A day before New York City’s mayoral primary election, all eyes are on Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist candidate looking to topple former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to be on the Democratic ticket.
Mamdani, who serves as a state Assemblymember, has seemingly closed Cuomo’s longtime lead in the contest. Polling in the race has gotten tighter and tighter as Mamdani’s momentum has surged, and a poll published Monday shows Mamdani emerging victorious from its ranked choice voting simulation, ending with 52% compared to Cuomo’s 48%.
The winner of the primary will go up against current Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent after scandal and an indictment have marred his time in office.
Mamdani has presented himself as an anti-status quo alternative to Cuomo—and an opponent of President Donald Trump. The 33-year old Assemblymember, born in Uganda and raised in New York City, has vowed to be “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare” as a “progressive Muslim immigrant.” If elected, Mamdani would be the first South Asian and first Muslim to lead the city.
Here is what you need to know about Mamdani as the primary election comes to a head.
Mamdani’s political history
Mamdani is in his third term representing New York’s 36th Assembly District, which includes the New York City neighborhoods of Astoria, Ditmars-Steinway, and Astoria Heights.
In his time in the Assembly, Mamdani has focused primarily on housing and transportation reform, having championed 20 pieces of legislation, though only three of them have become a law. Still, he has been praised by progressive voters for the ambition of his bills.
He has also engaged in activism while in office. In 2021, he participated in a 15-day hunger strike in support of New York City taxi drivers. After 15 days, the taxi drivers struck a deal with officials to help rescue the thousands of workers from their crushing loans. In 2023, he participated in a five-day hunger strike for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
He has been accused of anti-semitism regarding his fierce criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, and Cuomo has all-but-outright called Mamdani’s lack of support for Israel anti-semitism.
Mamdani has said in response that the accusation“pain[s]” him.
“I’ve said at every opportunity that there is no room for antisemitism in this city, in this country. I’ve said that because that is something I personally believe,” he told reporters during a media event.
He has also come under scrutiny from his opponents, particularly Cuomo, for his comparatively sparse political experience, with the former Governor saying during the first debate that “inexperience is dangerous.”
Mamdani, for his part, has treated his staying out of the political world as a positive, posting to his social media that he is “proud” he doesn’t have “Andrew Cuomo’s experience of corruption, scandal and disgrace.”
Cuomo resigned as Governor in 2021 amid a mounting sexual harassment scandal after more than a dozen women made allegations against him. Days before his resignation, the state attorney general’s office released a report concluding that he had sexually harassed current and former government employees and created “a hostile work environment for women.” Cuomo has denied the most serious accusations against him, though he apologized for making women “feel uncomfortable.” Cuomo also came under fire for withholding data about the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
In the debate, Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s remarks on his relative lack of experience with cutting critiques of the former Governor. “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, I have never sued for their gynecological records, and I have never done those things because I am not you, Mr. Cuomo,” he said.
Read more: How Ranked-Choice Voting in the New York City Mayoral Primary Works
Mamdani, the son of Columbia Professor Mahmood Mamdani and Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, known for movies like Monsoon Wedding and Mississippi Masala, worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor “helping low-income homeowners of color across Queens fight off eviction” prior to running for office, according to his state Assembly profile.
While attending Bowdoin College, he co-founded his college’s first Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.
Mamdani has garnered endorsements from several prominent progressive politicians, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders. He has also received endorsements from progressive groups like the Sunrise Movement.
He is running on a platform of making New York “more affordable”
Mamdani has campaigned on his desire to “lower costs and make life easier” in New York City.
His platform focuses on affordability, and includes proposals to freeze rent in New York City, make buses fare-free, create a “network” of city-owned grocery stores that focuses on “keeping prices low, not making a profit,” and implement free childcare for any New Yorker between the ages of 6 weeks to 5 years old.
In a city struggling with housing affordability, Mamdani plans to “overhaul” the Mayor’s office to “hold owners responsible” for the conditions of their buildings, and is pledging to “triple the City’s production of permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes,” according to his platform.
He has also proposed building a Department of Community Safety to “prevent violence before it happens.” Though he says that the New York City Police have a “critical role to play,” he says that they are being relied on too heavily for issues that can be dealt with through mental health and crisis response programs.
Mamdani has argued his “bold” proposals will be paid by the top 1% of New Yorkers and from corporations.
“Zohran's revenue plan will raise the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey’s 11.5%, bringing in $5 billion,” his website says. “And he will tax the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers—those earning above $1 million annually—a flat 2% tax (right now city income tax rates are essentially the same whether you make $50,000 or $50 million.”
Mamdani also promises to “Trump-proof” New York City, as the President attempts to attack sanctuary cities and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is operating throughout blue and red cities alike. He says he will fight against Trump’s recent attacks on immigrants, and that he will make New York City a safe city for LGBTQ+ Americans and those looking for reproductive healthcare.
Mamdani’s campaign has been supported by thousands of individual donations and volunteers
Mamdani has stood out during the election for the sheer volume of individual donations he has received throughout his campaign. During a primary debate, Mamdani argued that this has set him apart from Cuomo.
“The difference between myself and Andrew Cuomo is that my campaign is not funded by the very billionaires who put Donald Trump in D.C.,” Mamdani said on the debate stage on June 4. “I have to pick up the phone for the more than 20,000 New Yorkers who contributed an average donation of about $80 to break fundraising records and put our campaign in second place.”
According to the New York City Campaign Finance Board, Mamdani has raised a total of 8 million dollars through his more than 20,000 individual donors, dwarfing the number of individual donors for Cuomo—at under 6,000.
Mamdani’s momentum in the race has been bolstered by his virality online. He has grown his following to over a million across Instagram and TikTok, on which he posts himself visiting beloved restaurants; appearing on popular social media shows like “Subway Takes;” and with other politicians, including fellow mayoral candidate Comptroller Brad Lander and City Council Member Chi Osse.
His campaign has been notable not just for the donations, but also for the hundreds of volunteers who have spent the past few months canvassing for him across New York. Organizers have said the number of canvassers for the campaign has reached 27,000 people.
Mamdani has called his campaign the “largest volunteer operation in NYC history.”
