Tracking the rise of Zohran Mamdani: How a socialist outsider became New York’s mayor

A year ago, Zohran Mamdani was an obscure New York state assemblyman, largely unknown outside his Queens district. Today, the 34-year-old democratic socialist has pulled off one of the most astonishing political ascents in recent American history, defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo twice in a year and securing a landslide victory in the general election over both Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.The former foreclosure prevention counsellor, housing activist and one-time rapper will now become New York’s first Muslim mayor, its first South Asian and first Africa-born leader, and its youngest mayor in more than a century.

“For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well connected that power does not belong in their hands,” Mamdani told supporters on election night. “Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it.”

From unknown lawmaker to progressive trailblazer

When Mamdani announced his run in October 2024, most analysts dismissed him as a fringe candidate. Cuomo, hoping for a comeback after resigning as governor amid scandal, was expected to easily reclaim political relevance. Instead, Mamdani ran a relentless campaign centred on the spiralling cost of life in the country’s most expensive city.Before politics, Mamdani worked as a foreclosure prevention counsellor in Queens, helping families avoid eviction, an experience he credits with shaping his agenda. Housing affordability became the heart of his platform: a rent freeze for tenants in stabilised apartments, new social housing, regulation of private landlords and city-run grocery stores to keep food prices down. He proposed free buses, universal childcare and a $30 minimum wage, funded by raising taxes on millionaires and corporations.

His methods were as unconventional as his policies. Mamdani ran what many supporters describe as the first truly “digital-first” major campaign in New York history. His TikTok and Instagram videos — witty, multilingual and unmistakably rooted in the city’s street culture — made him a grassroots phenomenon. He coined terms like “halal-flation” while interviewing food-cart workers, jumped into the icy Coney Island waters in a full suit to dramatise his plan to “freeze” rents, and recorded viral videos in Spanish, Bangla and Urdu.

Identity, faith and a deeply personal campaign

Mamdani leaned directly into his identity, refusing to soften his politics or background even as opponents tried to weaponise it. The son of Indian parents, born in Kampala and brought to New York at seven, Mamdani has long been vocal about immigrant rights and the discrimination faced by Muslim and South Asian communities.Outside a Bronx mosque in October, he told supporters: “I will not change who I am, how I eat, or the faith that I’m proud to call my own … I will no longer look for myself in the shadows. I will find myself in the light.”His positions on Israel and Palestine also made him one of the most polarising figures in the race. He described the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza as “genocide,” and said Israel should exist “as a state with equal rights” for all rather than a “Jewish state.” Cuomo accused him of “fueling antisemitism,” while business groups warned that his economic agenda would drive away corporations and high-earning residents.

A new era in New York — and a national test

Mamdani’s victory is more than a local upset. In a political climate shaped by Donald Trump’s warnings of federal retaliation — including threats to deploy the National Guard or strip funding from New York — the election marks a defining moment for the progressive wing of the Democratic party. Trump called Mamdani a “Communist lunatic” and a “disaster waiting to happen,” while Mamdani said he would fight any attempt to “make life more difficult for New Yorkers.”“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani told supporters. “This is not only how we stop Trump, it’s how we stop the next one.”Now, the 34-year-old prepares to run a city with nearly 8.5 million people, a budget of $116 billion, a policing crisis, a housing affordability catastrophe and one of the most important economic profiles in the world. His critics say his policies are unrealistic; his supporters argue that nothing is more unrealistic than leaving New York unchanged.In his victory speech, he put it simply: “I will wake up each morning with a singular purpose: To make this city better for you than it was the day before.”(With inputs from agencies)