Zohran Kwame Mamdani is a state assembly member representing Astoria, US. He was elected first in 2020 as part of a wave of democratic socialists elected to the state legislature amid the upsurge over black lives. He is essentially a South Asian Muslim, born in Kampala, Uganda, in 1991. Prior to becoming a state legislator, he was a foreclosure specialist. He worked for social organisations assisting individuals who were under foreclosure in Queens, NYC. He was concerned with low-income homeowners. Just after he became a state legislator, he utilised his seat to fight for individuals who had fallen under severe debt burdens. Mamdani joined locals on hunger strikes to win a bailout package. Collaborating with US Senator Chuck Schumer, he worked to make a significant contribution at the city level.
Personal Background
Zohran Mamdani was born to a Shiite Muslim family in Uganda. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a professor and scholar of post-colonial studies from Columbia, and his mother, Mira Nair, is a renowned film director. After completing his elementary education at Bronx High School of Science, he went on to study Africana Studies at Bowdoin College. He, with his family, moved to New York City in the late 1990s mainly because of three significant reasons: his father received an academic opportunity to work in a prestigious institution, his mother, as a director, received additional creative opportunities in NYC, and for the qualitative educational upbringing of Zohran himself. Prior to his political career, despite being a social worker, Mamdani was a hip-hop rapper under Mr. Cardamom. He was granted US citizenship in 2018 and commenced his political career in 2020. Subsequently, in 2025, he was married to Rama Duwaji, a Syrian animator.
Campaign Strategy
As a political candidate, Zohran Mamdani visited areas in the Bronx and Queens, where, following the 2024 elections, a political shift towards the right wing was a stronghold. Democrats were shocked at this turn of the minorities, immigrants, and low-income groups. Zohran began his campaign at the grassroots level, wherein he interacted with the locals in the streets, deeply studying public views and opinions. Affordability was the outcome. In NYC, the food prices are higher, rents are significantly higher, the cost of bus travel is increasing further, the buses are too slow, etc. These realities at street level assisted Mamdani in developing his broader message for the mayoral campaign, which was all about affordability. The overall notion behind his campaign was to make it possible for individuals to reside in New York City as a non-billionaire/millionaire, as a working middle-class individual. Therefore, Zohran was able to come up with a campaign based on three key planks, including free buses, free child care, and freezing the rents.
Charismatic Personality
Zohran has a disproportionate amount of charisma as a person and as one who can speak to people where they are. He is incredibly warm with people, resonating deeply with their emotions and feelings. His ‘politics of no translation’ strategy worked for him in resonating deeply with immigrant communities. He created videos in Hindi, Bangla, and Spanish, going viral on TikTok, Instagram, and even WhatsApp groups with hundreds of thousands of views. All such videos and clips feature him engaging with locals, interacting with cab drivers, and visiting mosques and iftar parties during Ramadan.
This approach enables him to connect with individuals beyond the mainstream media. This was hugely appealing to voters. Secondly, endorsements from key public figures, i.e., Emily Ratajkowski and comic Kaneez Surka, helped him to attract a much wider fan base, especially among youth. Through his digital campaign, Zohran raised around 20,000 individual donors, outpacing those of his political rivals. The biggest move that Zohran took during his mayoral campaign was to start a long walk on local roads, even at late night. People were surprised and thrilled to witness a mayoral candidate strolling past and greeting them in a very routine, casual style.
Historic Win
If he succeeds in November, Zohran Mamdani will become the youngest South Asian Muslim to serve as the mayor of NYC. As of 2025, he received 56% of the votes in the third round of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) and defeated his popular political rival, Andrew Cuomo. His victory appears to be a landmark event since it marks a paradigm shift, introducing democratic-socialist standards into United States municipal politics. In the event that Zohran Mamdani is elected as the next mayor of New York City, President Donald Trump has threatened to deny the city federal funding. “Mamdani is a communist”, he continued. If he were elected, it would be catastrophic.
Ranked Choice Voting
A voting system in NYC, where the voters must vote for the candidates on a preference basis. They must rank candidates on first, second, or third choice. If any candidate obtains 50% of first-choice votes, he/she is elected as the winner. If no one obtains 50%, then the candidate with the lowest first choice is eliminated. Until one candidate has a majority, this process is repeated. This electoral system is structured to allow a broadly endorsed candidate to emerge victorious. Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) proved to be beneficial in the election of Mamdani. It enabled Mamdani to rally a committed base, ranked him as the second choice, and evaded being squeezed out by establishment candidates.
Pro-Palestinian Stance
During his election campaign, interviews, and podcasts, Zohran Mamdani espoused the cause of the Palestinians. In response to the question regarding the right of Israel to establish its state, Mamdani answered in the affirmative. However, in response to a question about going to Israel as mayor, he outright said he would not. Additionally, he is an ally of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement that has the objective of banning New York charities and donations from funding West Bank illegal settlements that are associated with the genocidal atrocities of Israel. Furthermore, in an interview, he categorically stated that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes to New York, he must be arrested under the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Jewish people living in the city of New York are not a monolith and have created an entity called Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, which is among the leading supporters and endorsers of Zohran Mamdani. They represent the minority of American Jews who believe that Israel is committing war crimes against the people of Gaza and the West Bank and that the overwhelming support for the state of Israel should be curbed. Because of such actions, American media have been repeatedly labelling Mamdani as ‘anti-Semitic.’ The moment he started his election campaign and fight, Mamdani and his family began receiving serious islamophobia death threats. Reuters’ report states that around 127 aggressive posts were published against Mamdani on a single day. Moreover, Mamdani has openly stated that he gets threatening messages and fearful lines that only a dead Muslim is a good one.
Conclusion
Zohran Mamdani’s election marked a significant shift in NYC politics. For the first time, a South Asian Muslim, holding a pro-Palestinian stance and publicly criticising Israel for its crimes against humanity, has entered the mayoral race. To conclude, general elections in November, surrounded by battles of identity, equity, and global diplomacy, would decide whether this historic ideological shift will sustain or not. Until today, the candidacy of Mamdani is at the centre of NYC’s municipal politics, with expectations and scandals.
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The views and opinions expressed in this article/paper are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Paradigm Shift.
He is pursuing a BS in International Relations programme from International Islamic University, Islamabad and has a keen interest in research works, policy analysis, defence and strategic studies and conflict resolution.