The victory of American politician Zahrān Mamdani in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York has ignited a wide-ranging debate in the United States, with its aftershocks felt across the country.
US President Donald Trump, on his platform Truth Social, described Mamdani as an “obsessed communist,” while the New York Young Republican Club called on the federal government to strip him of his citizenship, which he obtained in 2018, and deport him from the country.
Even within the Democratic Party, reactions to Mamdani’s win have been divided. While some members expressed their support, others voiced concern, echoing Trump in calling him an “extremist.”
Mamdani’s victory comes at a time when the Democratic Party is facing sharp internal divisions, the resignations of prominent union figures, and a struggle to cope with mounting political and economic pressures.
His rise coincides with the growing activity of youth and progressive movements, such as “Leaders We Deserve,” which are playing a pivotal role in supporting progressive candidates at local and national levels. This trend is causing increasing anxiety within the Democratic establishment, which fears losing its grip on the political landscape.
A Shift in the Democratic Party
Mamdani, 33, has emerged as a new voice demanding a bold socialist platform focused on the cost-of-living and rent crisis, the establishment of municipally-owned grocery stores, the provision of free buses, and increased taxes on the wealthy in New York City.
His win was a surprise to political circles, not only because he ran an eight-month campaign against a traditional party icon from an established political dynasty—Andrew Cuomo, the city’s former governor and son of former governor Mario Cuomo—but also because the results defied polling predictions.
“This is not an individual victory but a sign of a broader shift in the Democratic Party, especially in major cities,” Robert Patillo, a human rights lawyer and former Democratic congressional candidate, told Asharq. He noted, “As the Republican Party moves to the far right under Trump’s leadership, the Democratic Party is also being compelled to adopt bold leftist positions that satisfy a base that now votes out of necessity, not hesitation.”
Patillo questioned the methodology of opinion polls, saying they “are still stuck in the methods and methodologies of the 80s and 90s, and have repeatedly failed to predict recent election results, from Trump’s victory to Kamala Harris’s loss.”
At the same time, Patillo noted that “many of Mamdani’s supporters, especially young white university students and those from diverse backgrounds, preferred not to state their leanings in the polls for fear of being marginalised or questioned, but they expressed themselves forcefully at the ballot box.”
He added: “These voters are no longer satisfied with minor policy adjustments; they are demanding real leaps and a sharp change in the political system’s structure, having grown weary of a bland moderation presented under centrist slogans to adapt to Trump’s policies.”
“A Bold Message and a Successful Campaign”
Democratic opinions on Mamdani’s platform were split. Democratic lawyer Allen Awour endorsed it, telling Asharq that his victory represents “an alarm bell” within the party. He noted that Mamdani “led a campaign expressing radical change, with a youthful personality, a bold progressive message, and a platform that challenges the prevailing discourse on housing and taxes, proposing policies that serve the working class and not just traditional interests.”
In contrast, Matt Bennett, Vice President of the centre-left group Third Way, criticised Mamdani’s platform. He told Asharq that Mamdani “did not win because he adopted a far-left platform, but because he exploited an opportune political moment and ran a smart campaign.” He warned, “If the Democratic Party focuses on Mamdani’s relatable style without adopting his controversial leftist policies, it might benefit. But generalising this leftist approach could harm the party in moderate areas outside of New York.”
Bennett continued that the significance of Mamdani’s primary win “lies not in his political platform, but in the way he ran his campaign.”
“Mamdani is a charismatic young man who focused on the economic issues that matter to voters and succeeded in effectively delivering his message,” he added, viewing this approach as “a strength.” However, he considers the platform’s substance, which embraces democratic socialist positions, to be “problematic for the party in the long run.”
Bennett believes the electoral context played a “decisive role” in this victory, explaining that the election took place in New York City, one of the most liberal cities in the United States, and during June, when high temperatures reduced voter turnout.
He also attributed Mamdani’s win, in part, to his opponent Andrew Cuomo, saying he “was burdened by a political legacy heavy with scandals, which made him a weak candidate against a figure presenting himself as the pure and bold alternative.”
Cuomo resigned from his post in 2021 over allegations of “sexual harassment.”
Democratic Criticisms
After 93% of precincts had reported, showing Mamdani with 44% of the vote, Cuomo conceded defeat. “He earned it. He won,” Cuomo said.
Mamdani was born and raised in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. At the age of seven, he moved to New York City with his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a political science professor at Columbia University, and his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair.
A young Muslim of Indian descent, Mamdani primarily expressed his political views through long posts on Facebook.
At Bowdoin College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Africana Studies, Mamdani co-founded the first chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. He has recently faced criticism for his views on Israel and for describing the events in Gaza as “genocide.” He has been accused of “antisemitism,” a charge he rejects.
Mamdani worked as a housing counselor specialising in foreclosure prevention, helping low-income, non-white residents in Queens resist eviction and stay in their homes, which explains his mayoral platform’s focus on freezing rents.
In 2020, Mamdani won the Democratic primary and became a member of the New York State Assembly for the 36th district in Astoria, becoming the third Muslim to hold this position.
During his time in the State Assembly, Mamdani went on a hunger strike with taxi drivers to alleviate about $450m of their debt and successfully launched a free bus pilot project. Upon winning the mayoral nomination, he promised to eliminate bus fares in the city.
Mamdani has walked back some of his old positions, such as his call to defund the police. In the final primary debate, he said he does not plan to do so but affirmed his intention to review the tasks assigned to them.
He has faced sharp criticism from his own Democratic camp in New York for his socialist platform and for saying he would “impose a 2% income tax on New Yorkers earning more than a million dollars annually.”
Laura Gillen, a congresswoman representing part of Long Island, described Mamdani as “too extreme.” In a post on X, she said his entire campaign was “built on unachievable promises and tax increases, which is the last thing New York needs.”
Meanwhile, Congressman Tom Suozzi of Long Island, who endorsed Cuomo in the primary, said after Mamdani’s win that he “still has serious concerns about Mamdani.”
Bennett, who served as a deputy assistant to the president for legislative affairs in the Bill Clinton White House, said Mamdani’s weakness lies in his “very bad leftist ideas.”
Bennett pointed to Mamdani’s previous statements about the police, whom he described as “racist” and said “should have their funding reduced.” He noted that this “is concerning, and if he actually becomes mayor, the police reaction could be negative, and crime rates could rise, which could lead to real problems.”
Bennett added that “Mamdani’s public spending plan, which relies on raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, needs approval from officials in Albany,” where major state-level decisions are made. “If these leaders reject his plan, it could put Mamdani in a real bind as mayor, because many of his campaign promises will become difficult to implement.”
The predicament Bennett described has been noted by American newspapers, which compared Mamdani’s attempt to become the youngest mayor at 33 to “Boy Mayor” John Purroy Mitchel, who was elected mayor of New York in 1914 at the age of 34.
Mitchel was a reformist Republican with ambitions similar to Mamdani’s, focusing on fighting corruption, especially within the police and city administration. But after three years, he was crushed by John Francis Hylan, who was backed by the Democratic political machine Tammany Hall.
Bennett did not rule out Mamdani meeting the same fate as Mitchel, saying that “voters, city council members, and others will not support his extremist ideas.”
However, Democratic lawyer Awour believes Mamdani is charting his own course with a platform focused on marginalised groups. His task now is to deliver on his promises. “You can have the most ambitious agenda in the world, but you have to have the political ability to push it forward, so this will be the first real test of his political abilities to get it passed,” Awour said.
The Language of the Internet
Mamdani’s ascent was by no means guaranteed, but with the help of tens of thousands of unpaid volunteers, he succeeded in mobilising young voters to achieve a surprise victory in the most populous city in the United States.
Mamdani is fluent in the language of the internet and is constantly active on social media. He even met his wife, Syrian animator Rama Duwaji, on a dating app.
His campaign relied on many online influencers who connected his campaign to New York’s youth culture. Mamdani enlisted well-known figures from the worlds of music, fashion, and podcasting, which made his campaign more attractive and influential among young voters.
Patillo said his appearances at cultural events and on social media shows helped him communicate his ideas in a simple and entertaining way, especially regarding the rent freeze and free transportation.
On the “Subway Takes” podcast, hosted by Kareem Rahma in the New York subway, Mamdani said he relied on donations from ordinary people and received more than $8m in individual contributions from 20,000 people—the same amount his rival Andrew Cuomo received from billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
In addition to individual support, Mamdani also received backing from David Hogg, the recently departed deputy of the Democratic National Committee, who left his post after a growing dispute with Democrats over his announcement to allocate $20m of party funds to support young congressional candidates over older ones.
His group, “Leaders We Deserve,” supported the New York State Assemblyman. The New York Times reported that the group also donated $300,000 to a political action committee of the Working Families Party, which ranked Mamdani first on its list of endorsed candidates.
Patillo said Mamdani’s weak point will be his ability to raise funds to run against “the millionaire and billionaire class, and the donor class.”
He added that Cuomo, who has announced he will run as an independent in the November general election, “because of his name, his organisational advantages, and his money, could still win even in this race.”
But Patillo believes Mamdani’s primary win sends a signal that the Democratic Party may finally be opening its doors to young leaders. “Many prominent names in the Democratic leadership are leaving or becoming frail and unable to continue in their positions. Therefore, because they have left a power vacuum, you are seeing young voices being given the opportunity to rise,” he said.
Patillo added that “the next generation of leaders appear to be social media savvy, understand messaging, and have the energy to push their agenda.”
Bennett agrees with Patillo that the Democratic Party needs young leadership. “A young person winning against an older man always suggests that voters are looking for youth and vitality,” he said.
Bennett added that Mamdani’s victory suggests the party should look for candidates like him who can connect with new media in the way he used it so effectively, but he considered that “it’s not about his ideology, only his age and style.”
The Centrist Wing’s Position
Weeks after momentum built around Zahrān Mamdani’s campaign, Senator Bernie Sanders and progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed him, but the party’s centrist wing attacked him sharply.
A month before the end of the New York City mayoral primary, candidate Jessica Ramos, a state senator from Queens, urged voters to cast their ballots for her rival, Andrew Cuomo.
She justified this by saying she “did not have a real chance of winning due to her poor performance in the polls and difficulty in fundraising,” and saw Cuomo as “the most capable of confronting Trump’s policies.”
Ramos’s position was a shock to many, especially since she had previously called for Cuomo’s resignation over the harassment allegations.
Ramos herself, despite being under 40, mocked Mamdani during a Democratic primary debate, saying: “I regret not running for mayor of New York in 2021… I thought I needed more experience, but it turns out you just need to make good videos.”
Ramos’s opinion was similar to the reactions of the more pragmatic wing of the party, which considered Mamdani’s win a “serious setback” for the party. Lawrence Summers, former Treasury Secretary under President Barack Obama, warned of the impact of this victory on “the future of the party and the country.”
Patillo considered this a recurring pattern within the party of containing or sidelining rising progressive politicians, and Mamdani could face the same fate if he cannot prove his worth.
“The Democratic Party suffers from an internal division,” Patillo said. “It brings together young progressive groups like African Americans, immigrants, and minority rights supporters, with more traditional groups from middle agricultural areas like farmers.” He explained that this diversity leads to constant tension over the party’s direction, and progressive voices are often marginalised despite their rise.
“An Opportunity for Republicans”
At the same time, Republicans see Mamdani’s win in New York as an opportunity to strengthen their political presence in competitive districts by using his progressive platform to portray the Democratic Party as “extremist.” This is what frightens Bennett most. “There is a real danger that Republicans will use Mamdani’s views and the views of socialists as a weapon against other Democrats,” he explained.
Bennett confirmed that they have already started doing so. “We are now seeing fundraising messages and statements coming from Republicans trying to link Mamdani to Democrats in other parts of New York state and across the country,” he said, adding, “I think this poses a real problem.”
Trump weighed in and fiercely attacked Mamdani for his primary win, calling him an “obsessed communist” and saying his “look is terrible, his voice is grating, and he’s not smart enough,” viewing his rise as a “defining moment in the country’s history.”
The New York “Young Republican Club” also called on the federal government to strip Mamdani of his citizenship and deport him.
Awour described this call as “undemocratic and inhumane,” saying, “Talk of revoking citizenship due to political differences is inappropriate” and “would extend to everyone in New York City, including many of these young Republicans who may not be American by birth, or whose parents may be immigrants.”
As for Patillo, he considered that the hope for changing the thinking of the Democratic Party, which is primarily concerned with winning, lies in Mamdani’s ability to achieve tangible results such as improving the standard of living, reducing crime, and providing real services to the people.
“Then he will become a model to be emulated, and he may push the party to reconsider its positions on progressive politicians,” he said. “Success in America’s political arena always tends to be imitated, so the best way for Mamdani to gain the party’s trust and continued support is to succeed in his mission as mayor and win over the people on the ground.”
