Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani wins NYC Mayoral election

• Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani pulled off a stunning victory in the New York city mayoral elections on November 4.

• The 34-year-old democratic socialist lawmaker became the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

• Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in the polls to be elected as the 111th mayor of New York.

• Cuomo, a longtime stalwart in the Democratic Party, contested as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary.

• US President Trump, a Republican, offered frequent commentary on the New York mayoral election, and injected himself further into the race by crossing party lines to support Cuomo.

• Republicans attacked Mamdani’s candidacy throughout the campaign, with Trump casting him as a communist.

• Mamdani used his campaign to rally New Yorkers against establishment candidates like Cuomo, who was elected governor of New York three times but resigned in 2021.

• The central theme of Mamdani’s campaign was affordability. Across the city, rising living costs and deepening inequality have caused widespread anxiety. Mamdani built his campaign on the conviction that the government must intervene directly to make life more affordable for working people.

• Mamdani, a state lawmaker for New York’s Queens borough, appealed to voters by pledging to tackle the soaring cost of living, offering free city bus travel, childcare and city-run grocery stores.

• His victory in the mayoral race caps a meteoric and unlikely rise from an anonymous state lawmaker to one of the country’s most visible Democratic figures. 

Who is Zohran Mamdani?

• Zohran Kwame Mamdani was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda, and moved to New York City with his family at the age of 7. 

• His mother is renowned filmmaker Mira Nair, and father is academic Mahmood Mamdani.

• A graduate of the NYC Public School System, he attended the Bronx High School of Science and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College. 

• A few years later in 2018, he became naturalised as an American citizen.

• He was elected to the New York Assembly in 2020, representing a district in Queens.

• Mamdani is married to Rama Duwaji, a Syrian-American artist. The couple got engaged in October 2024 and got married in February 2025.