Nada Tawfik and Rachel Hagan
BBC News
Reporting fromNew York City & London
Watch: Left-wing Democrat Zohran Mamdani could be the next mayor of NYC
Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman, is set to be the Democratic candidate for New York City Mayor, making history as the first Muslim nominee.
With 95% of ballots counted, Mamdani leads former governor Andrew Cuomo – who resigned that post after sexual harassment allegations in 2021 – 43% to 36% in the Democratic primary, propelled by a wave of grassroots support and a bold left-wing platform.
“Tonight, we made history,” Mamdani told supporters. “I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City.”
New York’s ranked-choice voting system means the final result could still evolve, but Mamdani’s lead and momentum appear decisive.
His victory over Cuomo – once a dominant figure in state politics – marks a watershed moment for progressives and signals a shift in the city’s political centre of gravity.
From Uganda to Queens
Born in Kampala, Uganda, Mamdani moved to New York with his family age seven. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and later earned a degree in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College, where he co-founded the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
The millennial progressive, who would be the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor, has leaned into his roots in a diverse city. He’s posted one campaign video entirely in Urdu and mixed in Bollywood film clips. In another, he speaks Spanish.
Mamdani and his wife, 27-year-old Brooklyn-based Syrian artist Rama Duwaji, met on the dating app Hinge.
His mother, Mira Nair, is a celebrated film director and his father Professor Mahmood Mamdani, teaches at Columbia. Both parents are Harvard alumni.
Reuters
Zohran Mamdani with his parents Mahmood Mamdani (R) and Mira Nair (L) and wife Rama Duwaji (C)
Mamdani presents himself as a candidate of the people and an organiser.
“As life took its inevitable turns, with detours in film, rap, and writing,” reads his state assembly profile, “it was always organising that ensured that the events of our world would not lead him to despair, but to action.”
Before entering politics, he worked as a housing counsellor, helping low-income homeowners in Queens fight eviction.
He has also made his Muslim faith a visible part of his campaign. He visited mosques regularly and released a campaign video in Urdu about the city’s cost-of-living crisis.
“We know that to stand in public as a Muslim is also to sacrifice the safety that we can sometimes find in the shadows,” he said at a rally this spring.
“There’s nobody who represents the totality of the issues that I truly care about that’s running for mayor currently other than Zohran,”Jagpreet Singh, political director for social justice organization DRUM, told the BBC.
Mamdani’s affordability battle
Mamdani said that voters in th
Read More