"Will Shock Political Establishment": Indian Origin NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani

Indian-origin New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani said he's ready to "shock" the political establishment in the New York mayoral polls. Mamdani has come within striking distance of ex-governor Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayoral race, newly released polling data showed. The democratic socialist candidate is just seven points behind Cuomo in the first round of New York City's ranked-choice voting system, according to the latest data for the Progress Survey of likely Democratic primary voters.

The data shows that in the latest round of polling ahead of the June 24 Democratic primary, Cuomo's lead has shrunk to just two points, with 51 per cent of the vote, amid a surprisingly strong challenge from Mamdani, who is close behind at 49 per cent. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus three points.

Mamdani-- who is the son of acclaimed Indian American filmmaker Mira Nair and an Indian-born Ugandan Marxist scholar Mahmood Mamdani--in a post on X said that "billionaires are consolidating around Andrew Cuomo because they know he will preserve the broken status quo."

Billionaires are consolidating around Cuomo because they know he will preserve the broken status quo.

New Yorkers are rallying behind our campaign because they're ready for change.

In two weeks, we will shock the political establishment and win a city we can all afford.

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 10, 2025

"New Yorkers are rallying behind Zohran Mamdani because they are ready for a new generation of leadership that puts working people first," he said. "On June 24, we will shock the political establishment and win a city we can all actually afford."

This came after former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed his old nemesis, Cuomo, in the New York City mayor's race on Tuesday. "In sizing up the field in the race for mayor, there is one candidate whose management experience and government know-how stand above the others: Andrew Cuomo," Bloomberg said in a statement. 

It is not clear why the billionaire ex-mayor, who mostly avoids endorsing mayoral candidates at the primary level in New York City, backed Cuomo, but a likely motivating factor could be the rise of Mamdani. Like Cuomo, Bloomberg is known to be an adversary of the Democratic Party's left flank and is a devout supporter of Israel, two defining viewpoints of Mamdani's campaign, according to a report by Politico. 

Bloomberg said that Cuomo had "focused on solving problems rather than engaging in ideological or partisan warfare," a seeming reference to Mamdani's left-leaning politics.

The endorsement comes two days before the final candidate debate on Thursday. Far-left Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Mamdani last week.