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Person

Zohran Mamdani

Type:

Politician
Nationality:

American
Location:

New York, NY
Position:

Mayor-elect, New York City

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Zohran Mamdani is a New York City Democratic politician who will take office as the 111th Mayor of New York City in 2026. He served in the New York State Assembly from 2020 through 2025, resigning after his election as Mayor, defeating Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D). Mamdani is a longtime member and leader within the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). After upsetting Cuomo in the June 2025 Democratic primary conducted using ranked-choice voting, Cuomo ran as a third-party candidate in a contest marked for its significant media coverage. During the 2025 Mayoral race, Mamdani campaigned on a far-left, socialist-aligned platform that he claimed aimed at affordability, with proposals including rent freezes, a $30 minimum wage by 2030, and universal government-funded child care. He faced scrutiny over anti-Israel activism and allegations of foreign influence over his campaign, resulting in his returning a total of $9,000 worth of foreign-sourced donations. 1 2

Background

Zohran Mamdani was born in 1991 in Kampala, Uganda, to parents of Indian ancestry: African and postcolonial studies academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair. He lived in Uganda until age five, then moved to Cape Town, South Africa, for three years, where his father taught at the University of Cape Town. The family settled in New York City’s Morningside Heights when Mamdani was seven. 3

Mamdani attended the Bank Street School, an elite, progressive private day school on the Upper West Side, and the Bronx High School of Science, graduating in 2010. He then attended Bowdoin College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies in 2014. Regarding his upbringing, he told the New York Times, “I would say I had a privileged upbringing. I never had to want for something, and yet I knew that was not in any way the reality for most New Yorkers.” Underscoring this, the Times noted that “His mother, Mira Nair, is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a professor at Columbia University.” 4 5

Several of his mother Mira Nair’s films were funded by Qatari government-linked sources, and Sheikha Al-Thani, sister to the ruling Emir of Qatar, promoted Mamdani’s mayoral candidacy on social media during the campaign. 6

While attending Bowdoin College, Mamdani co-founded its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter and co-authored an op-ed supporting the academic boycott of Israel. Before entering politics, he worked as a foreclosure prevention counselor in the Queens borough of New York City. He performed and recorded music as a rapper under the stage name “Young Cardamom,” releasing tracks addressing colonialism and corruption, some of which were included as contributions to his mother’s film Queen of Katwe (2016). He became a U.S. citizen in 2018 while retaining Ugandan citizenship. 3 3 4 5

New York State Assembly

Mamdani was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020, ousting a five-term incumbent in a Democratic primary election. He ultimately won the nomination by 300 votes out of 8,000 total. Mamdani posted on Twitter that “Socialism Won” after the count confirmed his nomination. 7

He served in the State Assembly until his 2025 election as Mayor of New York City, being reelected without opposition in 2022 and 2024. He was the primary sponsor of 20 bills in the Assembly, three of which became law, and the co-sponsor of 238 bills. Among his sponsored bills was the “Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler violence act” to “prohibit not-for-profit corporations from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.” 8 8 9 10

2025 Mayoral Election

Mamdani defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) in the June 2025 Democratic primary after three rounds of ranked-choice voting. This upset caused Cuomo to remain on the ballot under the “Fight and Deliver Party” ballot line. Mamdani was also endorsed by the Working Families Party, appearing on its ballot line as well as the Democratic line. The Republican nominee, candidate Curtis Sliwa, appeared on the Republican and Protect Animals Party ballot lines. 11

Mamdani defeated Cuomo in the November 2025 general election, garnering 50.9 percent to Cuomo’s 41.4 percent, with Sliwa receiving just 7 percent of the vote. 11

Funding for Mamdani’s campaign included an outside political action committee (PAC) formed to support him called New Yorkers for Lower Costs, which was funded by Elizabeth Simons, a billionaire donor tied to the Heising-Simons Foundation, and tech executives Mohammad Waqas Javed and Omer Hasan, all of whom donated at least $250,000. The Council on American Islamic Relations Unity & Justice Fund made a $100,000 contribution to New Yorkers for Lower Costs. Mamdani’s campaign also significantly benefited from over $12.5 million in taxpayer dollars through the city’s matching-funds program. 12

According to an October 2025 New York Post report, Mamdani’s campaign accepted nearly $13,000 from 170 foreign donors, which stood in violation of U.S. and New York City campaign finance laws. At the time, some $7,190 had not yet been refunded. Examples included Ada Diaz Ahmed ($2,100, Dubai), James Furlaud ($2,100, Australia), Bariah Dardari ($500, Dubai, refunded), Jun-Dai Bates Kobashigawa ($250, Canada), Ugur Macit ($250, Germany), and Ahmed Enbya ($100, Canada). His campaign had returned at least $9,000 of the foreign donations as of October 30, 2025. 12 13 2

Policy Stances

Mamdani’s policy positions included many longtime far-left and socialist-aligned priorities. His mayoral campaign platform was described by the right-of-center Capital Research Center as reading like a “socialist manifesto,” with support for “city-run grocery stores, free public transportation, free child care, abolish[ing] cash bail, raise taxes, and crush[ing] charter schools that offer families an escape from failing public systems.” 14

Mayoral Policy

In his first days as mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani revoked a series of executive orders issued by his predecessor, Eric Adams, citing a desire to provide a “fresh start for the incoming administration.” The revocation applied to orders issued after September 26, 2024, the date Adams was indicted on federal bribery and campaign finance charges, and included measures related to antisemitism and Israel adopted during Adams’ final months in office. Among the rescinded orders were Executive Order 60, which barred city entities and personnel from boycotting or divesting from Israel, and Executive Order 61, which directed the New York City Police Department to examine protest-free zones around houses of worship. 3 16

Mamdani’s 2025 campaign was endorsed by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the local New York City affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the largest local teachers’ union in the United States. 14

Right-of-center groups have frequently highlighted Mamdani’s ties to far-left and Islamic-radical groups and organizations. In October 2025, he campaigned alongside Siraj Wahhaj, an imam who has “been linked to terrorist activity and said gay people deserve death.” 17

References

  1. “Zohran Mamdani Wins! National Political Committee Statement.” Democratic Socialists of America. November 4, 2025. Accessed November 25, 2025. https://www.dsausa.org/statements/zohran-mamdani-wins-national-political-committee-statement/.
  2. “Mamdani’s campaign returns $9,000 in foreign donations amid election law scrutiny.” KFOX-TV. October 30, 2025. Accessed November 25, 2025. https://kfoxtv.com/news/nation-world/mamdanis-campaign-returns-9000-in-foreign-donations-amid-election-law-scrutiny-zohran-mamdani-new-york-city-mayoral-election.
  3. Lach, Eric. “What Zohran Mamdani Knows About Power.” The New Yorker. October 9, 2025. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/20/zohran-mamdani-profile.
  4. Fitzsimmons, Emma. “10 Questions With Zohran Mamdani.” The New York Times. June 10 2025. Accessed November 25, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/nyregion/zohran-mamdani-interview.html
  5. “Zohran Mamdani.” Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zohran-Mamdani
  6. https://nypost.com/2025/08/31/us-news/qatar-bankrolled-years-worth-of-films-by-zohran-mamdanis-mom/
  7. Kaufman, Maya. “Zohran Mamdani Unseats Aravella Simotas In Astoria Assembly Race.” Patch Astoria-Long Island, NY. July 22, 2020. Accessed November 25, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250614170308/https://patch.com/new-york/astoria-long-island-city/zohran-mamdani-unseats-aravella-simotas-astoria-assembly-race
  8. “Zohran Mamdani. Ballotpedia. Accessed November 25, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/Zohran_Mamdani
  9. “Senate Bill S606.” The New York State Senate. 2025-2026 Legislative Session. Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S606.
  10. “Zohran Mamdani.” BillTrack50. Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.billtrack50.com/legislatordetail/25570.
  11. “Mayoral Election in New York, New York (2025).” Ballotpedia. Accessed November 25, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/Mayoral_election_in_New_York,_New_York_(2025)
  12. Stilson, Robert. et. al. “Socialism, capitalism and the NYC mayoral donors.” Capital Research Center. October 2025. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CRC_SocialismCapitalismNYCMayoralDonors_Report_v3.pdf
  13. Vincent, Isabel and Calder, Rich. “Mamdani mayoral campaign took in $13,000 in illegal foreign donations, records show.” New York Post. October 12, 2025. Accessed November 25, 2025. https://nypost.com/2025/10/12/us-news/mamdanis-mayoral-campaign-took-in-13000-in-illegal-foreign-campaign-cash-records-show/
  14. Fontanilla, Kali. “Why the teacher union supports Mamdani the socialist.” Capital Research Center. October 15, 2025. Accessed November 25, 2025. https://capitalresearch.org/article/why-the-teacher-union-supports-mamdani-the-socialist/
  15. Fitzgerald, Sandy. “Mamdani Revokes Antisemitism Executive Orders as First Act.” Newsmax, January 2, 2026. https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/zohran-mamdani-nyc-antisemitism/2026/01/02/id/1240493/?ns_mail_uid=b325bed1-e422-43ab-9e65-e40e8a76e92c&ns_mail_job=DM901165_01022026&s=acs&dkt_nbr=010102bou3hw.
  16. ”About. New York State Socialists in Office. Accessed November 25, 2025. https://www.newyorksocialistsinoffice.com/about
  17. “Radical Groups Tied to Mamdani Associates Pulled in Millions of Taxpayer Dollars.” Open the Books. November 7, 2025. Accessed November 25, 2025. https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/radical-groups-tied-to-mamdani-associates
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