From housing advocate to NYC Mayor: Zohran Mamdani makes history
Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic Socialist, pulled off a stunning victory in the fiercely contested New York City mayoral election, riding an electrifying campaign to become the first South Asian, youngest, and Muslim to helm the administration of the world’s financial capital. Born in Uganda, Mamdani, the son of Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Indian-origin scholar Mahmood Mamdani, defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, promising to usher in a new wave of progressive politics and focusing on working-class issues, including the increasing costs of living. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, was a professor at Columbia University.
Zohran Mamdani is married to illustrator Rama Duwaji, a 28-year-old Syrian-American artist. Duwaji has worked with several prominent international outlets, including BBC, Vogue, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post. She married Mamdani in 2021.
Zohran’s victory in the closely-watched contest to become the 111th mayor of the largest American city in January assumed greater political significance as President Donald Trump is a native New Yorker who has consistently warned people not to vote for Mamdani. “Tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics,” Mamdani told his supporters in Brooklyn. “We have toppled a political dynasty. I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life. But let tonight be the final time I speak his name,” he said. Mamdani also invoked Jawaharlal Nehru in his acceptance speech.
“Standing before you, I think of the words of Jawaharlal Nehru — a moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance. Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new,” he said amid loud cheers. In his comments, Mamdani also threw a challenge to Trump. “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: ‘Turn the volume up,'” he said.
Mamdani was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda, and moved to New York City with his family when he was seven years old. He became a naturalised US citizen only recently in 2018. Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whose administration has been plagued by scandals, dropped out of the mayoral race in September. Mamdani had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months. Cuomo ran as an independent candidate and received US President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
The NYC Board of Elections said that two million votes were cast, for the first time since 1969, with check-ins in Manhattan at 444,439, followed by the Bronx (187,399), Brooklyn (571,857), Queens (421,176), and Staten Island (123,827).
Mamdani will be the first Muslim, the first Indian-origin, the first born in Africa, and the youngest one in more than a century when he becomes New York Mayor on January 1. “I am young and I am a Muslim. I refuse to apologise for being a Muslim,” Mamdani said in his victory speech. He said New York will remain a city of immigrants — a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant.
Mamdani attended Bronx High School of Science and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College. In high school, he co-founded his school’s first-ever cricket team, which went on to participate in the Public School Athletic League‘s inaugural cricket season, his campaign profile said. He worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counsellor, helping low-income homeowners of colour across Queens fight off eviction and stay in their homes, according to his official profile. His work led him to run for office, and he was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020 and represented the 36th Assembly District and its neighbourhoods of Astoria, Ditmars-Steinway, and Astoria Heights.
“After having spent every day negotiating with banks that valued profits over people, he came face-to-face with the reality that this housing crisis – one which predated this pandemic – was not natural to our lives, but instead a choice. …A choice that was the consequence of decades of pro-corporate policies enacted across our country, as well as our state. Yet, like with any choice, we always have the opportunity to change, and Zohran is excited to be a part of that,” his profile said.
“Zohran is proud to be the first South Asian man to serve in the NYS Assembly as well as the first Ugandan and only the third Muslim to ever be a member of the body. For too long, communities such as these have been left out of our state’s politics and priorities. Zohran will seek to amplify the voices of the preferably unheard across both the district and the state for as long as he remains in office,” it added.
The young politician garnered support among the youth and working-class New Yorkers, who have been reeling under the burden of high costs and job insecurities amid a tough economic and political climate in the country. He has promised to “lower costs and make life easier” for New Yorkers, as the city becomes “too expensive.”
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- Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani wins historic NYC Mayoral election - November 5, 2025
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