A Jihadist. A terrorist. A communist. A Muslim. A lunatic. A firebrand. A socialist. A reformist. These and many others are the tags and labels being given to Zohran Mamdani the new nominee of the Democratic party’s New York City mayor election. His race against Andrew Cuomo may seem a typical intra party politics but there is nothing typical about it.
It is a campaign that has turned the staid and stale primary races into a scintillating duel between the old and the new, between the old and the young, between the set and the upset. It has created havoc with set way of running campaigns. It has created uproar in the set of running politics. And, it has created cracks in the set rules and regulations of the “established” forces in America.
All this blitz is not in a general election for the Presidential race, this is a mere primary race to elect a nominee for a mayor of a city. Despite that it has caught the imagination of the voters in New York. Despite that it has caught the eye of the global media. Despite that it has become the focus of electoral experts, geo political analysts, and social scientists. It has caught the electoral politics by a storm.
Zohran Mamdani is everything that the big guns in the big parties love to hate. He is only 33 years of age. He is Muslim. He is anti-Netanyahu. He calls Narender Modi “The butcher of Gujarat”. All these are big ‘No Nos’ in the big scheme of the big parties ruling the big superpower.
Such daring and dashing rhetoric does catch the media attention but rarely translates into voter preference, but it has. That is the worrying point for those who for decades have supported the big powers in every illegal activity. Zohran Mamdani’s campaign is not shocking, it is stunning. Some knock overs in the campaign are:
- The Underdog Vs the Bulldog— For somebody whose name hardly anybody knew, to come from behind and outrace the big Democrat stalwarts has kind of sent the party power brokers in a disbelief. Nobody thought he had a chance-not even the most reliable polls.
Two of pre-election, nonpartisan polls had Cuomo leading in the first round. Emerson College showed Cuomo ahead by 3 points in the first round, and Marist University showed Cuomo leading by 12 points in the first-choice tally. Mamdani finished the unofficial tally 7 points ahead forcing Andrew Cuomo to withdraw from the race. Every attack that Mamdani received from his opponents, he turned it to his advantage.
Nothing appeals more to the human instinct than the story of the boy next door giving it back to the boys on the Capitol Hill. He did exactly that. They called him names, he called out their corruption. They made fun of him, he ridiculed their performance. In many of the debates, he left his opponents speechless.
When called out for inexperience he called back on their experienced harassment and embezzlement. They made fun of his name. He made fun of their inability to pronounce his name. It became the classic David Vs Goliath story. And, who can resist such a fairy-tale turned to reality.
- The Street, the door the sea— So Zohran Mamdani ran the campaign. Yes he actually “ran” through the campaign. He was everywhere. In the boroughs, on the bus, in the underground, on the streets, in the halls, in the houses, in the sea. Yes he was. In the freezing waters. He just “outran” his opponents who seemed stuck on their plush seats, too tacky in their attempts to connect to voters, and too obsolete in their ways of pouring in money to buy votes.
On the election day pro-Cuomo Super Pac, funded by billionaire s including Trump supporters like Wall Street big gun Bill Ackman had spent $25m, on smear ads. Mamdani’s Pac spent $1.2m, and a Working Families party-affiliated Pac put in $500,000. Mamdani had as many as 50,000 volunteers, who knocked over a million doors. Cuomo avoided the public and the press. Mamdani on the other hand was with the people, with the press available and accessible. That reinforced the image of those in higher places Vs he is just one of us.
- Listen, logic, talk style— Mamdani formed his campaign theme based on what the voters wanted. He said it was time to “stop lecturing and start listening”. In his relentless meetings with the voter segments the common issue was economic agenda. He went around asking why some of the Democrat voters had voted for Trump and the answer was that cost of living four years earlier when Trump was there was cheaper.
That gave rise to his campaign of “Affordability”. He used the social media to logically present his theme of freezing rents and charging the wealthy higher taxes to fund this subsidy. Most politicians use the social media. However, the big smearing Ads made by big money are now a “bore”. The curated speeches of candidates are considered stage-managed and far from reality. Mamdani changed all that.
He “ran” real on street and made online real-time videos which had a look of spontaneity, fun, energy and connectivity. He talked in English, Urdu, Spanish to connect to different segments. His videos catering to the South Asian voters used famous Bollywood clips to deliver the message in his witty style. He combined the old style of knock the doors, shake the hands campaigning with the modern, snappy, snazzy, funny, reels on the net that went viral.
It is amazing how a single city primary race for the mayor has become the talk of global media. Of course, this is not just another city. This is one of the wealthiest cities in the world. This is a city that has the most Jews outside Israel. Zohran has won despite his declaration of getting Netanyahu arrested if he came to New York.
He is bold and daring and unapologetic but in a charming and un-offensive way. His cheerful, smiling, slightly crumpled suited look make him look like the average professional on his way to the office. His articulate, logical, smart rhetoric and responses make his critics fumble for reactions. Many compare him with Obama’s entry in politics. Obama was also from an African, Muslim descent.
He was also from privileged schooling and very articulate. He also talked about peace and economic progress. He went on to become the President of America. But, he turned out to be the biggest arms salesman in the presidential history of America. Will Zohran maintain his authenticity despite the state establishment and despite the big money establishment? Only time will tell.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and an analyst and can be reached at [email protected]
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.