Zohran Mamdani What To Know About The Nyc Mayoral Candidate Npr

Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, celebrates at an election night event in New York early Wednesday morning as he takes an early lead. Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption Zohran Mamdani is poised to become the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, after leading in the city's ranked-choice primary on Tuesday. The 33-year-old state assemblymember and democratic socialist was virtually unknown when he jumped into the crowded primary field last fall. But he had recently skyrocketed in the polls, fueled by in-person interactions, viral videos and policy proposals that appear to have resonated especially among younger and first-time primary voters. "I think everyone is stunned and shocked by the unexpected nature of his victory," says Patrick Egan, a professor of politics and public policy at New York University.

"And I think one of the other notable things about that victory is that he won with a really progressive, liberal left-wing platform of the kind that we probably haven't ever seen in New... With 93% of precincts reporting, Mamdani garnered 44% of ballots — the most of the 11 candidates and far more than the 36% of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the one-time frontrunner. Cuomo conceded to Mamdani on Tuesday night, but has left the door open to run as an independent in November's general election. When Zohran Mamdani launched his mayoral campaign for New York City last year, many wrote off his chances. He's a South Asian Muslim Democratic socialist.

He faced resistance from his own party's establishment. Even The New York Times editorial board told voters not to support the 33-year-old. And even though Mamdani tried hard to keep affordability at the center of his campaign, others tried to define his identity with unsubstantiated claims that he would promote Islamic law, that he supports terrorism... "There are a lot of concerns based on a caricature of myself," Mamdani said on Morning Edition. "I don't blame New Yorkers for having that caricature because they've had to deal with more than $30 million of spending that paints me in that manner — that smears and slanders me, that... But for the most part New Yorkers didn't fall for it.

Mamdani is now the Democratic candidate after getting the most votes in the primary last week. He is one step closer to becoming mayor of the nation's largest city. Zohran Kwame Mamdani[c] (born October 18, 1991) is an American politician who is the mayor-elect of New York City. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, he is set to become New York's first Muslim and Asian American mayor. Mamdani has served as a member of the New York State Assembly for the 36th district since 2021, representing the Queens neighborhood of Astoria. Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair.

After spending three years in Cape Town, South Africa, when Mamdani was five to seven years old, his family moved to the United States, settling in New York City. Mamdani graduated from the Bronx High School of Science before receiving a bachelor's degree with a major in Africana studies from Bowdoin College in 2014. After working as a housing counselor and musician, Mamdani entered local New York City politics as a campaign manager for Khader El-Yateem and Ross Barkan. He was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020, defeating five-term incumbent Aravella Simotas in the Democratic primary. Representing Astoria and Long Island City, he was reelected without opposition in 2022 and 2024. In October 2024, Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City in the 2025 election.

He campaigned on an affordability-focused platform supporting fare-free city buses, universal public child care, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, additional affordable housing units, and a $30 minimum wage by 2030. He also expressed support for LGBTQ rights, comprehensive public safety reform, and tax increases on corporations and those earning above $1 million annually. He won the Democratic primary in June 2025, defeating former governor Andrew Cuomo in an upset, and was elected mayor in the November general election. Zohran Kwame Mamdani was born on October 18, 1991, in Kampala, Uganda, the only child of postcolonialist academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair.[12][13] He was given his middle name, Kwame, by his father... Zohran Mamdani is set to become the city's first Muslim mayor. After New York City chose Zohran Mamdani to become the city's 111th mayor, exit polls revealed that the mayor-elect captured the majority of votes from both the younger population and newcomers to the city.

Some experts said Mamdani's success with these voters resulted from his campaign's messaging about challenging the status quo. "He awakened something in them. That goes for the new voters and young voters, where they thought that they had to accept the status quo of politics as usual and things that are coming out of Washington, D.C., and... Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist, captured 78% of voters under 30 and 66% of those voters 30 to 44 in Tuesday's election, according to ABC News exit polls, conducted by SSRS. Among voters 45 to 64, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo edged out Mamdani, 53% to 47%.

A majority of voters 65 and older (55%) voted for Cuomo while 36% voted for Mamdani. Additionally, newcomers to the city were some of the most likely voters in the state to vote for Mamdani, with 81% of those who have lived in New York City less than 10 years... Zohran Mamdani reacts as he walks on stage to speak at a mayoral election night watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani tries to talk to pedestrians while surrounded by reporters in New York, Monday, Oct.

27, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Zohran Mamdani speaks after winning the mayoral election, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, right, walks off the stage with his mother, Mira Nair, second from right, his wife Rama Duwaji, and father Mahmood Mamdani, after making his acceptance speech at election night watch party,...

4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani talks with Rita Bellevue as she waits at a bus stop in New York, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) NEW YORK (AP) — When he announced his run for mayor back in October, Zohran Mamdani was a state lawmaker unknown to most New York City residents.

On Tuesday evening, the 33-year-old marked his stunning political ascension when he declared victory in the Democratic primary from a Queens rooftop bar after former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo conceded. Zohran Mamdani declared victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday night after Andrew Cuomo conceded the race in a stunning upset, as the young, progressive upstart built a substantial lead over the... While the race’s ultimate outcome has yet to be confirmed by a ranked choice count scheduled for July 1, here’s a look at the one-time rapper seeking to become the city’s first Muslim and... Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to Indian parents and became an American citizen in 2018, shortly after graduating college. Philip Marcelo, Associated Press Philip Marcelo, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — When he announced his run for mayor last October, Zohran Mamdani was a state lawmaker unknown to most New York City residents. But that was before the 34-year-old democratic socialist crashed the national political scene with a stunning upset over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June's Democratic primary. WATCH: Zohran Mamdani addresses supporters after winning NYC mayoral race On Tuesday, Mamdani completed his political ascension, again vanquishing Cuomo, as well as Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, in the general election. Zohran Mamdani is thirty-three years old—young enough that, despite not regularly working out, he has run the New York City Marathon twice in the past three years.

In 2022, his second year in the New York State Assembly, he ran wearing a T-shirt that read “Eric Adams Raised My Rent!” and finished in six hours and four minutes. Few spectators paid him any mind. Last year, less than a month after launching his mayoral campaign, he trotted through the city at a 12:54-per-mile pace, wearing the same T-shirt, with “Zohran Will Freeze It!” added to the back. Again, he caught barely anyone’s attention. This year, Marathon Sunday falls two days before the New York mayoral election. Polls have Mamdani fifteen points ahead of his nearest competitor, the former governor Andrew Cuomo.

Mamdani’s aides say that he’s not running the course this time, though it wouldn’t be out of character. His instinct is to be on the move, out in the city, where people can see him. To walk through New York with Mamdani this spring and summer has been to watch a star being born, a process that is as spectacular and gaseous on earth as it is in Heaven. On the morning of the primary, in June, Mamdani crisscrossed the city as fast as his new security detail could drive him. Giddy commuters on a subway platform in Jackson Heights missed their trains just to show him their “I Voted” stickers. Aboveground, he dispatched an aide to a nearby Indian restaurant, to pick him up paan, a betel-leaf wrap, which he chewed daintily, careful not to spill any of the filling on the dark suit...

In Inwood, even a pair of volunteers for Cuomo sheepishly stopped him for selfies. At a moment when the country is consumed with nativist fervor and New York appears a nest of cynical cronyism—eight months ago, Mayor Eric Adams agreed to go along with President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation... His win in the primary was a shock to the political establishment, and the powerful began to slink in his direction. Barack Obama gave him a call the next day. After a chilly summer courtship, Governor Kathy Hochul, a hypercautious moderate, warmly endorsed him. The Reverend Al Sharpton, who has not endorsed Mamdani or any other candidate, recently told me, “He has had the best entry into citywide politics of any candidate I have seen, probably, in my...

In certain ideological precincts, Mamdani’s name has become totemic—shorthand for everything wrong with New York, which itself is shorthand for everything wrong with America. Trump has called him a “100% Communist Lunatic” on Truth Social. Jeff Blau, the C.E.O. of the real-estate giant Related Companies, and his wife, the investor Lisa Blau, recently called for an emergency breakfast meeting of the wealthy. “If we fail to mobilize, the financial capital of the world risks being handed over to a socialist this November,” the invitation read. A real-estate lobbyist told me that he does not know anyone who is leaving the city because of Mamdani, though he does know “several who may pied-à-terre.” John Catsimatidis, a supermarket mogul and a...

Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries have held off on endorsing Mamdani, reportedly in part because of his criticism of Israel. Meanwhile, much of the rest of the city’s political class is jostling for position around him. Kathryn Wylde, the longtime head of the Partnership for New York City—a lobby group representing the city’s business leaders—brokered meetings this summer between Mamdani and her members; many remained skeptical, but some left with... “After I did the meetings with, say, three hundred executives, somebody asked me, ‘How would you rate their reactions on a scale of one to ten?’ ” Wylde told me. “I said, ‘One to ten.’ ” Patrick Gaspard, an Obama Administration official and the former president of the Center for American Progress, has been quietly advising Mamdani since last fall. He describes Mamdani as a prototype for a new generation of American politicians, forged in the Palestinian-rights movement.

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