Mamdani makes history as NYC’s first Muslim, first South Asian mayor

Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral race Tuesday, defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo

By the numbers: The 34-year-old state lawmaker, who maintained his lead in final pre-election polls, captured 1,036,051 votes (50.4%) against Cuomo’s 854,995 (41.6%). Turnout reportedly exceeded 2 million ballots, the largest participation in a mayoral contest in more than 50 years. “The conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate. I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this,” Mamdani said in his victory speech in Brooklyn. He also committed to waking up each day with one purpose: “To make this city better for you than it was the day before.”

Meanwhile, Cuomo at his Midtown Manhattan event described his unsuccessful campaign as “a caution flag that we are headed down a dangerous, dangerous road” while noting “almost half of New Yorkers did not vote to support a government agenda that makes promises that we know cannot be met.” Yet when his audience began booing Mamdani’s name, the former governor said,“That is not right, and that is not us.” He added, “Tonight was their night. And as they start to transition to government, we will all help any way we can because we need our New York City government to work.”

What this means: The incoming mayor breaks multiple barriers as New York’s first South Asian, first Muslim and first African-born chief executive. Born in Uganda, Mamdani was initially raised in Cape Town, South Africa, before his family moved to New York when he turned 7. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and graduated from Bowdoin College. At 34, he will also become the city’s youngest mayor in over a century.

The victory represents a watershed for Asian American political power in the U.S.’ largest city and signals a potential shift in Democratic strategy. Interestingly, Mamdani’s upset over an establishment Democrat suggests progressives may have found a winning formula ahead of next year’s midterm elections. His win also came during an election night that saw Democrats notch several historic victories; among them Ghazala Hashmi, who is projected to become Virginia’s lieutenant governor and the nation’s first Muslim woman elected to statewide office.

Enter Republicans: Republican opposition intensified throughout the campaign. GOP lawmakers pushed to have Mamdani stripped of his U.S. citizenship, while President Donald Trump suggested he might slash city funding or pursue his deportation despite his 2018 naturalization. Hours after polls closed Wednesday, the House GOP’s campaign committee unveiled digital ads across 49 battleground districts linking Democratic candidates to the “socialist mayor” who “built his movement on defunding the police and abolishing ICE.”

Israeli officials also condemned the outcome. Amichai Chikli, Jerusalem’s diaspora affairs minister, wrote that Mamdani’s positions place him “not far from those of the fanatic jihadists who murdered three thousand people” on 9/11. Mamdani has been an outspoken critic of Israeli military action in Gaza, accusing the country of genocide and saying he would honor an International Criminal Court warrant targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though he has described Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 assault as “a horrific war crime.”

What’s next: The mayor-elect now faces the challenge of delivering on an expansive policy agenda: no-cost child care, fare-free bus transit, government-run grocery stores and a new Department of Community Safety deploying mental health workers instead of officers to certain calls. Funding these programs remains uncertain, particularly given Gov. Kathy Hochul’s resistance to Mamdani’s plan for higher taxes on top earners. His handling of police department leadership will also draw scrutiny after he apologized for 2020 comments demanding the “rogue agency” be defunded.

Relations with Washington present another major challenge as Trump posted “…AND SO IT BEGINS!” on Truth Social after learning the results. In his victory speech, Mamdani directly addressed the president: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” adding that “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”

Mamdani will be sworn in on Jan. 1, 2026.