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Zohran Kwame Mamdani[c] (born October 18, 1991) is an American politician who is the mayor-elect of New York City
A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, he has served as a member of the New York State Assembly for the 36th district since 2021, representing the Queens neighborhood of Astoria.
He is set to become the city’s first Muslim and first Asian American mayor.
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair. After spending three years in Cape Town, South Africa, when Mamdani was five to seven years old, his family moved to the United States, settling in New York City. Mamdani graduated from the Bronx High School of Science before receiving a bachelor’s degree with a major in Africana studies from Bowdoin College in 2014.
After working as a housing counselor and musician, Mamdani entered local New York City politics as a campaign manager for Khader El-Yateem and Ross Barkan. He was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020, defeating five-term incumbent Aravella Simotas in the Democratic primary. Representing Astoria, he was reelected without opposition in 2022 and 2024.
In October 2024, Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City in the 2025 election. He campaigned on an affordability-focused platform supporting fare-free city buses, universal public child care, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, additional affordable housing units, and a $30 minimum wage by 2030. He also expressed support for LGBTQ rights, comprehensive public safety reform, and tax increases on corporations and those earning above $1 million annually. He won the Democratic primary in June 2025, defeating former governor Andrew Cuomo in an upset, and was elected mayor in the November general election.
Early life and education
Zohran Kwame Mamdani was born on October 18, 1991, in Kampala, Uganda, the only child of postcolonialist academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair.[12][13] He was given his middle name, Kwame, by his father in honor of Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana.[14][15] Both his parents are of Indian descent.[16] His father is a Gujarati Muslim who was born in Mumbai and raised in Uganda.[17] His mother is a Punjabi Hindu[18][19][20] who was born in Rourkela and raised in Bhubaneswar.[21] His paternal grandparents were born in present-day Tanzania, and his father’s family was part of the Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa.[17] His maternal grandfather, Amrit Lal Nair, was a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer,[22] and his maternal grandmother, Praveen Nair, was a social worker and founder of the Salaam Baalak Trust in India.[23]
Mamdani lived in Kampala until he was five, when his family moved to Cape Town, in South Africa’s Western Cape province,[12] after his father was appointed head of African studies at the University of Cape Town.[24] He attended St. George’s Grammar School in Mowbray from 1996 to 1998,[15][25] during the early post-apartheid years. He later said that the experience of living in Cape Town “taught me what inequality looks like up close … [and] that justice has to be more than an idea; it has to be material”.[26]
The family moved to the United States and settled in New York City when Mamdani was seven,[27] and he was raised in Morningside Heights.[28] He has described his upbringing as “privileged”, saying, “I never had to want for something, and yet I knew that was not in any way the reality for most New Yorkers.”[29] As a child, he was often present on his mother’s film sets, where he was loved by members of the film crews, who variously referred to him as “Z”, “Zoru”, “Fadoose”, and “Nonstop Mamdani”.[24]
Mamdani attended the Bank Street School for Children on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where he successfully ran as the independent candidate in a middle school mock election, adopting a platform of “equal rights, anti-war policies that proposed spending money on education rather than the military”.[30] In 2003, he returned to Kampala for a year and attended school during his father’s sabbatical there;[17] his paternal grandparents and aunt still lived there and helped take care of him while his father was working on the book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim.[31]
In 2010, Mamdani graduated from the Bronx High School of Science[32][33] in Kingsbridge Heights,[34] where he co-founded the school’s first cricket team[13] and unsuccessfully ran for student body vice president.[35] He also played soccer with the West Side Soccer League.[34] Mamdani then attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he co-founded the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.[36][37] He was a regular contributor to the campus newspaper The Bowdoin Orient, covering politics, culture, and sports via his column titled Kwame’s Column.[38] In January 2014, he co-authored an op-ed in the Bangor Daily News, urging Bowdoin to join the American Studies Association’s boycott of Israel and criticizing the college’s president, Barry Mills.[39] He graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree majoring in Africana studies.[36][37]
Career
Hip-hop and rap music
Mamdani is a fan of hip-hop and has composed, performed, and produced rap music.[40] Under the moniker Young Cardamom, he collaborated with his best friend, Ugandan rapper HAB (Abdul Bar Hussein), whose origins are in South Sudan,[41][42] as Young Cardamom & HAB. Their first song, “Kanda [Chap Chap]”, was about chapati, an Indian flatbread.[43] They performed tracks from their 2016 EP Sidda Mukyaalo (“No going back to the village”) at the Nyege Nyege festival.[44][45] The pair rapped in many languages, including Nubi, Luganda, Swahili, and English, partly to create a unique Ugandan style of rap, rather than slavishly imitating American rap, and partly to convey that Ugandan residents with roots in other countries are all Ugandan. The chapati was chosen as a symbol because it originates in South Asia but has become a staple in Uganda.[42] In their music, they addressed social issues in Uganda, such as corruption and “black and brown relations”, as well as colonialism.[46] In October 2016, Young Cardamom & HAB were nominated in the “Rookie of the Year” category of the inaugural Ugandan (UG) Hip Hop Awards,[47] but did not win.[48]
Mamdani at the 2016 Johannesburg premiere of Queen of Katwe
Mamdani curated and produced the soundtrack for his mother Mira Nair’s 2016 film Queen of Katwe, for which he was nominated for a 2017 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards;[49][50][51] he co-wrote the song “#1 Spice” with HAB for the film.[41][52] Mamdani also appears as an extra in the film,[53] and is credited as third assistant director.[51] Nair subsequently offered him parts in the stage musical adaptation of her film Monsoon Wedding, after he took part in stage readings for the show, and her TV version of the Vikram Seth novel A Suitable Boy, but he declined.[54][55]
In 2017, Mamdani released the song “Salaam” under his middle name, Zohran Kwame.[56] In April 2019, under the moniker Mr. Cardamom, he released the single “Nani”, an homage to his grandmother, portrayed by actress and food writer Madhur Jaffrey in the video,[57][58][59][60] which pays tribute to Jaffrey and New York’s South Asian culture.[57]
Before running for office in 2020, Mamdani worked as a foreclosure prevention and housing counselor. There, he assisted lower-income immigrant homeowners in Queens with eviction notices and efforts to prevent them from being evicted from their homes. He said the experience motivated him to run for office to address the housing and affordability crisis.[61]
Political involvement (2015–2019)
Mamdani entered New York City politics as a volunteer for Ali Najmi’s campaign in the 2015 special election for the 23rd district of the City Council.[14] Mamdani was inspired to join Najmi’s campaign after learning that he was supported by Heems, a New York rapper of Indian descent and co-founder of alternative hip-hop group Das Racist.[40][62] Specifically, Mamdani attributes his involvement in local politics to a 2015 The Village Voice article about Najmi and Heems, whom he described as one of his favorite rappers.[63][64]
In 2017, Mamdani joined the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and worked for the campaign of New York City Council candidate Khader El-Yateem, a Palestinian Lutheran minister and democratic socialist from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.[14] Part of Mamdani’s motivation for joining the DSA was its pro-Palestine stance, which aligned with his own prior activism.[65] Mamdani served as the campaign manager for Ross Barkan’s 2018 unsuccessful bid for the New York State Senate and was also a field organizer for fellow democratic socialist Tiffany Cabán’s close-run but also unsuccessful 2019 campaign for Queens County district attorney.[14][66][67]
New York State Assembly (2020–present)
Mamdani at the Resist Fascism Rally in Bryant Park, October 27, 2024
In October 2019, Mamdani announced his campaign to represent New York’s 36th State Assembly district, which encompasses Astoria and Long Island City in Queens.[68][69] He was endorsed by the DSA,[70] running on a platform of housing reform, police and prison reform, and public ownership of utilities.[68] Mamdani’s June 2020 primary victory over five-term Democratic incumbent Aravella Simotas took almost a month to call,[71] and he won the general election with no Republican opposition in November.[72] Mamdani was reelected without opposition in 2022 and 2024.[73][74]
Mamdani is a member of the DSA’s nine-member “State Socialists in Office” bloc in New York and a member of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York.[14][75][76] He was the keynote speaker at the 2023 DSA convention, saying, “We are special as DSA electeds not because of ourselves; we are special because of our organization”.[77][78]
As of January 2025, Mamdani was a member of nine Assembly committees: the Committee on Aging; the Committee on Cities; the Committee on Election Law; the Committee on Energy; the Committee on Real Property Taxation; the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus; the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force; the Asian Pacific American Task Force; and the Task Force on New Americans.[79]
As of May 2025, Mamdani had been the primary sponsor of 20 bills in the Assembly—three of which became law—and the co-sponsor of 238 bills.[80] As a member of the Assembly, he helped launch a successful fare-free bus pilot program and participated in a hunger strike alongside taxi drivers.[81][82]
Mayor of New York City
2025 campaign
On October 23, 2024, Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City.[83] His platform included support for free city buses and a rent freeze in rent-stabilized housing.[84][85][86] Mamdani also wants the city government to operate five grocery stores—one in each borough—to drive down grocery prices.[87] His platform included support for universal child care and the construction of 200,000 new affordable housing units.[88] He also supports public safety reform and a $30 minimum wage by 2030.[89] His platform called for tax increases on corporations and those earning above $1 million annually.[90]
Mamdani with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in New York City, September 26, 2025
For most of the primary campaign, Mamdani trailed former New York governor Andrew Cuomo in polling. He and Cuomo raised similar amounts of money, but his donor base was considerably larger than Cuomo’s.[91] A poll taken shortly before the June 24, 2025, primary election showed that Mamdani had caught up to Cuomo.[92] First-choice results on election night showed Mamdani had a large lead over Cuomo,[93][94] who conceded the race that evening.[95] His polling margin was increased by ranked choice voting, particularly because he and third-favored candidate Brad Lander cross-endorsed each other by asking their voters to rank the other candidate second.[96][97][98][99] Mamdani and Michael Blake also cross-endorsed each other a few days later.[100] On June 16, The New York Times editorial board advised voters not to rank Mamdani while criticizing Cuomo.[101]
On July 1, after the New York City Board of Elections released its ranked-choice ballot tabulation, the Associated Press announced Mamdani had won the primary.[102] It was considered a major upset.[103] A July 2025 poll indicated a shift in Jewish American political attitudes, with 43% of Jewish New Yorkers and 67% of Jewish voters under 44 planning to support Mamdani—levels of support suggesting waning attachment to traditional pro-Israel politics. However, many Jewish leaders and voters remained critical of him.[104] Mamdani’s campaign launch drew media attention for its use of Bollywood songs and cultural references, which aimed to engage younger and immigrant voters.[105][106]
During the primary, Mamdani’s campaign was supported by the New Yorkers for Lower Costs super PAC, which spent approximately $1.3 million supporting him and opposing Cuomo before the primary and raised an additional $1 million afterward. The super PAC received $100,000 in contributions from the Unity and Justice Fund in May and June 2025. Cuomo accused Mamdani of accepting “dirty money”, saying the Unity and Justice Fund was tied to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.[107]
After Mamdani won the primary, criticisms of and attacks against him used racist, xenophobic, and Islamophobic tropes, particularly references to the 9/11 attacks and terrorism.[108][109] These criticisms and attacks came from across the political spectrum, and sparked concern and debate over Islamophobia in mainstream American politics.[110][111][112][113] The success of Mamdani’s campaign was attributed in part to his use of social media to reach potential voters, especially younger voters.[114][115]
In early November, President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw federal funding for New York City should Mamdani be elected mayor.[116] Mamdani was elected mayor on November 4, 2025.[117][118][119] He will be the city’s youngest mayor since 1892, as well as the city’s first Indian American and Muslim mayor.[120][121][122][123]
Mayor-elect and transition
Mamdani’s meeting with president Donald Trump at the White House, November 21, 2025
On November 5, 2025, the day after the election, Mamdani announced the first members of his mayoral transition team, with Elana Leopold as executive director, and co-chairs Maria Torres-Springer, the former first deputy mayor; Lina Khan, the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission; and nonprofit executives Melanie Hartzog and Grace Bonilla.[124] On November 10, he announced his selection of former first deputy mayor Dean Fuleihan as his first deputy, and his former Assembly chief of staff and campaign manager Elle Bisgaard-Church as his chief of staff.[125]
Mamdani met with President Trump at the White House on November 21. A spokesperson said the discussion would focus on public safety, economic security, and affordability.[126][127] After the meeting, Trump praised Mamdani and said they “agree on a lot more than I would have thought”, following months of mutual criticism.[128][129]
Political positions
Mamdani identifies as a democratic socialist,[66][130] and is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.[76][131] Described as a progressive and left-wing populist,[132][133] his policies have been characterized as left-wing.[134][135] His economic platform centers on equity and affordability—supporting debt relief for taxi medallion owners,[136] stronger rent control, tenant protections, and a Social Housing Development Agency to build 200,000 affordable units.[137][138] In New York City, he advocates raising the local minimum wage to $30 by 2030,[139] implementing higher taxes on corporations and high-income earners to fund free tuition at CUNY and SUNY, universal childcare, city-owned grocery stores, and free public transit, while cutting taxes for outer-borough homeowners and reforming New York’s property tax system.[d]
Mamdani supported Proposal 1—a successful 2024 ballot measure that banned discrimination based on ethnicity, gender identity, disability, and reproductive rights—and backs single-payer healthcare through the New York Health Act.[145][146][147][148] He argues that “dignified work, economic stability, and well-resourced neighborhoods” prevent harm better than policing, proposing a civilian Department of Community Safety to handle mental health crises and community outreach.[149] He has voiced support for defunding the NYPD and accused the department of racism, for which he later apologized. As a mayoral candidate, he instead emphasized building a cooperative relationship with the department on violent crime prevention while reducing the involvement of police in other matters.[150][151][152]
Mamdani has condemned dictatorships in Venezuela and Cuba while criticizing US sanctions on those countries.[153] He has denounced Indian prime minister Narendra Modi as a “war criminal”[154][155][156] and remains a critic of Israel and the Gaza genocide,[157][158][159] describing its policies as apartheid[160] and supporting the movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction the country.[161] He co-sponsored the “Not on our dime!” bill to stop New York charities from funding Israeli settler violence.[162] After the October 7 attacks, Mamdani mourned all victims, condemned Hamas’s attacks as war crimes,[163][160][164] and called for both sides to “lay down their arms” while advocating a permanent ceasefire,[165] the end of Israeli occupation, and ethnocratic policy in favor of “equal rights for all”.[166][160][167][168] He said he would try to honor the International Criminal Court’s warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian president Vladimir Putin if they visit New York City.[169]
Mamdani connects environmental justice to social equity.[170] He opposed expansion of the gas-fired Astoria Energy power plant,[171][172] supports the All-Electric Buildings Act and congestion pricing, and proposed a “Green Schools for a Healthier New York City” plan to retrofit schools with solar panels, create green schoolyards, and establish resilience hubs.[173][174][175] His platform includes universal pre-K, baby baskets for new families, defending Hasidic yeshivas’ autonomy,[176] expanding sanctuary protections for immigrants, making New York City an LGBTQ+ sanctuary city with an Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, and eliminating bus fares through expanded MTA funding and free transit initiatives.[e]
Personal life
Mamdani is a dual citizen of Uganda and the United States; he was naturalized in the latter country in 2018.[182] He is a Twelver Shia Muslim.[36][183] In 2021, Mamdani met animator and illustrator Rama Duwaji on an online dating application.[184][185] They became engaged in October 2024,[184] held a private nikah ceremony two months later in Dubai,[186] and were married in February 2025 in a civil ceremony at New York City Hall;[187] they also had a ceremony in Uganda in July 2025.[185] The couple resides in Astoria, Queens.[14][185]
Besides English, Mamdani can speak at least six other languages with varying degrees of proficiency: French, Hindi, Kiswahili, Luganda, Spanish, and Arabic.[188][189][190] He is a fan of the English football team Arsenal[191][192] and basketball team the New York Knicks, whose games he has attended as part of past campaigns,[193] and also follows cricket[194] and professional wrestling.[195] He is a shareholder of the Spanish soccer team Real Oviedo, having been one of 20,000 people to purchase shares in the club in 2012 as part of a fundraising drive to stave off bankruptcy.[196][197]
See also
Indian American politicians
Indian Americans in the New York metropolitan area
List of Democratic Socialists of America public officeholders
Ugandan Americans
Notes
^ Elected on both Democratic Party and WFP ballot lines in New York via electoral fusion
^ Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is not a registered political party. Instead, it is a political organization for those with democratic socialist ideologies. Mamdani is a member of and is endorsed by the New York City DSA chapter.
^ English pronunciation: zə-(H)RAHN KWAH-may məm-DAH-nee,[1][2] also commonly ZOR-ahn;[3] Hindi: ज़ोहरान क्वामे ममदानी;[4][5] Urdu: زہران کوامے ممدانی,[6][7] with the first name sometimes written زوہران[8] or ظہران,[9][10] pronounced [zoːɦˈɾaːn ˈkʋaːmeː məmˈdaːniː].[11]
^ Attributed to multiple references: [140][141][142][143][144]
^ Attributed to multiple references: [177][178][179][180][181]
References
^ Zohran K. Mamdani – Assembly District 36 – Video. Assembly Member Directory. New York State Assembly. June 6, 2023. Archived from the original on May 26, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
^ Mamdani, Zohran (June 15, 2020). New York for the Many | Zohran Mamdani (Vote June 23). Event occurs at 00:12. Archived from the original on July 20, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2025 – via YouTube.
^ One Year, One Movement. Zohran Mamdani for NYC. 2025. Archived from the original on October 14, 2025 – via YouTube.
^ Singh, Anshul (June 25, 2025). ज़ोहरान ममदानी: न्यूयॉर्क मेयर का चुनाव लड़ रहे भारतीय मूल के नेता कौन हैं? [Zohran Mamdani: Who are the Indian-American leaders running for New York mayor?]. BBC News (in Hindi). BBC. Archived from the original on June 26, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
^ ज़ोहरान ममदानी बने न्यूयॉर्क सिटी के मेयर, पूंजीपतियों के विरोध और इस्लामोफोबिक हमलों के बीच रचा इतिहास [Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor of New York City, making history amid protests from capitalists and Islamophobic attacks]. The Wire (in Hindi). November 5, 2025. Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
^ Rahim, Shakoor (June 27, 2025). زہران ممدانی کے خلاف آن لائن نفرت میں اضافہ [Rise in online hate against Zohran Mamdani] (in Urdu). Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on June 28, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
^ Dawshi, Bandar (June 26, 2025). نیویارک کی میئرشپ کے لیے ڈیموکریٹک امیدوار زہران ممدانی پر ٹرمپ کی کڑی تنقید [Trump’s harsh criticism of Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani for New York’s mayoralty.] (in Urdu). Al Arabiya. Archived from the original on June 28, 2025. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
^ زوہران ممدانی نیو یارک کے محنت کش طبقے کے لیے زندگی کی لاگت کم کرنے کے لئے میئر کے عہدے کے لیے دوڑ رہے ہیں۔ [Zoharan Mamdani is running for mayor of New York to lower the cost of living for the city’s working class]. Zohran for NYC (in Urdu). Archived from the original on June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
^ ‘روٹی، کپڑا اور مکان’: نیو یارک کے پہلے مسلم میئر بننے کے خواہشمند ظہران ممدانی ڈیموکریٹک امیدوار منتخب [‘Roti, Kapra aur Makān’: Zohran Mamdani, who aspires to become New York’s first Muslim mayor, has been selected as the Democratic candidate.]. BBC News (in Urdu). BBC. June 23, 2025. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
^ نیویارک میئر کا انتخاب، ڈیموکریٹک پارٹی کی جانب سے ظہران ممدانی کی نامزدگی. NHK World (in Urdu). NHK. June 26, 2025. Archived from the original on June 28, 2025. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
^ Zohran explains Ranked Choice Voting in Urdu/Hindi. Zohran for NYC (in Urdu). June 4, 2025. Event occurs at 1:38. Archived from the original on June 5, 2025. Retrieved June 26, 2025 – via YouTube.
^ Jump up to: a b Kitunzi, Yahudu (June 7, 2025). “Mamdani’s mayoral goal puts Uganda on the map”. Monitor. Archived from the original on June 9, 2025. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
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^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Jung, E. Alex (May 20, 2025). “Zohran Mamdani Crashes the Party”. Intelligencer. Archived from the original on May 20, 2025. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
^ Jump up to: a b Davids, Monah (October 26, 2024). “Ugandan-Born Zohran Mamdani Announces Candidacy for Mayor of New York City”. Little Africa News. Archived from the original on June 11, 2025. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
^ Roy, Rajesh (November 5, 2025). “‘Badhai!’ In India, a celebration for Zohran Mamdani’s New York mayoral win and his roots”. ABC News. Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
^ Jump up to: a b c Chen, Kuan-Hsing; Gao, Shiming; Tang, Xiaolin (2016). “The formation of an African intellectual: an interview with Mahmood Mamdani”. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. 17 (3): 456–480. doi:10.1080/14649373.2016.1218676.
^ Dupont, Joan (September 21, 2001). “Mira Nair Peels Back Layers of Punjabi Society”. International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on December 1, 2001. Retrieved July 15, 2025. Nair, who dedicates “Monsoon Wedding,” to her Punjabi family in New Delhi, was educated at Harvard, and has made her home in Kampala, Uganda, and New York.
^ Gajjar, Saloni (December 7, 2020). “Mira Nair on how A Suitable Boy love story transcends class, culture in post-independence India”. NBC News. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021. Nair herself comes from a Hindu family, while her husband is Muslim.
^ Nair, Suresh (November 6, 2001). “Mirage!”. The Times of India. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025. My last name is actually Nayyar, but my grandfather used to spell it as Nair and we just continued the tradition.
^ Saigal, Shinibali Mitra (May 22, 2005). “Namesake a tribute to Ritwik Ghatak, says Mira Nair”. Kolkata Newsline. Archived from the original on December 4, 2005. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
^ “Meet director whose father is an IAS officer, her film made it to the Oscars, and who married a Ugandan scientist, her name is… | India.com”. www.india.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
^ Janmohamed, Zahir (June 16, 2025). “The NYC Mayoral Candidate Turning Meals Into a Movement”. Bon Appétit. Archived from the original on July 1, 2025. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
^ Jump up to: a b Nair, Mira (December 2, 2002). “Whirlwind”. The New Yorker (Interview). Interviewed by Lahr, John. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Published in the print edition of the December 9, 2002, issue.
^ Davis, Rebecca (June 25, 2025). “Meet New York City’s likely next mayor — with a South African connection”. Daily Maverick. Archived from the original on June 26, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
^ Mtembu, Xolile (November 5, 2025). “NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani credits Cape Town childhood for shaping politics”. IOL. Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 7, 2025.
^ O’Regan, Victoria (November 5, 2025). “Former SA schoolboy Zohran Mamdani becomes New York City’s first millennial mayor in ‘historic’ elections”. Daily Maverick. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
^ Haag, Matthew; Goldberg, Emma (June 27, 2025). “The Parents Who Helped Shape Zohran Mamdani’s Politics”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 30, 2025. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
^ Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (June 10, 2025). “10 Questions With Zohran Mamdani”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 11, 2025. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
^ Sassoon, Alessandro Marazzi (July 1, 2025). “I Went to Middle School With Zohran Mamdani. He Turned Our Election Upside Down Then Too”. Slate. Archived from the original on July 1, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
^ Mamdani, Mahmood (2004). “Acknowledgements”. Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror. Three Leaves Press. pp. xiv. ISBN 9782869781344.
^ Leach, Olivia (June 25, 2025). “Mamdani’s alma mater Bronx Science celebrates his victory”. Spectrum News NY1. Archived from the original on June 27, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
^ Flegenheimer, Matt; Oreskes, Benjamin (October 20, 2025). “How an Elite Public High School Set Mamdani on the Path to Politics”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 6, 2025. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
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^ Sauer, Megan (June 27, 2025). “Zohran Mamdani ran for VP of his high school and lost—now he’s winning the Democratic primary for NYC mayor”. CNBC. Archived from the original on June 27, 2025. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
^ Jump up to: a b c Shoki, William (February 9, 2020). “Roti and Roses for All”. Jacobin. Archived from the original on July 17, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
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^ “Zohran Mamdani”. The Bowdoin Orient. Archived from the original on July 8, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
^ Mamdani, Zohran; Lamel, Sinead (January 9, 2014). “Bowdoin should join boycott against Israeli institutions”. Bangor Daily News. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
^ Jump up to: a b Green, Walden (June 5, 2025). “5 Songs That Define Zohran Mamdani’s Campaign for New York Mayor”. Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 14, 2025. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
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^ Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (April 1, 2025). “Add More N.Y.P.D. Officers to Fight Crime? Mamdani Has Different Ideas”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 1, 2025. Retrieved April 2, 2025. Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist rising in the polls in the New York City mayor’s race, has chosen a different approach.
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^ Kozul-Wright, Alex (November 5, 2025). “Zohran Mamdani wins: Who are the Democratic Socialists of America?”. Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on November 5, 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2025. Zohran Mamdani, 34, has been elected the 111th mayor of New York City. The left-wing state assemblyman has pledged to reshape the global finance capital by making the city more affordable for its working-class residents and pushing back against the policies of President Donald Trump. In the mayoral election, Democrat Mamdani stood as the candidate for both the Democratic Party and the Working Families Party. He has also been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America since 2017 and describes himself as a democratic socialist.
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^ Mamdani, Zohran [@ZohranKMamdani] (June 28, 2020). “We don’t need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety. What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD. But your deal with @NYCMayor uses budget tricks to keep as many cops as possible on the beat. NO to fake cuts – defund the police. https://t.co/2RCXU8heg2” (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 14, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025 – via Twitter.
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^ “Why Indian right is having a meltdown over Mamdani’s win”. TRT Global. June 26, 2025. Archived from the original on July 3, 2025. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
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^ Zohran Kwame Mamdani (October 31, 2024). “I will always be clear in my language and based in facts: Israel is committing a genocide”. X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved July 1, 2025.
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^ New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani | The View (Video). October 1, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025 – via Facebook. I condemn Hamas, of course, I have called Oct. 7 what it was, which was a horrific war crime and, of course, my belief in a universality in international law is also the same set of beliefs that led me to describe what’s happening in Gaza as a genocide.
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^ Donovan, Liz (October 27, 2021). “New York State Denies Permit for New Astoria Power Plant”. City Limits. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
^ Ashford, Grace; Barnard, Anne (October 27, 2021). “How New York Just Took a Big Step Away From Fossil Fuels”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
^ Simões, Mariana (June 12, 2025). “Primary Voter Guide: The Mayoral Candidates’ Plans on Climate & Environment”. City Limits. Archived from the original on June 12, 2025. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
^ Redelmeier, Rebecca (January 14, 2025). “New York passed a ban on gas stoves in new buildings. Could Trump interfere?”. WSKG-FM. Archived from the original on January 18, 2025. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
^ Hetland, Gabriel (April 22, 2025). “Zohran Mamdani Tackles Climate Change and New York City’s Cost-of-Living Crisis”. ISSN 0027-8378. Archived from the original on April 22, 2025. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
^ Kornbluh, Jacob (June 12, 2025). “‘I will work to protect you,’ Mamdani tells Orthodox voters in interview with Hasidic paper”. Forward. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
^ Shapiro, Eliza (April 17, 2025). “The Child Care Crisis Is Motivating These New York City Voters”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 14, 2025. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
^ Wexler, Sara (December 23, 2023). “Socialist Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani Wants to End Columbia and NYU’s Tax-Exempt Status”. Jacobin. Archived from the original on December 24, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
^ Hollie, Mia (June 25, 2025). “How Zohran Mamdani Answered Every Question in THE CITY’s Meet Your Mayor Quiz”. THE CITY – NYC News. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
^ Pilkington, Ed (June 21, 2025). “‘New Yorkers have been betrayed’: can Zohran Mamdani become the most progressive mayor in the city’s history?”. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on June 21, 2025. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
^ Chen, Stefanos (July 3, 2025). “Mamdani’s Win Has Put Buses in the Spotlight. Should They Be Free?”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 3, 2025. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
^ Ryan, Benjamin; Fandos, Nicholas; Rubinstein, Dana (July 3, 2025). “Mamdani Identified as Asian and African American on College Application”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 3, 2025. Retrieved July 4, 2025. He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2018 and is now a dual citizen of the United States and Uganda.
^ @ZohranKMamdani (November 26, 2019). “Got mad love for my Ismaili’s but I’m actually Ithna-Asheri 😊” (Tweet). Retrieved November 5, 2025 – via Twitter.
^ Jump up to: a b Pazmino, Gloria; John, Arit (November 2, 2025). “Rama Duwaji, Zohran Mamdani’s wife, stays in the background by design”. CNN. Archived from the original on November 3, 2025. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
^ Jump up to: a b c Hasan, Sadiba (October 12, 2025). “When Your Hinge Date Is New York’s Mayoral Front-Runner”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 12, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
^ Bandyopadhyay, Bahni (November 5, 2025). “Did you know? Zohran Mamdani’s wife went to school in Dubai, met him on Hinge”. Khaleej Times. Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
^ Craighead, Olivia (May 12, 2025). “Zohran Mamdani Hard-Launched His Wife”. The Cut. Archived from the original on June 14, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
^ Muhumuza, Rodney (November 3, 2025). “In Uganda, where Zohran Mamdani was born, NYC mayoral hopeful is recalled with pride”. AP News. Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
^ Maag, Christopher (June 25, 2025). “Young Muslims Loved Zohran Mamdani, and Their Parents Listened to Them”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2025. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
^ National, The. “Zohran Mamdani makes a pledge to New Yorkers in Arabic – here’s what it means”. The National. Archived from the original on November 5, 2025. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
^ Crafton, Adam (November 5, 2025). “Zohran Mamdani talks soccer: World Cup ticket prices and the Premier League title race”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 21, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
^ “Zohran Mamdani is left speechless after receiving message from Arsenal legend”. The Independent. November 24, 2025. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
^ Oreskes, Benjamin (November 3, 2025). “Mamdani Takes in the Knicks From the Rafters, After Cuomo Sat Courtside”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
^ Bakshi, Sahil (November 5, 2025). “The Cricket Connect To Zohran Mamdani’s Historic NYC Mayoral Election Win”. NDTV Sports. Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
^ Pasbani, Rob (June 25, 2025). “NYC’s Next Mayor? He’s a Wrestling Fan Like Us”. 92.9 The Ticket. Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
^ Chesterton, Max (November 7, 2025). “Why Zohran Mamdani owns shares in a Spanish football club”. bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
^ “😅Unexpected: New York’s new mayor is a shareholder at Oviedo”. OneFootball. November 6, 2025. Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
External links
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani
Transition website
Zohran Mamdani at the Great Danish Encyclopedia
Appearances on C-SPAN
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en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Zohran_Mamdani
Zohran Mamdani
Contributors to Wikimedia projects58-74 minutes 7/22/2020
DOI: 10.1080/14649373.2016.1218676, Show Details
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani in 2025
Mayor-elect of New York City
Assuming office
January 1, 2026
First Deputy Dean Fuleihan (designee)
Succeeding Eric Adams
Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 36th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2021
Preceded by Aravella Simotas
Personal details
Born Zohran Kwame Mamdani
October 18, 1991 (age 34)
Kampala, Uganda
Citizenship
Uganda
United States (since 2018)
Party Democratic
Other political
affiliations
Working Families[a]
Democratic Socialists of America[b]
Spouse
Rama Duwaji
(m. )
Parents
Mahmood Mamdani (father)
Mira Nair (mother)
Education Bowdoin College (BA)
Signature
Website
Transition website
State Assembly website
Duration: 58 seconds.
Mamdani introducing himself and his mayoral platform
Recorded April 9, 2025
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*👨🔬🕵️♀️🙇♀️*SKETCHES*🙇♂️👩🔬🕵️♂️*
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*-XXX-* ☞ 👉👉👉
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💕💝💖💓🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤❤️💚💛🧡❣️💞💔💘❣️🧡💛💚❤️🖤💜🖤💙🖤💙🖤💗💖💝💘
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*🌈✨ *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ✨🌷*
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🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥*we won the war* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
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