How and Why did Zohran Mamdani win?
On 1st July, the results of the New York City Mayoral Democratic Party Primary were out. Whoever wins the democratic primary is likely to be the mayor of NYC. Zohran Mamdani has won the Democratic Party Primary. The City follows a ranked choice system where votes are transferred to a higher candidate until someone achieves at least 50% of the vote. Mamdani was leading in the first round before the transfer of votes. He defeated the long-time veteran of New York Politics, Andrew Cuomo, 56-44 in the second round. Hence, now Mamdani will head towards the final New York Mayoral election in November.
This article is not about him, his ideology or whether that will help New York City; rather, it is about how he managed to win the election and what both parties of the USA, as well as any political enthusiast, can learn from that.
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Founded by the Dutch in 1624, New York City is the largest city in the USA and is the heart of Wall Street, the symbol of free market capitalism. The city is spread around five boroughs- Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Each Borough can be described as a city in itself. Hence, it is a prestigious battle to be the Mayor of New York City.
Politically speaking Democratic Party has always had an upper hand in New York City. Why? NYC has a strong working-class population and estd. Unions that form the backbone of the democratic party. Moreover, the post-2000s saw NYC becoming an immigrant city, making it bluer as the years passed.
That doesn't mean Republicans have never become mayors. Rudy Giuliani was the last Republican mayor of the city. Then it was Mike Bloomberg who won as a Republican in 2005 later became independent-unaffiliated. He now works closely with the Democratic Party.
How did he win?
Coming back to Zohran Mamdani, his victory was an astonishment and came as a surprise to many. He entered the race only in January with 1% but now has clinched nomination by 56%, a 12-point lead. This is extraordinary. Also, this was one of the most competitive and primary with a massive turnout in years. Hence, it is also clear that he was able to push more people to the polling booth.
Knowing your opponents
Mamdani's main contenders in the election were not Republicans, but his own fellow democrats. But he is not a traditional democrat, so he is an outlier among others. He knows that he won't get anything by merely joining the bandwagon. Hence, he had to stand out on both politics and policy issues. The main opponent he had here was Andrew Cuomo. He was a three-time governor and a long-time figure in New York's politics, hence it's obvious that people will be familiar with you at the same time, people will equally be opposed to you. That was where Mamdani marched in. Cuomo was the governor during COVID-19, which was not a great time for the state of New York. Additionally, the main reason why Andrew Cuomo had to resign was a widespread scandal of sexual harassment. Moreover, he was also accused of trying to access their gynaecological report. Hence, the job of Zohran Mamdani was very easy- his opponent was weak, vulnerable and not really a figure loved by everyone. Even in the Primary debate, it was very clear that Mamdani spent more time attacking Cuomo than the other candidates.
Ideological Positioning
Politics and ideology are important assets of a politician. But it is a double-edged sword that can hurt you as well. Zohran Mamdani was a state representative in the New York State Assembly representing Queens. He grew as a politician, associating with working-class voters of the region. Hence, it was very obvious that the bedrock was class-based politics. He got re-elected in 2022 and 2024 by working on the same set of issues.
It is pretty clear that he was not just finding the Republican party here, but mainly the Democratic Party. He had to make sure that his values and views align with the party, but at the same time, he remains different. His ideology is described by many as socialism, democratic socialism, or even left-wing populism, depending on your own ideological standing. But he describes himself as a democratic socialist, focusing on redistribution and reducing economic inequality. He denies that he is a communist. All these ideas are on the fringe of the Democratic Party.
In a country where economic ideology tilts heavily towards capitalism, globalisation and free markets, there was a widespread space for left-wing politics. Candidates, including Cuomo, do not identify as socialists, especially in a city like New York. Also, he received a lot of donations from Millionaires and Billionaires, very crucial for the survival of the Democratic Party. There are claims that Cuomo spent $31M in the primary. Zohran, opposed to everything that Cuomo stands for, crowd-funded his own campaign to show Cuomo as a Corporate candidate.
The Democratic Party is dependent on the strong Union culture of NYC, which is where Zohran Mamdani made his campaign centric to taxi drivers, students, people on the streets, and the larger working-class population. He took time to meet and understand the problems faced by ordinary voters. In addition to that, his promises include rent-freezing, free buses, affordable housing, fighting poverty, childcare and much more. All of these created interest and a policy-driven election.
Playing to the Gallery
It is important that you understand your audience. The democratic party has changed a lot since the 1990s and even the 2000s. The Democratic party electorate is younger, college-educated, energetic, and most importantly, diverse. Economically, the electorate has moved leftwards. So, Mamdani, who is a college-educated immigrant, was ideal for this. Also, New York City has over 1M Jews, the largest Jewish city outside Israel. Even within the Jewish community, there was a difference in their ties to Israel. The Democratic electorate has drastically changed from a pro-Israeli one to a pro-Palestinian one. This is amidst the fact that most Democratic Party leaders today still have a pro-Israel bias, including Cuomo. This was where Mamdani called for a pro-Palestine, pro-Ceasefire and anti-Netanyahu stance. Even during the debate on the question of his foreign visit, he stood his ground to say that he would not visit Israel and would rather stay in New York City. This was the most pivotal movement in the election. He convinced the voters that the (Democratic) establishment was hand in glove with the Israeli lobby- AIPAC.
Today, the largest city of the USA has a 25% poverty rate, a massive housing crisis, lack of jobs, and increased cost of living and affordability was the biggest issue that led Republicans to take control of the White House and the Congress. There were several voters who voted for Trump for the White House but voted for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC). Because she was different from other democrats and addressed people's issues.
Political Communication- Social Media
You have the issues, you have the ideology, and you know your opponents. What's missing? Communication. It is not just being right on issues that matter; you need to put it out to your voters. Moreover, you need to get people to come out and vote. This was the main reason why Democrats lost in 2024. They couldn't communicate, and people didn't turn out. Given that his audience was younger, he focused on social media as the main tool to reach voters. It is not just YouTube and X he focused on, but also the haven of youngsters- TikTok and Instagram.
He posted short and long videos of himself walking on the streets, talking to people and most importantly, raising the right issues. Himself being an immigrant, he understands that New York is a migrant city, and their vote is crucial for victory. Most migrants also support Democrats, which targeting them was significant for his campaign. He made several videos appealing for votes in various foreign languages like Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and Spanish. Hence, Mamdani's campaign was successful due to its exemplary communication.
Spoton- Campaign
This section is a summary of all the other sections. Zohran Mamdani came in as a change candidate- an antiestablishment guy who wants to do something much different. This has been a successful campaign not just because he won the primary elections, but also the charm, enthusiasm, and the turnout it created not only within New York, within the United States but also across the world. For an election campaign to be successful, you need a vision, choose the right issues and communicate to the voters on that. In the new age, the use of social media is very important and inevitable. More or less, there are more things he did to push himself- the NYC Primary Debate, which was an excellent performance. He was very well prepared and articulate about what exactly he was trying to do. Other candidates didn't come close enough as well.
Why did he win?
Till now, we have discussed how he was able to win, but it is very important to know why he won. Maybe it was very easy for the voters to turn down whatever campaign he had to offer, but that didn't happen at all. Hence, it is important for us to understand why he was able to win. So here are the reasons why he was able to win.
Anti-Estbalishment
Starting from 2008, the US had a massive wave of anti-establishment candidates. Barack Obama was an outsider in 2008, and Trump was also the same in 2016. Hence, at both elections, Obama and Trump had a special advantage. Similarly, here, Mamdani had the anti-establishment advantage against Cuomo. Also, the voter base of both parties today is anti-establishment, and Democrats are now facing that heat in big cities and blue states. His rhetoric and policies were tailored in that fashion.
Choosing the right issues
Mamdani didn't tow the party line of talking big things, which the rest of his party members did. He focused on people's problems- the kitchen table issues. This mattered to people more. Voters are now getting transactional; they no longer care about your ideology if you raise the right issues that benefit them, like in 2024.
Experience doesn't count anymore
No more do voters want to vote for a candidate who has spent tons of years in politics or in Congress. They are no more interested in whether a candidate has legislative or executive experience. If those two were true, then 2016 was a different story. Rather, this election of Cuomo vs Mamdani can be seen as a repeat of 2016. Trump and Clinton lost similarly, Mamdani won, and Cuomo lost. Hence, you can see the choice of the electorate changing constantly. As long as you are able to connect to your base, your background doesn't matter anymore.
Conclusion
The entire world was taken by surprise on the morning of the 25th when a young Muslim-Immigrant of Indian origin was leading in the Democratic Primary. He led in the first round itself despite several projections showing otherwise. Hence, it was a big victory that shook everyone. By mixing anti-establishment ideas with day-to-day difficulties faced by people, he made a repeat of 2024. His supporters are overjoyed, while his critics are more or less finding newer reasons to oppose him. Critics are moreover divided on what exactly they are opposed to. Some hate his immigrant background or that he was not born in the USA. Others hate his socialist policies and his populist rhetoric. This is all amidst the fact that most Black and Immigrant people opted for Cuomo.
Irrespective of whether you approve or disapprove, like or dislike, here is an important case study for every political enthusiast to take up and learn. If there are takers for socialism in an extreme capitalistic country like the USA, especially in a city like New York, whose poverty rate is 25%, that is something to be thought of. Let's wait and watch if he will be able to pull off a victory in November, or if contenders will create an upset. And also, most importantly. If he can deliver the promises made to his voters.
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