NEW YORK — Zohran Mamdani has buzz and some momentum in New York City’s mayoral race. But can a 33-year-old democratic socialist — or anyone else — beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary?
Mamdani picked up a key endorsement Thursday from U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said in a statement that the state lawmaker “has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack.”
The endorsement, made the day after the first Democratic debate of the campaign, is likely to help solidify Mamdani’s standing as a liberal darling in the contest, now in its final three weeks.
It remains to be seen whether it will help him overcome Cuomo, whose campaign juggernaut has won the backing of some of the cities biggest unions as he attempts a comeback from the sexual harassment scandal that ended his reign as governor in 2021.
Mamdani’s laser-focus on lowering the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities has helped him climb from relative obscurity to become one of the race’s leading figures. His criticisms of Israel, socialist label, and relative lack of experience could hurt him, though, with centrists.
Mamdani, who would be the city’s first Muslim and Indian American mayor, was born in Kampala, Uganda, before he and his family moved to New York City when he was 7. He became naturalized as an American citizen a few years after graduating from college, where he co-started his school’s first Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. His mother, Mira Nair, is an award-winning filmmaker. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is an anthropology professor at Columbia University.
Zohran Mamdani was elected to the state Assembly in 2020, representing a district in Queens. His most-known legislative accomplishment was pushing through a pilot program that made a handful of city buses free for a year.
His mayoral campaign has been full of big promises — free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for people living in rent-regulated apartments, new affordable housing and raising taxes on the wealthy — all packaged in well-produced social media videos.
Critics say his hopeful visions get blurry when it comes to detail, and have also questioned the cost and feasibility of his proposals, many of which would need support from the state Legislature and governor.
Cuomo, during Wednesday night’s debate, took aim at Mamdani’s relative inexperience, saying the state Assembly member has a good online presence but actually “produces nothing,” adding “He’s been in government 27 minutes. He’s passed three bills. That’s all he’s done.”
Some Jewish voters, an important voting bloc, might be turned off by Mamdani’s support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and his use of the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s war on Gaza.
Mamdani has also vowed to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he came to the city. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last year, saying he had committed war crimes by using starvation as a weapon during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Pressed during the debate on whether he thought Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, Mamdani said “I believe Israel has the right to exist,” but “as a state with equal rights” for people who aren’t Jewish.
As the June 24 primary approaches, Mamdani appears aware of another issue he and every other candidate not named Cuomo is having: name recognition.
Mamdani, in a recent social media video, noted that “a third of New Yorkers still haven’t heard of us,” though he framed that as a positive, indicating he still has room to grow.
At a recent election rally in Manhattan, Maria Walles, a 54-year-old Bronx voter, said she didn’t like Cuomo or Eric Adams, the incumbent mayor who faced federal corruption charges, then decided to skip the Democratic primary and run as an independent after President Donald Trump’s Justice Department abandoned that prosecution.
But Walles said she wasn’t quite sure about the alternative candidates.
“Zo …,” she said, grasping for Mamdani’s name when asked about the candidate field.
As it turns out, Mamdani was at the rally, which was organized by a tenant advocacy group, and received a standing ovation for his speech.
To win, Mamdani will need to expand his support beyond the city’s young, progressive crowd to the more moderate voters who have been a critical factor in past elections.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Mamdani said if you speak to the people directly about issues they care about, such as the sky-high cost of living, you can successfully build a coalition, regardless of “what we have been told is the politics that can succeed in this city and the ways in which we have been told how to run a campaign and who we actually have to speak to.”
“Often times people try to characterize New York City politics through the lens of political constituencies that they define as hard and fast. And in reality there is no ideological majority in New York City,” he said.