If Indian American filmmaker Mira Nair’s son wins in November, he would bag the biggest prize of Indian Americans leading major cities
Indian American Zohran Mamdani’s stunning upset victory over former New York governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, represents a seismic shift in Democratic politics, according to political observers.
If the son of Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia Professor Mahmood Mamdani, goes on to win the coveted office in the November election too — as a Democrat is expected to in the staunchly liberal New York — it would add more clout to the growing power of Indian Americans in U.S. politics.
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Riding progressive demands for change in a city facing an affordability crisis, the 33-year-old democratic socialist energized young voters and progressives with a campaign that could come to represent the first draft of a new playbook for Democrats still reeling from last November’s body blow from President Donald Trump’s victory, according to CNN.
A Mamdani “victory would be tantamount to a political earthquake that will reverberate across the country, as the Democratic Party — still reeling from its losses last year — tries to chart its path forward,” Politico suggested. It will also “likely be an historic triumph of the party’s left wing in the biggest city in the United States, for one of the highest-profile jobs in American politics.”
“The hard-fought local fight mirrors the national Democratic divide: A young, inexperienced socialist running on a hopeful message with the backing of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez versus a 67-year-old, three-term former New York governor who worked in Bill Clinton’s Cabinet and got the ex-president’s endorsement in the race’s waning days,” the political news outlet noted.
“It is also the most high-profile Democratic primary in the country since President Donald Trump won a second term seven months ago,” it noted. “Seen as a referendum on how Democrats should counter the White House, New Yorkers lined up in droves during nine days of early voting, many of them matching the profile of a prototypical Mamdani supporter: Young, white and in gentrifying areas of the city.”
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Preliminary returns from the elections board show two trends that buoyed Mamdani’s candidacy as well: Turnout was up by at least 5% compared to 2021. And the state lawmaker not only activated his base, but won sections of the city that do not typically break for a democratic socialist.
“South Asian voters in Queens who supported the moderate Adams in 2021 voted for Mamdani this time around, likely motivated by the possibility of electing the city’s first mayor of Asian descent,” Politico said noting Mamdani, who is Muslim, was born in Uganda to parents of Indian lineage.
He also won Latino neighborhoods in Queens. “His massive canvassing effort probably had a lot to do with that,” John Mollenkopf, director of the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center, referencing Mamdani’s significant Spanish-language GOTV operation, was quoted as saying.
After a few notable defeats or close calls in recent months, Tuesday night offered a much-needed shot in the arm for progressives, said the Hill noting Mamdani’s victory comes amid an intraparty battle between its progressive and establishment wings.
Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have sought to harness grassroots progressive energy around the country through appearances focused on ending American “oligarchy.”
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Key to Mamdani’s victory was his strong performance not just with groups with which he had been polling well, but also with groups that polls suggested weren’t as favorable to him, according to the Hill.
Polling had regularly shown Mamdani’s strengths to be with young voters, in particular millennials and those from Generation Z, while Cuomo relied on an aging population, it noted.
The surveys were in line with the party’s generational battle, as many Democrats have expressed frustration with its old guard and called for generational change.
Mamdani was also seen to be stronger with white voters and those with college degrees, the latter of whom increasingly are part of the Democratic base and are regular voters.
One question looming over the party after Tuesday night, according to the Hill, will be whether Democrats use Mamdani’s campaign as a guide moving forward in their own elections, particularly as he sought to create a diverse coalition of key voting blocs and energized young voters — some of the same ones the party struggled with last cycle.
If Mamdani goes on to win the coveted job in November, he would also bag the biggest prize of a growing number of Indian Americans leading major cities.
At least six Indian Americans are currently leading or have led major U.S. cities as mayors including Aftab Pureval in Cincinnati, Ron Nirenberg in San Antonio, Danny Avula in Richmond, Harry Sidhu in Anaheim, California, Ravinder Bhalla in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Bala K. Srinivas in Hollywood Park, Texas.