Zohran Kwame Mamdani is an American of Ugandan origin and South Asian descent. He is a member of the New York State Assembly.In the 2025 elections, he ran as the Democratic Party candidate and, according to unofficial results, was elected as New York’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor.

Zohran Mamdani - (Anadolu Ajansı)

Early Life and Family

Zohran Kwame Mamdani was born in 1991 in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. He comes from a Muslim family of Indian origin. At the age of seven, he moved to the United States with his family and has spent most of his life in New York.

His father, Professor Mahmood Mamdani, is a professor of anthropology at Columbia University. His mother, Mira Nair, is an internationally recognized film director who declined to participate in the 2013 Haifa International Film Festival in Israel. The family has also gained public attention for statements supporting Palestine.

In 2024, Zohran Mamdani married Rama Duwaji, a Syrian artist living in Brooklyn. His wife is an artist whose works have been published in outlets such as The Washington Post and The New Yorker. It is known that Duwaji’s artwork features Palestinian themes and draws attention to civilian deaths in Gaza.

Mamdani graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in New York. He completed his university education at Bowdoin College in Maine, majoring in African Studies. During his university years, he founded the student group “Students for Justice in Palestine.” He became a U.S. citizen in 2018.

Early Career

Before entering politics, Zohran Mamdani worked as a housing advocate for low-income landlords in Queens, New York. In this role, he provided legal support to tenants facing eviction and defended household interests in negotiations with banks. He noted that the housing crisis was the result of economic policies and said this experience led him to pursue a career in politics.

During high school, Mamdani founded the first cricket team at Bronx High School of Science. This initiative coincided with the first period in which cricket was officially recognized as a sport in New York public schools. During university, he founded the group “Students for Justice in Palestine” to support justice movements in Palestine. In subsequent years, he worked with progressive organizations across the country on voter engagement and access to healthcare.

After university, he engaged in personal creative projects in film, rap music, and writing. During this time, he continued his activism centered on social justice and collective organizing. In 2023, Mamdani participated in a hunger strike outside the White House, an action organized to support calls for a ceasefire in Palestine. He also joined community solidarity campaigns in New York for low-income communities, taking a leading role in issues of housing justice and access to public services.

Zohran Mamdani - (Anadolu Ajansı)

Political Career

New York State Assembly Membership

Zohran Mamdani was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020. He represents the 36th district, which includes the neighborhoods of Astoria, Ditmars-Steinway, and Astoria Heights. Throughout his tenure, he has focused on housing, energy, and social justice policies. Mamdani became the first South Asian man, the first Ugandan, and the third Muslim member to serve in the New York State Assembly.

His legislative work has centered on the housing crisis, rent burdens, and energy justice. He highlighted that in Astoria, tenants spend nearly half their income on rent and emphasized that “housing, energy, and justice must be rights for everyone, not just minorities.”

In his state-level advocacy, Mamdani contributed to increased funding for rental assistance, reduced energy costs for low-income households, and improved public transit services. He participated in hunger strikes demanding the cancellation of taxi drivers’ debts and played a key role in securing over $450 million in debt relief. He also helped secure over $100 million in additional funding for public transportation improvements in the state budget.

Zohran Mamdani's “New York Is Not for Sale” Rally at Forest Hills Stadium, October 27, 2025 - (Anadolu Ajansı)

New York City Mayoral Candidacy (2025)

Primary Election Process and Results

Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic Party mayoral primary election held on June 24, 2025. He received 43.5 percent of first-choice votes, equivalent to approximately 432,000 votes. His closest rival, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, received 36.4 percent. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander placed third with 11.3 percent. Other candidates received significantly fewer votes. Under New York’s ranked-choice voting system, votes from lower-ranked candidates were redistributed in subsequent rounds, ultimately allowing Mamdani to surpass the majority threshold.

Campaign Process and Themes

Mamdani’s campaign focused on transportation, housing, and social services policies. Key proposals included making buses free across the city by 2027, freezing rent increases, increasing the production of affordable housing for low-income households, and opening municipal grocery stores in areas with limited food access.

Additional proposals included universal child care, expanding school meal programs, and establishing a publicly owned “Housing Development Agency.” To fund these initiatives, the campaign proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 7.25 percent to 11.5 percent and imposing an additional 2 percent tax on individuals earning more than $1 million annually.

Public Opinion and Endorsements

Polls conducted by Quinnipiac University and Suffolk University during the election cycle showed Mamdani leading his rivals. According to the Quinnipiac poll, 43 percent of voters supported Mamdani, while 33 percent supported Cuomo.

Zohran Mamdani Holds a Press Conference in New York, November 3, 2025 - (Anadolu Ajansı)

Mamdani’s campaign enjoyed broad grassroots support from over 22,000 volunteers. He received endorsements from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the Working Families Party. Public figures including actors Emily Ratajkowski, Mandy Patinkin, and Kathryn Grody also publicly endorsed Mamdani.

Mamdani will run as the official Democratic Party candidate in the general election on November 4, 2025.

Political Views

Palestine and Israel Policy

Zohran Mamdani is known for his open support for Palestine and criticism of Israeli policies. While studying at university in 2014, he called for a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions. In a published article at the time, he urged the university administration to sever institutional ties with Israel.

In 2023, he participated in a hunger strike outside the White House, organized to call for a ceasefire in Palestine. He has also publicly endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In an October 2024 statement, Mamdani described Israel’s attacks on Gaza as “genocide.” In December 2024, during a television interview, he stated that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to visit New York, he “should be arrested in accordance with international law.”

In response to criticism of his use of the slogan “Globalize the Intifada,” Mamdani clarified that the phrase does not call for violence but expresses global solidarity. He emphasized that his criticisms target Israeli government policies, not Jewish people, and condemned antisemitism. He also called for increased funding at the municipal level to combat antisemitism.

Economic and Social Policies

Mamdani has proposed policies to reduce economic inequality and lower the cost of living. In housing, he advocates for rent freezes and increased production of social housing. He also plans to open municipal grocery stores in every neighborhood to ensure affordable food access.

On transportation, he proposes free bus service citywide. This policy has been shown in pilot areas to increase ridership and reduce driver assaults.

In public safety, Mamdani recommends reallocating some funding from the New York Police Department to a newly established “Department of Community Safety,” which would focus on crisis intervention and mental health services.

Immigration Policy

Zohran Mamdani has made his immigrant identity a central part of his political messaging. In campaign videos released in 2025, he spoke in Urdu and Spanish. He has emphasized the importance of visible Muslim representation in public life and regularly engages with Muslim communities in New York.

Mamdani has criticized Donald Trump’s chaotic immigration policies and called for the creation of a “right to housing, care, and protection” for immigrants in the city.

Victory in the New York City Mayoral Election

Zohran Kwame Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election on November 4, 2025, receiving 50.4 percent of the vote according to unofficial results. With 89 percent of votes counted, Mamdani received 1,016,968 votes, Cuomo received 840,191 votes, and Sliwa received 144,397 votes. With this result, Mamdani became New York’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor.

In his victory speech at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater on election night, Mamdani declared, “We have overthrown a political dynasty,” adding, “New York, tonight you granted authority for change, you granted authority for a new kind of politics.” He stated that New York would no longer be a city where anti-Muslim hatred wins elections and that a new era of transformation had begun.

Zohran Mamdani’s Victory Speech

Zohran Mamdani’s full victory speech is as follows:

“Thank you, friends. The sun may have set over our city tonight, but as Eugene Debs once said: ‘I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.’ As far back as we can remember, New York’s working people have been told: Power does not belong to you; power belongs to the wealthy and the well-connected. Fingers bruised from lifting boxes in warehouses, palms calloused from gripping bike handlebars for deliveries, joints hardened by kitchen fires… These are hands denied the right to hold power. Yet, over the past twelve months, you had the courage to reach for something greater. And tonight, against all odds, we caught it.

The future is in our hands now, friends — we have overthrown a political dynasty. I send my best wishes to Andrew Cuomo for his personal life. But tonight, I say his name for the last time; because we are turning the page — we are moving away from a politics that abandons the majority and only responds to the minority.

New York, tonight you spoke. You granted authority for change. You granted authority for a new kind of politics. You granted authority for a city we can actually live in. And you granted authority for a government that will deliver on it. On January 1st, I will be sworn in as Mayor of New York City. And this will be entirely because of you.

So before I say anything else, I must say: Thank you. I thank New York’s new generation, who refuse to accept that the promise of a better future is just a faded memory. You showed us that when politics speaks to you equally, not from above, a new era of leadership can begin. We will fight for you, because we are you. Or as we say in Steinway:  ana minkum wa alaikum— we are with you and we are of you.

I thank everyone whose struggles were forgotten by city politics but who made this movement their own: Yemeni grocers, Mexican aunts, Senegalese taxi drivers, Uzbek nurses, Trinidadian cooks, and Ethiopian aunts — yes, aunts — thank you.

Let every New Yorker in Kensington, Midwood, and Hunts Point know: This city is your city And this democracy is your democracy.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani delivers his victory speech after the election, November 4, 2025 - (Anadolu Ajansı)

This campaign is for people like Wesley from the 1199 SEIU union, whom I met outside Elmhurst Hospital on a Thursday night. Someone who works in New York but lives elsewhere, commuting two hours every day from Pennsylvania because rents here are too high. This campaign is for the woman I met years ago on the Bx33 bus who said: “I used to love New York, but now it’s just where I live.” And this campaign is for taxi driver Richard, who stood with me for fifteen days outside City Hall in a hunger strike — that man who still drives seven days a week. Brother, we are now inside City Hall. This victory belongs to all of them. And it belongs to the more than 100,000 volunteers who turned this campaign into an unstoppable force. Thanks to you, we will make this city a place workers not only love but can afford to live in. With every door you knocked on, every signature you collected, every heartfelt word you spoke, you tore down the wall of despair that defined our politics. I know I asked a lot of you this year. I called on you again and again — and each time, you answered. But now I have one final request. New York, hold onto this moment. We have waited longer than we have held our breath. We held our breath waiting for defeat. We held our breath as air was drawn from our lungs countless times. And we held our breath because we could not bear to breathe. But thanks to everyone who made these sacrifices, we are breathing the air of a reborn city.

To my campaign team, to everyone who believed when no one else did, who turned this election project into a hope… I can never fully express the depth of my gratitude. You can rest now. To my mother and father — mama and baba: You made me the person I am today. I am proud to be your son. And to my magnificent wife Rama — hayati (my life): You are the only person I will ever want beside me, at this moment and always. And to every New Yorker — whether you voted for me, for my opponents, or for no one at all because you grew tired of politics — thank you for giving me the chance to earn your trust. Every morning, I will wake up with one purpose: To make this city better than it was yesterday.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani delivers his victory speech after the election, November 4, 2025 - (Anadolu Ajansı)

Many people believed this day would never come — that every election would only condemn us to more of the same, that our future would be endlessly limited to “less.” And there were those who saw politics as a cruel enough field that hope could no longer burn. New York, tonight we answered those fears. Tonight we spoke with a clear voice. Hope is alive. Hope is the decision made by tens of thousands of New Yorkers every day, in every volunteer shift, despite every attack ad.

We stood together — in churches, gyms, community centers — and wrote our own line in the book of democracy. Even though we filled out our ballots alone, we chose hope together. Hope against tyranny. Hope against big money and small ideas. Hope against despair. We won because New Yorkers had the courage to believe the impossible could be possible. And we won because we insisted, again and again, that politics is not something done to us — it is something we do.

As I stand before you, I am reminded of Jawaharlal Nehru’s words: “Rarely in history does a moment come when we step from the old to the new; when one era ends, and the spirit of a long-oppressed nation finally finds its voice.”

Tonight, we stepped from the old to the new. So let us now speak with absolute clarity and determination: What will this new era bring, and for whom? This will be an era that does not wait for excuses from our leaders for what they dare not try — but demands bold visions of what they will achieve. At the center of this vision will be an agenda to confront the cost of living more ambitious than any since Fiorello La Guardia: freezing rents for over two million tenants, making buses fast and free, and guaranteeing universal child care across the city.

Years from now, our only regret will be that this day came so late. This new era will be an era of relentless progress. We will hire thousands of new teachers. We will cut waste from bloated bureaucracy. We will work tirelessly to relight the flickering bulbs in NYCHA hallway corridors.

Safety and justice will walk hand in hand; we will reduce crime rates by working with police officers and establish a Department of Community Safety that directly confronts mental health and homelessness crises. Excellence will not be an exception in governance — it will be the expectation. And in this new era we build with our own hands, we will no longer allow those who trade in division and hate to drive us apart.

At this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light. Here, we believe in rising up for those we love. Whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the countless Black women removed from federal positions by Donald Trump, or a single mother still waiting for grocery prices to drop — or anyone who has had their back against the wall: Your struggle is our struggle.

And we will build a City Hall that stands shoulder to shoulder with Jewish New Yorkers, never hesitating in the fight against antisemitism. Here, over a million Muslims will know they belong — not just in five neighborhoods, but in the halls of power. New York will no longer be a city where Islamophobia wins elections. This new era will be one where competence and compassion, long presented as opposites, are united. And we will prove that no problem is too large for government to solve — and no issue too small to deserve attention.

For years, those in City Hall helped only those who could help them. But on January 1st, we will open the doors of a government that helps everyone. I know — many people may have heard our message through a filter of misinformation. Millions of dollars were spent to redefine the truth and convince our neighbors they should fear this new era. And as always, the billionaire class tried to convince hourly workers earning $30 that their enemies earn $20. They want working people to fight each other so we forget how to rebuild a broken system. But we will no longer allow them to set the rules. Now they must play by our rules.

Together, we will lead a generation of change. And if we embrace this courageous path instead of fleeing from it, we can meet oligarchy and authoritarianism with the very power they fear — not with the pacification they desire.After all, if anyone can show how to defeat a nation betrayed by Donald Trump, it is the city that raised him. And if there is a way to frighten a despot, it is to remove the conditions that allowed him to gain power. This is not only the way to stop Trump — it is the way to stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you are watching, I have four words for you: Turn it up.

We will hold bad landlords accountable, because Donald Trumps in this city have grown too comfortable exploiting tenants. We will end the culture of corruption that allows billionaires to evade taxes and grow richer through tax breaks. We will stand with unions and expand labor protections, because we know as well as Donald Trump does: when workers’ rights are strong, the bosses who exploit them shrink.New York will remain a city of immigrants: Built by immigrants, worked by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.

So listen to me well, President Trump — If you want to reach one of us, you must pass through all of us. When we enter City Hall in 58 days, expectations will be high. And we will meet them. Once, a great New Yorker said: “Campaigns are made of poetry, but governance is made of prose.” If that is true, then let our prose rhyme — and let us build a city that shines for everyone. And we, must draw a new path as bold as the one we have walked so far.Because ‘reasonable’ people looked at me and said: ‘You are far from being the ideal candidate.’

I am young, no matter how hard I try to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And worst of all, I do not apologize for any of it. Yet if tonight taught us anything, it is this: The familiar holds us back. We worshiped at the temple of caution — and paid a heavy price. Too many workers no longer see themselves in our party; too many among us have turned right, searching for answers. We will leave mediocrity in the past. We will no longer need to open history books to prove Democrats can be bold. Our greatness will not be abstract. Every tenant who wakes up on the first of the month knowing their rent did not spike will feel it. Every elderly person who can stay in their home and keep their grandchildren close will feel it, because child care costs did not force them to move to Long Island. Every single mother who feels safe on her way to work, who no longer has to run to drop her child off at school because the bus arrives on time, will feel it. And when New Yorkers open their newspapers in the morning, they will see headlines of achievement, not scandal. But most of all, every New Yorker will feel this: Because their beloved city finally loves them too.

Together, New York — we will freeze rents (crowd: “We will freeze them!”) Together, New York — we will make buses (crowd: “Free!”) Together, New York — universal (crowd: “Child care!”) Let these words we speak together, these dreams we build together, be our shared agenda. New York, this power is yours. This city is yours.”