a socialist mayor. We need to talk about that. Thanks for reading! The Democrats have spoken: Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old socialist Assemblymember from Queens, will be their nominee in November’s mayoral election—a result made clear when former governor Andrew Cuomo conceded on election night. City Comptroller Brad Lander, emerging from the party’s progressive technocrat wing, was the only other significant candidate left, his base overlaps and his mutual endorsement with Mamdani ensures an easy majority for the frontrunner... His voters look a lot like Trump supporters.

Forwarded this email? Sign up for free to have it sent directly to your inbox. Today, we’re looking at the voters who supported Zohran Mamdani, a turning point for the pro-housing movement in New York, the lesson from Andrew Cuomo’s loss, and a review of Randi Weingarten’s new book. Write to us at editors@city-journal.org with questions or comments. One of the more surprising aspects of Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City? The racial demographics of his supporters resembled President Trump’s voters from 2024.

“Mamdani won majority-black precincts by 26 percentage points, majority Hispanic by 20 percentage points, and majority Asian by 4 percentage points,” Renu Mukherjee observes. “Similarly, Trump owed his reelection last year in large part to historic gains among nonwhite Americans.” In New York, Trump’s support among majority black and Hispanic areas grew by 46 percent and 55 percent,...

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