After winning in the Democratic primary election against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, thirty-four year old Zohran Mamdani was victorious in the general election for the position of Mayor of New York City, defeating Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo. Who is Zohran Mamdani though? Zohran Mamdani is a New York State Assemblyman who refers to himself as a democratic socialist. Zohran was born in Uganda and moved to New York City where he lived all his life. In the past, Mamdani has led hunger strikes alongside taxi drivers helping to raise $450 million in debt relief, transforming the lives of many NYC taxi drivers.
Mamdani’s platform is centered around making New York City affordable once again for working class citizens. Mamdani plans to do this by freezing the rent for all stabilized tenants, building affordable houses, and creating city owned grocery stores that will focus on keeping prices low instead of making a profit. Additionally, he aims to raise the minimum wage to thirty dollars an hour, implement fast and free buses, and fight against corporate exploitation. Mamdani proposed to pay for his agenda by raising taxes on the one percent of New Yorkers who earn more than one million dollars a year, raising taxes on the wealthy New Yorkers will bring in roughly ten billion according to his website, zohranfornyc.com.
Mamdani announced his candidacy on October 23rd, 2023, at a time not many people were aware of him as he had not been a predominant figure in the political scene when compared to his competitors, such as Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani was able to gain recognition as a legitimate candidate through his strategic use of social media. Mamdani’s campaign specifically targeted those who had not turned out to vote in previous elections and got them to vote. Through his smart social media campaign, Mamdani was able to not only raise enough money completely on his own, but also win in the Democratic primary, running as the Democratic candidate. As of November fourth, Mamdani’s success in the Mayoral election made him New York City’s one hundred tenth mayor.