Why New York Mayor Elect Zohran Mamdani Can Never Run For US Presidency

Zohran Mamdani has won New York City's mayoral elections. At 34, he is the city's youngest mayor since 1892, its first Muslim mayor, and the first born in Africa. 

Mamdani's rise to City Hall is remarkable in itself but the New York City mayor elect is ineligible to run for US President.

What The US Constitution Says

According to Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the US Constitution, “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”

Simply put, they must be a natural-born US citizen, meaning either born in the US or born abroad to US citizen parents; they must be at least 35 years old; and they must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years.

Why Zohran Mamdani Cannot Be US President

Zohran Mamdani does not meet the Constitution's “natural-born citizen” requirement.

He was born in Kampala, Uganda, and became a naturalised US citizen in 2018.

His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a Ugandan scholar of Indian origin and a professor at Columbia University. His mother, Mira Nair, is an acclaimed Indian-American filmmaker known for works such as Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake.

So, Mamdani cannot run for US President unless the Constitution is amended.

Entering the New York mayoral race last year with minimal name recognition, limited financial resources, and little support from established party institutions, Zohran Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday.

During his victory speech, Mamdani said, “New York will remain the city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, clearly led by an immigrant.”

He added, “I am young, I am Muslim, I am a democratic socialist and most damning of all, I refuse to apologise for any of this. I will wake each morning with a singular purpose, to make this city better for you than it was the day before.”