New York
CNN
—
Zohran Mamdani could barely walk a few feet at a recent Juneteenth festival in Queens without a crowd of selfie-demanding admirers trying to stop him.
Mamdani is a 33-year-old state assemblyman and democratic socialist who’s surged in the campaign for New York City mayor with a mix of viral videos and proposals appealing to younger progressives. He’s capitalized on progressive frustration with Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor mounting a political comeback with a mayoral run; in one of his videos, he explains New York City’s ranked-choice voting system in Hindi and Urdu and likens Cuomo to a Bollywood villain.
Now running as Cuomo’s top rival in Tuesday’s primary, Mamdani’s rise has also caused growing consternation from the Democratic establishment. His critics argue his platform is too far to the left for moderates and certain to be weaponized by local and national Republicans trying to paint the Democratic Party as out of touch. He’s also faced criticism about how he’s addressed the Israel-Hamas war.
That concern was hard to find at Thursday’s festival in Queens. Mamdani stood onstage awkwardly but joyfully two-stepping and swaying side to side next to other candidates in the primary. Then he walked through the park on a sweltering day, joking that he was fine in his wool suit because he had on an undershirt.
“We’ve seen a campaign that is powered by the hunger of New Yorkers for a new generation of leadership,” Mamdani told CNN.
Here’s what to know about Mamdani and his campaign.
Mamdani is a three-term state assemblyman who represents parts of Queens, one the most diverse areas in the nation.
He is an immigrant from Uganda who was first raised in Cape Town, South Africa, and later in New York City, attending the prestigious Bronx High School of Science before enrolling at Bowdoin College. He is the son of Mahmood Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University, and Mira Nair, an Indian filmmaker whose credits include “Mississippi Masala” and “Monsoon Wedding.”
Prior to his mayoral campaign, Mamdani made national headlines in 2021 when he joined New York City cab drivers on a 15-day hunger strike seeking relief from excessive debt. He also moonlighted as a rapper under the stage name Mr. Cardamom rapping about chapati, an Indian flatbread, and worked as foreclosure prevention counselor.
If elected mayor, he would become one of the youngest people to ever hold the post. Mamdani would also become the first Muslim mayor in the history of the city — home to more than half a million Muslims and one of the largest Jewish populations outside of Israel.
Mamdani wants to freeze the rent for nearly 1 million New Yorkers living in rent-stabilized apartments and provide free city bus service, universal childcare and city-subsidized grocery stores.
Mamdani has said he will pay for it all by raising taxes on the city’s wealthiest, even though he would have little power to do so from City Hall. Taxes can be raised or lowered only by state lawmakers with approval from the governor. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has already thrown cold water on the proposal, saying the move is likely to drive more New Yorkers out of the concrete jungle and toward Florida and other lower-tax destinations.
Mamdani’s campaign has raised $7 million from thousands of individual donors and mobilized an army of volunteers. He secured the endorsement of Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and the United Auto Workers union.
“This race is not just symbolic about the future of New York City, this race is symbolic about the future of our country,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a campaign rally packed with more than 2,000 supporters last week. “For so long we have had political leadership, including in the Democratic Party, that has just wanted to play it safe.”
Democratic establishment concern was laid out in a recent call held by Third Way, a national think tank that favors a centrist political agenda. The group released a memo last week, warning that a Mamdani’s win would be “a devastating blow in the fight to defeat Trumpism.”
“We’re really worried about all Democrats going forward if Mamdani were to win,” Matt Bennett, executive vice president for public affairs, told reporters during the call. “Even if he doesn’t win the election, if he just wins the Democratic nomination, that can hurt Democrats.”
Cuomo has made his long career in government and experience with President Donald Trump the cornerstones of his comeback run. He dismisses Mamdani as an inexperienced leader with unrealistic ideas and suggests Trump would run through Mamdani like “a hot knife through butter.”
“He’s never done any of the essentials. And now you have Donald Trump on top of all of that,” Cuomo said during a recent debate.
Mamdani has responded by zeroing in on Cuomo’s sexual harassment scandals, his reputation as a bully and his billionaire donors. Cuomo has repeatedly denied the misconduct allegations.
“I’ve never had to resign in disgrace,” Mamdani said during one debate. “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 these things because I am not you, Mr. Cuomo.”
Cuomo and other rivals of Mamdani have called out how he’s spoken about antisemitism and the Israel-Hamas war.
Mamdani has accused the Israeli government of carrying out a “genocide.” And he defended the use of the slogan “globalize the intifada” as a rallying cry for Palestinian human rights during an interview with The Bulwark.
Mamdani said he believed the phrase was about “a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights,” explaining that the US Holocaust Museum used a similar Arabic word meaning “uprising” to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazis.
“I have shared my opinions with New Yorkers over the course of this race, opinions that always come back to a belief in universal human rights, that means taking on antisemitism and Islamophobia,” Mamdani told CNN.
Mamdani’s campaign has proposed making an increase of 800% for the city’s anti-hate crime program.
Still, the criticism to those comments came fast and furious. Mamdani was condemned by the Holocaust Museum and some fellow Democrats for using a phrase they believe encourages violence against Jews.
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running third behind Mamdani and has cross-endorsed him under the primary’s ranked-choice system, said he preferred Mamdani avoid the term altogether.
Mamdani’s reaction was equally visceral. He became emotional and cried while speaking with reporters about the backlash, detailing the multiple threats and the near-constant harassing calls his office now receives on a daily basis.
“It pains me to be painted as if I am somehow to the very Jewish New Yorkers that I know and love that are such a key part of this city,” Mamdani said. “When I speak, when I speak with emotion I am characterized by rivals as being a monster. I get messages that say, ‘The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.’ I get threats on my life, on the people that I love.”
He has also accused a pro-Cuomo PAC of designing a campaign mailer that featured his photo appearing to be altered to make his beard look darker and thicker next to text saying Mamdani “rejects Jewish rights.” The Cuomo campaign said it never sent out the mailer and it was made up by an independent vendor.
Mamdani called the strikes ordered by Trump “a new, dark chapter in his endless series of betrayals.”
“While Donald Trump bears immediate responsibility for this illegal escalation, these actions are the result of a political establishment that would rather spend trillions of dollars on weapons than lift millions out of poverty, launch endless wars while silencing calls for peace, and fearmonger about outsiders while billionaires hollow out our democracy from within,” he said in a statement.
