Zohran Mamdani ran a campaign that left no one out
Standing tall in both his identity and his beliefs, the New York mayor-elect resonated with his constituents.
By Shalise Manza Young
Yemeni bodega owners.
Mexican abuelas.
Uzbek nurses.
Trinidadian line cooks.
Senegalese taxi drivers.
Ethiopian aunties.
There was no one left out during New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech on Tuesday night, because he promised that no one will be left behind if he was elected.
“Here, we believe in standing up for those we love—whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many Black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall—your struggle is ours too,” Mamdani said.
“And we will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers, and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism; where the more than one million Muslims know that they belong—not just in the five boroughs of this city, but in the halls of power.”
As evidenced by his receiving over 1 million votes, the most for a winning mayoral candidate in 20 years, Mamdani’s campaign energized the city. He went to every corner of every borough with a smile on his face, and became a rock star along the way: In July, he posted a video on Instagram of his team trying to make a campaign ad, but the task was made harder because the candidate was stopped repeatedly by New Yorkers of all stripes and colors, wanting to shake his hand, give him a hug, and/or take an ussie.
It was one post in a social media approach that was top-tier—funny, authentic, and, most important, never shying away from two things:
His pledge to work to make New York affordable for all New Yorkers through rent freezes, faster and free public buses, universal childcare, and community grocery stores, with much of the funding for those programs coming via a small tax increase on the city’s wealthiest residents and corporations;
And that he is Zohran Kwame Mamdani, the democratic socialist, Muslim, immigrant son born in Uganda to Indian parents.
For those who sought to see him defeated, it wasn’t enough to funnel millions to his biggest opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. As election day crept closer, the level of anti-Muslim rhetoric got viler and viler. By the end, Cuomo, a supposed Democrat, was shrugging off a radio host’s allegation that Mamdani would cheer another 9/11-level event in the city, and outgoing Mayor Eric Adams baselessly claimed that there would be an increase in terror attacks if Mamdani were elected.
In late October, having heard enough, Mamdani’s smile was replaced by tears as he denounced in a speech outside of a Bronx mosque the Islamophobia directed at him and, by extension, the Muslims who also call the city home.
Mamdani, standing tall in both his identity and his beliefs, resonated with his constituents. He knows who he is, and he sees who they are.
Reinforcing his own roots and affirming the Muslim population, he released an ad in Arabic. Before the June primary, he made one in Hindi/Urdu that featured clips from Bollywood films, a nod to his Indian heritage.
At the city’s Pride parade this year, he didn’t just wave a rainbow flag; he carried a pink, white, and blue one, representing the trans community.
He has repeatedly professed support for Jewish residents and has pledged to fight rising antisemitism while condemning the war in Gaza.
In 2021, as a new member of the state Assembly, he joined taxi drivers in a 15-day hunger strike to help bring attention to the plight of drivers who were drowning in debt because of inflated medallion prices and predatory lending practices.
In an effort to win Black voters, who had gone for Cuomo in the primary, he visited Black churches, garnered the support of respected leaders including Attorney General Letitia James and Brooklyn Democratic Party Chairwoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, and made sure he was canvassing majority-Black neighborhoods to get his message delivered. Getting the endorsement of rap legends Wu-Tang Clan likely helped, too.
On Halloween, he visited a senior center for Afro-Puerto Rican dancing and tai chi, and, the weekend before Election Day, he dropped in at two of the city’s gay bars.
He shouted out immigrants at every turn, and on Tuesday said New York is “a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”
Democrat leaders Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer showed barely any interest in Mamdani—after dragging his feet for weeks, Jeffries endorsed Mamdani only a few days before the election, and Schumer never did—underscoring how out of touch they are and why the party is seemingly spinning its wheels with them in charge.
Mamdani is real; he doesn’t come across as a slick, rehearsed lifelong politician. He had a handful of top campaign priorities, and not even a Category 5 hurricane could have knocked him off message. He appealed to the younger voters the party has supposedly been trying to court—exit polls show 78% of those under 30 cast their ballot for him. And he had no interest in leaving behind some of the most marginalized people in a futile attempt to make himself more appealing.
He even brought—what are these feelings?—hope and optimism to New York City and to those around the country paying attention to his race. Both are in short supply.
Mamdani made big promises, and there’s no denying that fulfilling them will be a tall task, particularly because he can’t implement his tax-the-rich plan without Gov. Kathy Hochul’s support.
But he has also vowed that no one will be left behind, and he’s already been making good on that pledge, in word and in deed.
Shalise Manza Young was most recently a columnist at Yahoo Sports, focusing on the intersection of race, gender and culture in sports. The Associated Press Sports Editors named her one of the 10 best columnists in the country in 2020. She has also written for the Boston Globe and Providence Journal. Find her on Bluesky @shalisemyoung.
As I've said many times, Mamdani's politics may not "play in Peoria" but his approach to campaigning, and his sunny, charismatic personality will play everywhere. The Democrats need to find more like that.
And Mario Cuomo, whom I remember for his uplifting rhetoric, must be rolling over in his grave at the behavior and hate speech of his sleazebag son.
That Mamdani, an inexperienced, albeit enormously charismatic candidate willing to promise all kinds of things (and I believe he believes he can make them happen--but good luck with that), was the best on offer (and he probably was) speaks volumes about the terrible state of politics in NYC.
That he is being hailed everywhere as a hero speaks volumes about our lack of understanding about how governing actually works.
This is not primarily dissing Mamdani--I think he's genuine in what he wants to do (setting aside his position on Jews/Israel--and yes, they are in the same bucket, even if he and many don't understand that)--but speaking to the structural political issues that enabled him to get to this point with so little experience.