Pulling off a stunning upset victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, has promised to lift up the city’s working class and serve as a model for the future of his party.
“Tonight, we made history,” said the son of Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia Professor Mahmood Mamdani, who would be the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor if elected in November. Both parents are Harvard alumni.
“I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City,” declared state assemblyman Mamdani, 33, who was leading 43% to 36% over former New York governor Andrew Cuomo with 95% of ballots counted. The primary in staunchly liberal New York is likely to determine who becomes mayor in November’s election.
Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 over allegations of sexual harassment, has conceded, but left the door open to running in the general election. Eric Adams, the sitting Democratic mayor opted out of the primary to run in November as an independent.
Cuomo was backed by big donors and centrist endorsements including former President Bill Clinton. His concession was unexpected because counting looks likely to continue next week under the ranked choice system, which allowed New Yorkers to pick up to five candidates in order of preference.
“A life of dignity should not be reserved for a fortunate few,” Mamdani said. “It should be one that city government guarantees for each and every New Yorker.”
READ: Zohran Mamdani upsets Cuomo in Democratic primary for New York City mayor (June 25, 2025)
He promised to use his power to “stop masked ICE agents from deporting our neighbors,” vowed to make buses “fast and free” and pledged to freeze the rent on regulated units.
The crowd of hundreds of his supporters, many of them young, clutched cocktails and beers in cups that dripped with condensation as they roared their approval in the midnight heat, the New York Times reported
Mamdani’s apparent victory represented a sharp rebuke of the Democratic Party establishment and business interests, which largely lined up behind Cuomo, according to the Times.
“We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford,” he said. “A city where they can do more than just struggle. One where those who toil in the night can enjoy the fruits of their labor in the day.”
Mamdani also alluded to concerns among some Jewish New Yorkers who find his anti-Israel rhetoric alienating. “There are millions of New Yorkers who have strong feelings about what happens overseas; I am one of them,” he said, to cheers from the crowd.
“While I will not abandon my beliefs or my commitments, grounded in a demand for equality, for humanity, for all those who walk this earth, you have my word to reach further, to understand the perspectives of those with whom I disagree, and to wrestle deeply with those disagreements.”
Throughout the campaign, Mamdani leveraged social media and his own substantial charisma to mobilize a large cohort of volunteers to hand out brightly colored campaign literature on street corners and at farmers’ markets.
READ: Who is Zohran Kwame Mamdani? A closer look at the NYC assemblyman and activist (June 23, 2025)
Born in Kampala, Uganda, Mamdani moved to New York with his family at age seven. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and later earned a degree in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College, where he co-founded the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
The millennial progressive, has leaned into his roots in a diverse city. He’s posted one campaign video entirely in Urdu and mixed in Bollywood film clips, according to BBC. In another, he speaks Spanish.
Mamdani and his wife, 27-year-old Brooklyn-based Syrian artist Rama Duwaji, met on the dating app Hinge.
“As life took its inevitable turns, with detours in film, rap, and writing,” reads his state assembly profile, “it was always organising that ensured that the events of our world would not lead him to despair, but to action.”
Before entering politics, he worked as a housing counsellor, helping low-income homeowners in Queens fight eviction.
Mamdani’s platform includes free public buses, universal childcare, freezing rent in subsidised units, and city-run grocery stores – all paid for by new taxes on the rich. His plan also includes “overhauling” the Mayor’s Office to hold property owners responsible and massively expanding permanently affordable housing.
Indian American lawmaker Pramila Jayapal celebrated Mamdani’s victory posting, “Something special is happening in New York. A people-powered movement has overcome massive Super PAC spending to put Zohran on track to be the Democratic nominee!”
“Mamdani stood up to billionaires — and the people stood with him! ” she wrote.
Former Democratic presidential aspirant Senator Bernie Sanders congratulated “Mamdani and his thousands of grassroots supporters for their extraordinary campaign.”
“You took on the political, economic and media Establishment- and you beat them. Now it’s on to victory in the general election,” he posted.
Photo: www.facebook.com
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