Editor’s Note: The following article was originally written by Ximena Tobon, one of the Tribuno’s first summer interns.
Zohran K. Mamdani born in Kampala, Uganda moved to New York City at the age of 7, became a New York Assembly member in 2021, and is now the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor’s race. On June 24th, Mamdani won the Democratic primary defeating former New York governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo resigned following sexual harassment allegations, leaving behind a shadow of misusing $5 million MTA funds for ski-resorts, concealing thousands of nursing home COVID-19 related deaths, and more.
Mamdani’s win has received backlash from the Republican party including members of the House of Representatives and President Donald Trump. Through X (formally Twitter), Tennessee representative Andy Ogles called for Mamdani’s deportation while referring to him with an Islamophobic name, South Carolina representative Nancy Mace suggested his election could be tied to terrorists attacks like 9/11, and Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene shared an image of the Statue of Liberty wearing Muslim attire that covers all women’s bodies expect their eyes. President Donald Trump, too, wrote on Truth Social, a platform owned by Trump Media, that Mamdani is an uneducated Communist lunatic with bad looks.
Even members of the Democratic party attempted to take down Mamdani, and failed. A pro-Cuomo super PAC named “Fix the City” spent over $5.4 million on an advertisement showing Mamdani as a radical who would defund the police and move the homeless into subway stations. As a Democratic Socialist, Mamdani stands on the “far-left” of a party who has not seen high young voter turnout since 2008 and wants to appeal to moderate Democrats and Independents.
Mamdani’s victory can be attributed to his social media campaign and engagement with younger voter generations. Most of his videos were filmed in everyday locations for New Yorkers like the subway, halal carts, community centers, festivals, and more. They were in English and Spanish, as well as in Urdu/Hindi, showing communities how, when, and where to vote. He is focused on lowering the cost of living for the working class as “New York is the greatest city in the globe… but what good is that if no one can afford to live here?”.
He believes in creating an affordable safe city and based his campaign on:
Affordability:
– Creating city owned grocery stores in each borough.
– Making city buses free, fast, and more reliable.
– Fighting corporate exploitation.
Housing:
– Freezing rent for rent-stabilized apartments and working to lower rent.
– Building approximately 200,000 units of affordable housing within the next 10 years.
– Tackling bad landlords.
– Helping homeowners and creating the Office of Deed Theft.
Safety:
– Creating the Department of Community Safety.
Early Childhood and Education:
– Free childcare for every New Yorker between 6 weeks and 5 years.
– Baby baskets for every newborn and their families, including diapers, baby wipes, nursing pads, postpartum pads, books, and swaddles.
– Fully funded K-12 equal education, car-free “school streets”, tuition-free CUNY, and more.
Trump-Proofing NYC:
– Strengthening sanctuary city jurisdictions protecting immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community.
On November 4th, the general elections will take place with Zohran Mamdani, Curti Silwa, Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo, and Jim Walden on the ballot for New York City’s mayor. With less than 4 months left, Mamdani still has challenges ahead as “this election is a true test of the resilience” of the city.
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Mamdani has my vote. Thanks Ximena for this explainer of who he is and what he represent.
Laura
such an imporant piece. thanks ximena, mamdani has my vote!
Excellent write-up Ximena! The only part that I had to do more research on was understanding why Cuomo was still on the November ballot. What I understand is that he switched to Independent before the primary.
Thanks for your skills and dedication!!!