Zohran Mamdani will be the next mayor of New York City, becoming the first Muslim and person of South Asian descent — as well as the youngest in over a century — to hold the position.
The 34-year-old, Ugandan-born Democratic socialist defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an Independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa in Tuesday’s election, according to a race call by the Associated Press. It’s a remarkable ascent for Mamdani, who was a relatively unknown state assemblymember representing a district in Queens when he entered the crowded mayoral race last year. He went on to win June’s Democratic primary by 12 percentage points, quickly becoming one of the country’s most popular and polarizing politicians along the way.
Taking the stage Tuesday night, Mamdani didn’t shy away from his socialist political views, opening his speech with a quote from Eugene Debs, a socialist politician who ran for president five times in the early 1900s. Some of Mamdani’s main campaign promises included making the city’s buses fare-free, freezing stabilized rents, providing universal child care, increasing the minimum wage by 2030 and lowering the cost of living by raising taxes on big corporations and the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers.
Mamdani has also said he would stand up to President Trump, who has frequently criticized — and mischaracterized — Mamdani as a communist and repeatedly threatened to slash New York City’s federal funding if he won. In a concession speech that echoed the ominous themes of his campaign, Andrew Cuomo warned of antisemitism and lawlessness. “We need the police to keep society safe. We will not make the NYPD the enemy,” Cuomo said, while also condemning Mamdani’s embrace of socialism.