Zohran Mamdani is ruffling feathers in all the right places. The Democratic party nominee for NYC mayor is a democratic socialist and Muslim. Reports from today suggest that he is leading the favourite Andrew Cuomo. If he is elected mayor, he will be the youngest person to hold the title in over a century. His economic populist policies look set to shake up the establishment.
Some are speculating that the next (likely Democrat) mayor will have to butt heads with President Trump, who has threatened to ‘bend the city to his will’. Democrats ‘are desperate for pugilists right now’ — the question is, is Mamdani the man for the job?
A recent poll of over 800 likely Democratic primary voters from Data for Progress, a US left-wing think tank, political advocacy group and polling firm, conducted between May 30 and June 4, puts Mamdani only two points behind Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani led Cuomo most strongly with white and Asian voters as well as those under 45. This poll was before Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed him on June 5. A more recent poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling for Democrat Justin Brannan’s city comptroller campaign and reviewed and published by POLITICO on June 11, found that Mamdani had overtaken Cuomo, leading by 35 to 31 percent.
Who is Zohran Mamdani?
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, but has lived in New York since he was seven. His father is of Indian-Ugandan descent and works as a postcolonial studies professor at Columbia University. His mother is an Indian-American film maker of Punjabi Sikh descent.
Mamdani has been an Assemblyman for New York’s 36th State Assembly district in Queens since 2021. His campaign site notes that ‘he has fought for the working class in and outside the legislature: hunger striking alongside taxi drivers to achieve more than $450 million in transformative debt relief’. He also helped to organize New Yorkers to defeat a proposed dirty power plant.
Mamdani is young. At 33, he is only a few years older than Gen Zs, who are flocking to him in droves. He brings a youthful vigour to what can often seem like a tired system. His predecessors come from more distinguished pedigrees, there is no doubt: Bloomberg was a billionaire businessman, Giuliani a prosecutor, incumbent mayor Adams a police captain and state senator. Yet these politicians have been mired in controversy: Adams was accused of bribery, fraud and making a spectacle out of Luigi Mangione’s perp walk.
Former governor Cuomo was accused of sexual harassment, something which Mamdani highlighted in a recent debate. ‘Mr Cuomo, I have never had to resign in disgrace; I have never cut Medicaid; I have never stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from the MTA; I have never hounded the 13 women who credibly accused me of sexual harassment … and I have never done those things because I am not you, Mr Cuomo.’ Mamdani’s success isn’t found in his qualifications or experience, but in his radical ideas and clever campaigning.
Mamdani’s Housing Policies and Gen Z Appeal
In the Democrats’ final mayoral debate on June 12, Mamdani batted away jabs from Cuomo, his more experienced opponent.
‘If you turned on your television 20 years ago, you would have heard the same tired, failed policies you’ll hear from politicians tonight … ‘it’s time for a new generation of leadership.’
The mayoral hopeful seeks to deliver on his campaign slogan ‘a city we can afford’ by tackling the exorbitant cost of living in the city. Addressing the day-to-day financial burdens residents experience inhabiting one of the world’s most expensive cities appeals to less wealthy Gen Z voters.
The Hill notes that NYC is the most expensive place in the country to rent, with a one bedroom apartment typically costing $4,280. Rent has increased by 5.9% in the last year. The campaign website notes that ‘a majority of New Yorkers are tenants, and more than two million of them live in rent-stabilized apartments.’ Three in four New Yorkers want a rent freeze.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander’s website noted the strain for working people in January 2024. ‘A household would need to earn $140,000 or more to not be rent-burdened (defined as paying 30% or more of income on rent). This income level is nearly double the median NYC household income level in 2022.’
Mamdani promises to freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants. He takes a jab at the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, who has ‘has taken every opportunity to squeeze tenants … jacking up rents on stabilized apartments by 9% (and counting)’. He also intends to overhaul the Mayor’s Office to Protect tenants. This would improve the quality of living conditions by cracking down on unethical landlords.
Other Policies
Mamdani has pledged fast, free buses. His website notes that ‘one in five New Yorkers struggle to afford the ever-rising fare’; ‘adding insult to injury: our city’s buses are the slowest in the nation’. He hopes to add priority lanes and expand bus queue jump signals, among other initiatives.
Other policies include implementing no-cost childcare, which the site claims is the biggest cost for families after rent. He also promises to tax large corporations and wealthy individuals.
Reminiscent of Eric Adams’ campaign promises to fight crime, though significantly different than the incumbent’s law-and-order approach, Mamdani pledges to establish The Department for Community Safety to crack down on violence through prevention: by investing in mental health programs, medical services and expanding ‘evidence-based gun violence prevention programs’, among other things.
His most radical policy is possibly the plan to create a network of city-owned grocery stores. This initiative, he claims, ‘two-thirds of New Yorkers support’. In a series of videos shared on X, his presence, comfortability on camera and snappy edits demonstrate his natural zeal for social media and appeal to Gen Z. To counteract the inflated food prices brought on by the Trump administration’s mismanagement, he proposes making this affordable for New Yorkers by buying and selling at wholesale prices, centralizing warehousing and distribution and partnering with local neighbourhoods on products and sourcing.
Vested Interests and Lobbies
Who is Mamdani up against? In a recent post on X, Mamdani suggests a collusion between centrist Democrats and Republican lobbyists, bonded by financial incentives:
‘My campaign is not funded by the very billionaires that put Trump in DC’.
Cuomo funders include Alice Walton (the world’s richest woman); billionaire John B. Hess, a frequent Republican donor; real-estate developer and landlord Peter Fine; and Ken Langone, Home Depot co-founder and prolific Republican donor. Mamdani points out that DoorDash contributed $1 million to Cuomo’s mayoral bid. This would be a significant conflict of interest when Cuomo is responsible for ‘street safety regulations and your labor regulations’.
Criticisms and Smears
Mamdani is constantly called upon to disavow aspects of his identity and is subject to Islamophobic jibes. Critics have demanded that he denounce Iran’s most recent military retaliations against Israel, branding him antisemitic. Mamdani says he is holding Israel to account. He is also asked to defend his political ideology. Though he is running for the Democratic party, he is labeled a dangerous Communist.
Recently, Mamdani took to X to denounce the targeted attack from Cuomo-aligned superPAC (funding body). Taking a page from Hysteria Playbook 101, it circulated edited images of him with a stronger beard, and darkened complexion.
Andrew Cuomo is afraid he'll lose, so his donors want you to fear me.
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 12, 2025
His SuperPAC just sent out a mailer that artificially lengthened and darkened my beard.
This is blatant Islamophobia—the kind of racism that explains why MAGA billionaires support his campaign. pic.twitter.com/5nqWKnbKy9
Mamdani hit back at the smear, calling it ‘blatant Islamophobia.’ He slammed it as ‘the kind of racism that explains why MAGA billionaires support [Cuomo’s] campaign.’
Mamdani is gaining on Cuomo. In a nonpartisan Marist poll in May, he slashed Cuomo’s lead by nearly half. Experts say this is due to his consolidating progressives and making inroads with Latino voters. Despite this, Cuomo is still leading across the vast majority of polls.
It is worth remembering that polling is often partisan. With Cuomo’s side having deeper pockets, we may be looking at a systematic misrepresentation of Mamdani, and his chances. ‘Mamdani is clearly in Cuomo’s rearview mirror’, said Lee M. Miringoff, who runs the Marist poll. ‘What’s the line? Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear.’
Something of a cult of Mamdani is forming. His populist rhetoric has attracted wide support. Twenty thousand voters have donated an average of $80 to his campaign; breaking fundraising records. Though on the other end of the political spectrum to MAGA and Trump, devoted Mamdanites are growing in number, and their leader appears to be the best rebuff to the President’s latest whims.
