- Zohran Mamdani became New York City's youngest mayor in over a century at age 34
- His campaign focused on affordability with promises of free childcare and housing
- He won over 1 million votes and will manage a $116 billion budget for 8.5 million residents
In a classic David vs. Goliath battle, backbench assemblyman Zohran Mamdani defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo to become New York's youngest mayor in more than a century, at age 34. His election as the 111th mayor of America's largest city was marked by many historic firsts -- he became the first Muslim mayor, the first South Asian and arguably the most influential democratic socialist in the United States.
However, Mamdani's journey to this historic victory was truly remarkable. He was three years into his term as a state legislator last summer when he approached his political allies with a plan to run for New York City mayor. At the beginning of the year, his allies doubted he could pull it off, with him polling at 1 per cent. Hardly anyone in New York recognised him at the time, and his own political team assessed his odds of winning as just 3 percent.
Meanwhile, former Governor Cuomo was in a strong position. As New York's 56th governor, he was a known political figure, backed by Democratic heavyweights like former US President Bill Clinton and with millions of dollars in campaign cash donated by his billionaire supporters.
But a flamboyant and rule-breaking primary campaign that united Queens cabbies and Brooklyn gentrifiers over the city's growing affordability crisis put Mamdani on social media feeds of most people across the globe, forcing even the US President to acknowledge his presence.
In a first "digital-first" major campaign he launched last year in October, Mamdani said in a video kicking off his run, "Life in this city doesn't need to be this hard." He promised policies to lower the cost of living for everyday New Yorkers, aiming for free child care, free buses and affordable housing, all funded by raised taxes on the wealthy.
By recording videos in Spanish, Bangla, Hindi and Urdu, he became a grassroots phenomenon. He coined terms like "halal-flation" while interviewing food-cart workers and jumped into cold Coney Island waters in a full suit to emphasise his point of "freezing rents".
He was dismissed as a fringe candidate by analysts but resonated with young voters looking for generational and ideological change. He was the first candidate since 1969 to win more than a million votes in a mayoral election in the five boroughs, and more than 2 million New Yorkers cast their ballots.
"For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well connected that power does not belong in their hands. Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it," Mamdani told supporters on election night.
Mamdani now prepares to run a city of 8.5 million people, with a budget of $116 billion.
"I will wake up each morning with a singular purpose: to make this city better for you than it was the day before," he promised New Yorkers in his victory speech.
