Zohran Mamdani has attracted attention in the crowded race for New York City mayors, rising in polls and raising money by mastering social media convergence and candid speech.
He has conducted home visits to thousands of small donors and has dropped a New Year's Day into the ocean to dramatize rents. He quickly broke Ramadan by eating burritos on the Q train and then artificially apologized for violations of subway etiquette – all of which are more reminiscent of “Saturday Night Live” than political ads.
But for Mr. Mamdani, 33, of Queens, winning the Democratic primary in June is still a tough challenge, and it's not just a challenge to try to turn social media viral into a vote.
Although his many progressive competitors in the race have adopted more centrist stances on certain issues such as policing and public safety, the democratic socialist Mr. Mamdani continues to embrace left-leaning views, which are less prevalent in New York by voters.
However, it proved to be an effective campaign strategy. Mr. Mamdani has become the standard man for progressive Democrats, and he is his more experienced competitor, most notably former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams and Brad Lander.
But winning the election on the super progress platform will be a challenge. Mr. Mamdani acknowledged this and knew he had to put his supporters, many outside of the city's traditional power structure, into trouble.
In primary elections where turnout is rarely seen exceeding a quarter of qualified voters, winning a new voter could have a huge impact on Mr. Mandani in its results.
In a recent campaign against the MAS Bronx Muslim Centre in the small Yemeni community in the East Bronx, Mr Mamdani begged those who gather to make the most of their electoral powers. According to the U.S. Council on Islamic Relations, about one million Muslims in New York are registered as votes. But in the last mayoral election, only about 12% of the people voted.
“I don't blame anyone in our community for not voting because there isn't a lot of votes to vote,” Mr Mamdani told a panel of about 100 people. “But on June 24 this year, in this Democratic primary, we had the opportunity (a chance) to tell the world that Muslims belong not only to New York City, but to City Hall.”
He asked his companions if they had enough money to pay for rent, groceries, child care and electricity bills. Many people sat under intense attention and nodded as they spoke. He recited the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, and believed that their common goal should be to make people's lives better.
“Spread the news of joy,” Mr Mamdani told the group, explaining that his campaign focused on making the city more affordable, calling it “a movement that allows New Yorkers to dream again.”
Mr Mamdani highlighted the core staples of his campaign: free buses, rent freezes and city-owned grocery stores.
Campaigns are often targeted at the so-called triple main voters who vote in three straight primary elections. Mr. Mamdani turned his attention to those who did not often hear political movements. He dares to bet that his relentless focus on the cost of living will resonate with people ignored by the administration – a strategy he hopes will attract strategies that are unhappy with Trump voters, especially in working-class communities outside of Manhattan.
Even the conservative Manhattan Academy recognized Mr. Mandani’s momentum on the grounds that his attraction to the pollster of these companies, John Della Volpe, the social company’s John Della Volpe, was called “The Dissatisfied Fight” (“The Dissatisfied Fight”) – New Yorkers of the working class who were progressive but worried about public safety and thought it was too difficult to make progress.
“I want you to accept the idea that socialist Zohran Mamdani can actually be the mayor of New York City,” the Manhattan College newsletter read. “I know it sounds crazy, but we live in strange times.”
Mr. Mamdani has raised about $7 million since participating in the competition in October, including public matching funds. Despite his once restricted name recognition, he now has more than 16,000 individual donors. Most polls show third place, behind Mr. Adams and the candidate’s political genealogy.
“He's excited among voters and doesn't always see himself reflected in the leadership of New York City,” said Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the Left Working Family Party. “He's talking to a group of voters who are happy to have a candidate with their values, people who look like them, from their communities, and he tends to. ”
Younger voters are more frequent. According to the New York City Campaign Finance Committee's findings, voters under the age of 40 voted in the 2021 mayor's primary election. Overall turnout is about 27% of registered voters, the highest in recent elections.
Based on the ranking selected system, which allows voters to select up to five candidates based on priorities, the expansion of Mr. Mamdani’s base can help some of his more interested competitors. If he ranks third or worse, his vote could be attributed to his supporters' next candidate.
Mr. Mamdani has promised to cross the adverb at least one yet-unnamed opponent to stop Mr. Cuomo's momentum, with a large turnout. The Working Family Party will also recognize a large number of progressive candidates and encourage voters to “dream” – not rank Eric or Andrew for mayors. Several candidates, including Mr. Mamdani, supported the idea.
Mr. Cuomo has made his campaign's “most left” character to compete without mentioning Mr. Mandani's name. The former governor often awarded police officers “the stupidest words ever written in politics”, despite signing some police reforms into law. By contrast, Mr. Mamdani called for some reductions in areas such as his Communications Office and Strategic Response Team.
Mr. Mandani’s propaganda for young voters in Brooklyn and Queens, South Asian voters and Muslims’ interest has increased voters’ interest, which may expand in recent memory.
“His policy advice doesn't seem radical,” Mr. Yang said. “The only fundamental thing about Zoran is his open democratic socialist affiliation.”
New York City democratic socialists believe this is positive. The group's leaders said that since recognizing Mr Mamdani in October, the group has added 1,500 new members from more diverse races and age groups. They noted that Mr. Mamdani had a fierce confrontation with Tom Homan, the White House’s top immigration executive, at the Capitol in Albany, which he successfully caused frustration among many New Yorkers.
“People want to fight, defend their rights and fight the Trump administration's authoritarian policies,” said Gustavo Gordillo, the group's co-chairman. “But that's not enough – we also have a vision of offensiveness, and Zoran's campaign provides the tools for that vision.”
Some of Mr. Mandani's competitors have noticed his potential and tried to attack where he might be vulnerable.
New York City is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel, and Mr. Mandani has been criticized for accusing Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza war. He sponsored a bill that would prohibit New York charities from funding certain organizations, which he said was related to “Israel war crimes.”
Whitney Tilson, hedge fund manager and mayoral candidate, recently sent a fundraising email with the subject line “Stop Mamdani” citing his “left-wing platform” “targeting the New York Police Department and Fiery Eltoric in Israel” and has been supported by a professor at Columbia University whose father is a professor. The Trump administration accused the university of quelling anti-Semitism deficiency on campus.
But Mr. Mandani's opponents also have their own vulnerability.
In some of the mosques that Mr. Mamdani appeared, members contacted him in stories and occasional photos of Mr. Adams talking to him. They recall how the mayor talked about growing up in a working-class family and promised his administration would “deliver their rejected dignity” at the Town Hall.
“The reason for our moment is that he betrayed those voters,” Mandani said of the mayor. “We are working hard to deliver on our promise.”
