Whether it was Mamdani’s polling numbers jumping upon former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s entry into the race in March, the debut of his yellow-and-red “Zohran for New York City” branding which looks like actor Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan movie logo, or his status as the youngest notable candidate in the race, Mamdani has cultivated a movement in NYC throughout the campaign.

Progressive icon Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a socialist herself, named Mamdani her top choice for the mayoral office — a distinct and valuable endorsement for him.

For now, his momentum doesn’t appear enough to unseat Cuomo as the front-runner in the June 24 primary. But it’s likely the state assemblyman will finish right behind Cuomo in the city’s ranked choice voting plan.

Here’s more about Mamdani.

Background

Mamdani was born Oct. 18, 1991, in Kampala, Uganda, to anti-colonialist scholar Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair. Mamdani, who is Muslim, immigrated to the U.S. when he was seven. He grew up in New York City and graduated from the Bank Street School for Children and the Bronx High School of Science.

He then went to Bowdoin College, graduating in 2014 with a degree in Africana Studies. While there, he co-founded the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. He gave a statement to the school’s newspaper The Bowdoin Orient for a 2014 article about the university’s president rejecting a call to boycott Israeli academic institutions, years before running for mayor in the city with the largest Jewish population in the country.

“Many people say ‘we can’t mix academia with politics. We can’t blur these lines. We can’t use the classroom to discuss political issues,’ but the problem is these classrooms in Israel are built on political issues. They’re the consequence of political ideas,” he told the outlet. “We can’t separate the two. We can’t privilege Israeli academic freedom over Palestinian human rights.”

Mamdani became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018. In 2019, he retired from his “B-list rapper” career as “Mr. Cardamom” to run for State Assembly.

Politics

After working for several political campaigns and joining the Democratic Socialists of America in 2017, Mamdani decided to run for office in the New York State Assembly for the 36th district, which covers Astoria and Long Island City in Queens.

He prided his campaign on being “funded by the people, for the people” and sought to fix the housing crisis in the area with eviction protections and a flip tax in hopes he could ease the rising rents.

Mamdani also said he wanted “to roll back the power and presence of police and prisons” and “invest in housing, jobs, education, and social services, and the stable communities those create.”

His campaign worked. He beat five-term incumbent Aravella Simotas by just a few hundred votes. Mamdani was among several DSA members to beat incumbents in the 2020 primaries, and he celebrated in short: “Socialism won.”

Since entering office in 2021, however, Mamdani has not been known for his legislative success. Out of around 20 bills he’s introduced, only three have become law in four years. One piece of legislation he backed in 2023, concerning charities that provide money to Israeli settler organizations, would have given the state the authority to dissolve them if they were found to be using the donations to help Israelis settle in the West Bank.

The bill was unpopular. Over two dozen lawmakers and the leaders of the state Assembly and Senate condemned it, though some members of the DSA backed it.

Those who have worked with Mamdani say he’s a more effective communicator than legislator.

“He is an exceptional communicator,” State Senator Julia Salazar told the New York Times. “I think his time in the Assembly has been characterized more by that than changing the law.”

New York State Senate deputy majority leader, Michael Gianaris, said Mamdani is “seen as someone who can mobilize public opinion out of a certain demographic.”

Mamdani disagrees that he is less interested in legislating than communicating, even though he has been largely missing during the legislative session. The New York Post reported on June 4 that Mamdani had missed 231 roll call votes so far in 2025.

“My belief in politics is a belief in making the principled possible,” he said. “And that requires working with anyone and everyone who shows interest.”

He said the inclusion of several improvements to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, including his free bus pilot, is a pride point for him during his time as a state assemblyman.

“That was an achievement that I was only able to win due to building a coalition across ideology,” he said, noting his work with Mayor Eric Adams.

Another one of Mamdani’s accomplishments, which he has touted, was working toward a deal between taxi drivers and New York City in November 2021 to lower the monthly payments of taxi medallion owners. Mamdani went on a 15-day hunger strike for the effort.

“I was just so tired and I was so tired of being hungry,” he said then.

“By going on a hunger strike in front of City Hall, there was no way you could ignore what we were doing to our bodies in the service of this fight. It’s infectious — the courage, the belief. Then it all culminated in today and I just haven’t felt the emotions that I felt today in a long time,” he added.

Mamdani sponsored several bills in May 2025, including a bill requiring schools to provide health education on eating disorders.

Mayoral candidacy

Since Mamdani launched his campaign in October last year, he’s built steady momentum with his socialist platform aimed at taxing the rich to fund free buses and childcare. His campaign announcement video, which has around 2.5 million views on X, showed Mamdani walking around the city delivering his platform with a catchy beat and heavy editing.

He emphasized the cost of living in the city, calling it the “real crisis,” while taking swipes at Adams and Cuomo.

Every politician says New York is the greatest city in the world. But what good is that if no one can afford to live here?

I’m running for Mayor to lower the cost of living for working class New Yorkers.

Join the fight. https://t.co/ooNzX0rccz pic.twitter.com/xqKTHNNWRO

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) October 23, 2024

Mamdani became the first candidate to max out the city’s matching funds system in March, bringing in more than $8 million from over 18,000 donors.

He called it a “testament to the momentum behind us and the magnitude of our people-powered movement.” He raised so much money that his campaign capped out at the city’s $8.3 million fundraising limit and recommended his supporters donate to fellow candidate New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.

The money has allowed Mamdani, who has utilized social media with professionally filmed and edited videos to stand out, to mobilize thousands of door-knockers and volunteers for his campaign.

Thank you Sunset Park for rallying and canvassing with us on this beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Always so proud to stand with my incredible colleagues in elected office, @alexaforcouncil and @marcelaforny. pic.twitter.com/CdVJ50gebK

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 1, 2025

Council member Chi Osse said the formula for Mamdani’s digital strategy could be described in a few words: “It has to be entertaining, it has to be concise and it has to be excellent policy.”

Still, Mamdani has an uphill climb to beat Cuomo despite boasting the support of squad members Ocasio-Cortez and former congressman Jamaal Bowman, the area’s United Auto Workers union, the Sunrise Movement, the DSA, and Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D-NY).

Democratic strategist Max Burns suggested the only reason the race is close is because of Mamdani.

“I’ve been open about Cuomo’s primary advantages, and I still think he wins in a jog,” he said in a post on X. “But the fact that it’s a jog and not a walk is due entirely to Mamdani’s great political instincts. Mamdani has done a great job keeping focus and whittling Cuomo down. That’s no easy task.”

A May 28th Emerson poll showed Mamdani trailing Cuomo by just under 9 points in the 10th round of ranked choice voting. The result was one of the closest of the race.

But whether Mamdani can gain enough momentum to upset Cuomo in the waning days of the race remains to be seen. Mamdani may have to pilfer Cuomo supporters, who are loyal to him, in order to win the race. He could also face voter backlash for his polarizing hard Left views, including on Israel. Mamdani suggested Israel doesn’t have the right to exist as a Jewish state.

“I believe Israel has the right to exist, as a state with equal rights,” he said when asked if he believes in a Jewish state of Israel.

“I am skeptical that many Cuomo voters are cleaving off and moving to Mamdani, given Cuomo voters’ tendency to share their candidate’s personal grudges,” Burns told the Washington Examiner.

Cuomo is aware of Mamdani, and went out of his way to target him during the first mayoral debate after Mamdani slammed him for having billionaire donors.

“The difference between myself and Andrew Cuomo is that my campaign is not funded by the very billionaires who put Donald Trump in D.C.,” Mamdani said, calling himself “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”

Cuomo responded that Mamdani has “27 minutes” of government experience and that President Donald Trump would cut through him “like a hot knife through butter.”

The socialist candidate didn’t produce a viral moment from the first debate, as he likely required to gain more momentum. The debate ended up being more about Cuomo than anything else, with the other candidates fixating on him. Mamdani will have another chance at the June 12 debate.

If Cuomo wins, it may not be the end of the road for Mamdani. The Working Families Party, which has ranked Mamdani number one on their ballot, has a progressive ballot line for the November election that Mamdani could tie himself to. He’s unlikely to win on the line, but it could keep him politically relevant.

Either way, Mamdani’s movement could have lasting effects for him. It has raised his profile significantly, and the decisive endorsement of Ocasio-Cortez, who is popular within the Democratic Party, is notable.

Mamdani likely hopes his message can find a way to resonate with voters at an interesting time for New York City, months after their mayor was indicted and relieved of corruption charges and while voters remain concerned about the cost of living and crime.

SOCIALIST NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE NARROWS GAP TO CUOMO IN SHADOW OF DOJ INVESTIGATION: POLL

“We live in the most expensive city in the United States of America, and it’s a city that used to be one of dreams that is now just one of struggle,” he said on MSNBC this week.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Mamdani’s campaign for comment, but did not receive a response.