Zohran Mamdani: Meteoric rise of New York’s mayor

NEW YORK

- Philip Marcelo, Associated Press

Zohran Mamdani (second from right), stands on stage with his wife Rana Dawaaji and his father, Mahmood Mamdani (far left) and mother, Mira Nair, after making an acceptance speech, on Tuesday in New York.

(Associated Press)

When he announced his run for mayor last October, Zohran Mamdani was a state lawmaker unknown to most New York City residents.

But that was before the 34-year-old democratic socialist crashed the national political scene with a stunning upset over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June’s Democratic primary. On Tuesday, Mamdani completed his political ascension, again vanquishing Cuomo, as well as Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, in the general election.

The former foreclosure prevention counselor and onetime rapper becomes the city’s first Muslim mayor, first born in Africa, and first of South Asian heritage — not to mention its youngest mayor in more than a century. “I will wake up each morning with a singular purpose: To make this city better for you than it was the day before,” Mamdani promised New Yorkers in his victory speech. Here's a look at the next chief executive of America’s largest city: Mamdani ran on an optimistic vision for New York City.

His campaign was packed with big policies aimed at lowering the cost of living for everyday New Yorkers, from free child care, free buses to a rent freeze for people living in rent-regulated apartments and new affordable housing — much of it funded by raising taxes on the wealthy.

He's also proposed launching a pilot program for city-run grocery stores as a way to combat high food prices. Since his Democratic primary win, Mamdani has moderated some of his more polarizing rhetoric, particularly around law enforcement. He backed off a 2020 post calling to “defund” the New York Police Department and publicly apologized to NYPD officers for calling the department “racist” in another social media post.