Zohran Mamdani will be New York’s next mayor, becoming the first Muslim and South Asian-origin person — as well as the youngest in more than a century — to hold the office.
“The future is in our hands,” Mamdani declared amid thunderous applause on Tuesday night at a victory celebration in Brooklyn. “My friends, tonight we toppled a political dynasty.”
The 34-year-old socialist Democrat, born in Uganda, defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa in Tuesday’s election, according to the Associated Press tally.
It is a remarkable rise for Mamdani, who was a relatively unknown state assemblyman representing a district in Queens when he entered the crowded mayoral race last year. He ultimately won the June Democratic primary by 12 percentage points, quickly becoming one of the country’s most popular and polarizing politicians in the process.
Taking the stage on Tuesday night, Mamdani did not shy away from his socialist political views, opening his speech with a quote from Eugene Debs, a socialist politician who ran for president five times in the early 1900s.
“I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity,” Mamdani said, promising to improve conditions for New York workers.
Many of Mamdani’s young supporters who gathered in Brooklyn said they were touched by his optimism and promises that he would improve their lives. “I voted with my parents, it’s our tradition,” said Dania Darwish, 32, who described herself as a Syrian-American from Brooklyn.
“My mother cried all the way to the polling station,” Darwish added. “It was very emotional for all of us to see a candidate on the ballot who represents us.”
Some of Mamdani’s key campaign promises included making city buses free, freezing stabilized rents, providing universal childcare, raising the minimum wage by 2030, and reducing the cost of living by increasing taxes on large corporations and New York’s top 1%.
Mamdani also said he would confront President Trump, who criticized — and misrepresented — Mamdani as a communist and repeatedly threatened to cut federal funding to New York if he won.
In a concession speech that echoed the ominous themes of his campaign, Andrew Cuomo warned about antisemitism and disorder. “We need the police to keep society safe. We won’t make the NYPD the enemy,” Cuomo said, also condemning Mamdani’s embrace of socialism.
“We’re heading down a dangerous, dangerous road,” Cuomo said.
Critics pointed to Mamdani’s relative inexperience and the political challenges he would face in implementing his highly progressive ambitious agenda. And, despite his repeated rejections of antisemitism, his vocal and long-standing criticisms of the Israeli government and its actions in Gaza alienated some voters in a city that houses the largest Jewish community outside of Israel.
But Mamdani’s vision of a more affordable city, articulated through savvy social media videos and energetic in-person interactions, clearly resonated with young people and first-time voters (even outside New York).
He received endorsements from dozens of high-profile progressives, mobilized tens of thousands of campaign volunteers, and maintained a double-digit lead in polls right up to election day. Young voters, prone to support Mamdani, are credited with driving record early voting turnout.
Less than an hour after the polls closed on Tuesday, it was clear his efforts had paid off.
Source: npr.org by Rachel Treisman, Brian Mann