The 34-year-old democratic socialist triumphed in a high stakes race, reshaping the city’s political landscape and signaling a generational shift.
Following a previous report from The Introspective detailing Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City primary election, the 34-year-old democratic socialist won the general election Tuesday night, defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.
“The idea of fundamentally changing who government serves in this city was unimaginable,” Mamdani said at a rally last week.
“Even if we gained momentum, they asked, how could we ever overcome the tens of millions of dollars in attacks that would follow? Yet we knew then what we know now: New York is not for sale.”
Mamdani will become New York City’s first Muslim mayor, first South Asian mayor, and one of the youngest mayors in recent years.
Campaign
Mamdani’s policies drew criticism over proposals to freeze rent for tenants in rent-stabilized apartments and plans to build more than 200,000 rent-stabilized homes over the next 10 years.
“We need a lot more affordable housing. But for decades, New York City has relied almost entirely on changing the zoning code to entice private development — with results that can fall short of the big promises,” his campaign said.
“And the housing that does get built is often out of reach for the working class who need it the most.”
President Donald Trump criticized Mamdani multiple times throughout the campaign, calling him a “communist.”
“Communist, not socialist. Communist. He’s far worse than a socialist,” Trump told CBS News while threatening to revoke federal funding to New York City.
“Because if you have a Communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there.”
Trump also criticized Jewish New Yorkers who voted for Mamdani as “stupid,” referencing backlash over Mamdani’s support for Palestine.
“Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self-professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Mamdani faced accusations of antisemitism after declining to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” associated with movements supporting Palestinian liberation.
“That’s not language that I use,” he said.
“The language that I use—and the language I will continue to use to lead this city—is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is grounded in a belief in universal human rights.”
He later acknowledged concerns from Jewish voters and said he spoke directly with constituents about the issue.
“I’ve heard from many Jewish New Yorkers who have shared their concerns with me, especially in light of the horrific attacks that we saw in Washington, D.C., and in Boulder, Colorado—about this moment of antisemitism in our country and in our city,” he said, referring to an attack in June against supporters of Israel.
Mamdani also faced numerous racist and Islamophobic attacks, including from opponent Andrew Cuomo, who agreed with a claim that Mamdani would be “cheering” if another 9/11 happened.
“That job is a scary job. You wake up as mayor, you wake up as governor. Any morning there’s a prison uprising, there was just a mass shooting, there’s Legionnaires’ disease, there’s gonna be a fiscal collapse, Wall Street’s moving to doubt. Any given morning there’s a crisis,” Cuomo said during an interview with radio host Sid Rosenberg.
“And people’s lives are at stake—God forbid another 9/11, can you imagine Mamdani in the seat?”
Rosenberg later laughed, saying, “I could. He’d be cheering.”
“That’s another problem. But can you imagine that? If Mamdani was in the seat on 9/11, what would have happened in this city?” Cuomo responded.
Mamdani called Cuomo’s comments “racist” and “disgusting” in an interview with WPIX.
“This is disgusting,” he said.
“This is Andrew Cuomo’s final moments in public life, and he’s choosing to spend them making racist attacks.”
Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams also criticized Mamdani, saying his socialist policies would take New York City “backwards.”
“Hey, this city is not a socialist city. This is capitalism, where you can come here as a dishwasher and one day become the mayor if you work hard enough,” Adams said after casting his vote.
“The only message I can give to New Yorkers as I go to the next leg of my journey is: I’m leaving you a good city, don’t fuck it up.”
However, Mamdani received endorsements from several established Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“Billionaires are raising money against him; Trump is ranting; Islamophobes are on the loose. They know what we know: Candidates who stand boldly with the working class can win—not only in NYC, but anywhere. Let’s stand with Zohran,” Sanders wrote on X in June.
He later praised Mamdani’s campaign in an interview with Politico, highlighting its focus on the working class.
“He ran a strong grassroots campaign around the progressive agenda. They go together. You cannot run a grassroots campaign unless you excite people. You cannot excite people unless you have something to say. And he had a lot to say,” Sanders said.
“He said that he wants to make New York City livable and affordable for ordinary people—that the wealthiest people in New York City are going to start to pay their fair share in taxes so that you can stabilize the outrageously high costs of housing in New York, which, by the way, is a crisis all over this country. That you could deal with transportation in a sensible way, deal with child care, deal with health care, deal with the needs of ordinary working-class people. So you come up with an agenda that makes sense to people. They get motivated in the campaign. They are prepared to knock on doors. That’s how you win elections,” he added.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Mamdani after refusing initially.
“Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” Jeffries wrote in a statement obtained by The Introspective.
“In that spirit, I support him and the entire citywide Democratic ticket in the general election.”
Reactions
After Mamdani’s win was announced, many celebrated the results.
“Socialism wins,” wrote the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) on Instagram.
“The job’s not done, and we’re not going to rest on our laurels. We’re going to mobilize our historic volunteer army to win Zohran’s agenda here in the city and elect working-class champions at every level of government.”
Mamdani posted to X, writing, “The next and last stop is City Hall,” in a subway-themed video.
In a press release, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization that raises awareness of antisemitism, called Mamdani’s record with the Jewish community “disturbing.”
“We expect the mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population in the world to stand unequivocally against antisemitism in all its varied forms and support all of its Jewish residents just as he would all other constituents,” Greenblatt said.
“In the months ahead, we will hold the Mamdani administration to this basic standard, and ADL will be relentless and unyielding in our work to ensure the safety and security of all Jewish New Yorkers. We will neither compromise nor relent in our pursuit of our core purpose, to protect the Jewish people.”
In an X post, former President Barack Obama congratulated “all the Democratic candidates who won tonight,” without directly mentioning Mamdani.
“It’s a reminder that when we come together around strong, forward-looking leaders who care about the issues that matter, we can win,” he wrote.
“We’ve still got plenty of work to do, but the future looks a little bit brighter.”
In a concession speech, Cuomo congratulated Mamdani on his win while urging his supporters to stop booing.
“That’s not right, that’s not us,” he said, referring to the boos.
“Tonight was their night, and as they start to transition to government, we will all help any way we can, because we need our New York City government to work. We want it to work for all New Yorkers because our city is the greatest city in the world, and we will unite for New York City because we love New York City.”
The Introspective 
Leave a comment