Zohran Mamdani Is Breaking Through

The 33-year-old socialist Zohran Mamdani’s laser focus on affordability, smart media strategy, and undeniable charisma have made him a serious challenger for New York City mayor — and a likely fixture in New York politics for a long time to come.

By Liza Featherstone, Jacobin

When Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a socialist state assemblyman from Queens, launched his campaign for New York City mayor, most political observers were skeptical that he’d get very far. City politics is typically dominated by real estate and finance money, and Mamdani had little name recognition.

And while the organization he is a member of, New York City Democratic Socialists of America (NYC-DSA), has seen many of its endorsed candidates win victories in the city and state over the last seven years — the election of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018, plus three state senators, six state assemblymembers (including Mamdani), and two city council members, as well as policy reforms that include tenant protections and publicly funded renewable energy, all won as part of broader left-progressive coalitions — even most within DSA thought that a campaign for executive power was a heavy lift.

Yet over the last couple months, Mamdani has become a genuine political phenomenon, moving from quixotic noble effort to a transformative event in New York City politics.

His vision is dominating the mayoral primary discourse, and his canvasses are massive. He’s still very much a longshot, but it’s also not impossible that he will win. Indeed, the primary began with many contenders, but is now, as most observers are acknowledging, essentially a two-person race between Mamdani and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

In late February, one poll found that in a crowded primary field, Mamdani was at 12 percent, ahead of sitting mayor Eric Adams (who has since exited the Democratic primary in disgrace over corruption and now plans to run as an independent in November). That poll also placed Mamdani far ahead of any other Democratic contender other than Cuomo.

Also in late February, Mamdani qualified for more than $2.8 million in matching funds from the city, surpassing the haul of any other candidate. The system is set up to reward candidates for raising more campaign funds with small donors, rather than big checks from a privileged few. (The threshold to qualify is $250,000 contributions from at least a thousand discrete donors.) Through this system, candidates can potentially receive eight times the amount they raise in public dollars for their campaign.