Who is Zohran Mamdani – and how did he pull off astonishing New York victory?

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani will become New York City’s next mayor after he swept to victory in a decisive win.

His rise to political stardom was complete late on Tuesday night when he was projected to have won the mayoral contest, which will see him sworn in to replace Eric Adams in January.

In a fiery acceptance speech last night, Mr Mamdani, the first Muslim and South Asian mayor of New York, said: “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”

The 34-year-old is the youngest person in a century to be elected as the famous city’s mayor.

So how did he get here, what does he stand for, and why has he proved a divisive figure?

From rapper to mayor

Mr Mamdani, a state lawmaker, was relatively unknown when he announced his run in October last year.

His win in the summer in the Democratic mayoral primary against then favourite Andrew Cuomo – a former New York governor making a political comeback from a sexual harassment scandal – shocked the nation.

He was elected to the State Assembly in 2020, representing a district in Queens, becoming the first South Asian man to serve in the NYS Assembly, as well as the first Ugandan and third Muslim to ever be a member of the body

Before that he was on the city’s rapping scene, going by Young Cardamom and later as Mr Cardamom.

He made a song called #1 Spice with the artist HAB for the 2016 Disney film Queen of Katwe, which was directed by his mother Mira Nair, an award-winning filmmaker, while another song, Nani – a tribute to his grandmother – was released in 2019.

Mr Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, and was raised there and briefly in South Africa until he was seven years old, when his family moved to New York.

He is the son of filmmaker mother Mira Nair, best known for 2001 comedy/drama Monsoon Wedding, and Mahmood Mamdani, an anthropology professor at Columbia University.

He went to a public school and attended the Bronx High School of Science, before receiving a degree in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College, where he co-started the school’s first Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.

He became naturalised as an American citizen in 2018, and worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counsellor.

The politician says that the job, which saw him help low-income homeowners of colour across Queens fight off eviction and stay in their homes, inspired him to run for office.

Mr Trump has alleged without evidence that Mr Mamdani is in the US “illegally,” and some Republicans have called for his deportation.

Mr Mamdani married Rama Duwaji, a Syrian American artist whom he met on the dating app Hinge, earlier this year.

How did Mamdani win?

His energetic campaign, with cost-of-living concerns at its heart, has made Mr Mamdani popular among working-class voters.

He has used social media to engage with a younger demographic, with slickly-produced videos earning him nearly 5 million followers on Instagram and 1.6 million on TikTok.

He has set out his vision of free buses, free childcare, new apartments and a higher minimum wage – paid for by new taxes on the rich.

Likewise, he has also shared plans to hire thousands of new teachers, renegotiate city contracts and freeze rent increases for the city’s one million rent-regulated apartments.

“We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible,” Mr Mamdani told supporters after his win.

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Critics have suggested his ambitious plans won’t be affordable.

Mr Mamdani’s campaign was helped by controversies plaguing his competitors.

Mr Cuomo had been trying to make a political comeback from a scandal that saw him resign as governor of New York state in 2021, when a report from the state attorney general concluded that he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.

The 67-year-old refused to back down after losing the Democratic primary to Mr Mamdani, and became a more likely winner as an independent than Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, owing to New York’s largely Democratic-leaning population.

Adding to Mr Mamdani’s chances was the fact that the incumbent Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, decided to drop out of the race for re-election in September. His reputation had taken a hit after he was charged with taking bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals last year. The charges have since been dropped.

Why Mamdani is a divisive figure on the left

Progressives have rallied behind Mr Mamdani throughout his campaign, with his economic populism and youthful charisma raising his popularity beyond New York.

He has had heavy support from popular US Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, from before he won the primary in June.

For much of his campaign, Democratic leaders in Washington and moderate Democrats were seen actively distancing themselves from Mr Mamdani, with some considering his socialist views too radical.

He has been an outspoken critic of Israel, calling its military campaign in Gaza a “genocide” and saying Palestine should exist as “a state with equal rights,” while demanding hefty tax increases on the wealthy to make life more affordable for everyday New Yorkers.

His views have posed a challenge for the leftist leaders, who want to appeal to voters not just in Democratic strongholds like New York but also in swing states or places that lean toward Republicans, such as Senate contests next year in North Carolina and Ohio.

Party leaders like governor Kathy Hochul and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries eventually endorsed Mr Mamdani months after he won the nomination.

Mr Jeffries, a moderate New York Democrat, said he had disagreements with Mr Mamdani but supported him as the nominee, adding that the party should unify against Republicans and Donald Trump.

While he did not openly endorse the 34-year-old, The New York Times reported that former US president Barack Obama had called Mr Mamdani and offered to be a “sounding board”.

What has Trump said about Mamdani?

Mr Trump, unsurprisingly, has been critical of Mr Mamdani, calling him a “communist” who “doesn’t know a thing” and “probably never worked a day in his life”.

He even suggested Republican candidate Mr Sliwa should drop out to give Mr Cuomo a bigger share of votes, and on the day before the last day of voting, explicitly endorsed the independent candidate on Truth Social.

Throughout his campaign to be mayor, Mr Mamdani was critical of the Trump administration – in particular about the immigration raids seen in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, vowing to hire more lawyers for the city to challenge any National Guard or ICE deployment.

In August, he said a New York with him as mayor would be “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare”.

Mr Trump said Mr Mamdani’s election would bring “disaster” for the city.

And in a speech on Tuesday night after winning the election, Mr Mamdani fired attacks against Mr Trump, saying: “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”

As he was speaking, the president posted a blunt rebuttal on Truth Social, saying: “…AND SO IT BEGINS!”