Mamdani’s Mayoral Bid Exposes the Real Threat to NYC

This essay appeared in UNFTR’s Premium Newsletter on June 24, 2025. After the newsletter was published, Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic socialist, scored a historic win in the New York City Democratic primary for mayor, defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, among others.

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In the days after Donald Trump’s presidential election victory last year, some of the most revealing testimonies as to why so many people, including in major cities, cast their ballots for the former one-term president came from New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s interactions with regular voters.

Mamdani was still a relative unknown in November 2024. It stands to reason that many of those who generously stopped for on-the-street interviews were likely unaware of Mamdani at all, let alone his candidacy.

To be sure, it was too early for meaningful data about how voters felt, especially with so much focus on the presidential battle. But when respected pollsters began surveying New Yorkers about the Democratic primary candidates for mayor, Mamdani came in at 1 percent, compared to 33 percent for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to an Emerson poll released in February.

As Mamdani sought to understand people’s voting preferences in the 2024 presidential election, he headed to Hillside Avenue in Queens and Fordham Road in the Bronx, which he described as “two areas that saw the biggest shifts toward Trump in last week’s election.”

The collection of interviews he posted also helped me understand Trump’s win over Vice President Kamala Harris—which I concluded was a resounding indictment of neoliberalism.

“They like Trump because they don’t want the Palestinian brothers killed,” said one voter speaking to Mamdani on a street corner. “The war in Ukraine. The Democrats giving all the money and the war—it’s no good.”

“The swing is because people want lower prices,” added another resident. “They probably believe that Trump will give them that.”

“Most of these people are working families. They’re working one to two, three jobs, and rent is expensive. Food is going up, utility bills are up,” a man told Mamdani as he scanned the community, lined with small businesses.

With a growing Uncommitted movement at the time of the presidential election, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone that people either stayed home or voted for Trump because of the genocide in Gaza. But it was also plausible that the corporate media and establishment Democrats were taken aback by unsympathetic positions on the war in Ukraine, specifically the massive amount of taxpayer funding tied to it—especially as prices soared amid greedflation in the U.S. All in all, Americans were simply tired of the increased cost of living amid yawning income inequality, and war.

Mamdani listened. And his campaign proposals largely mirror the sentiment he heard in Queens and the Bronx that day (and I’m sure elsewhere)—at least those issues that he can control as mayor.

Mamdani’s Rapid Rise

Suddenly, Mamdani was anywhere and everywhere. Even if New Yorkers didn’t interact with him in person, there was a decent shot they caught one of Mamdani’s sleek campaign videos, most of which feature the state assemblyman appearing ebullient.

By March, he was up to 10 percent in the polls and then 22 percent by May. In a poll released June 23, Emerson had him trailing Cuomo by three points but eventually winning the nomination during the ranked-choice process.

He essentially capped off the primary campaign by walking the length of Manhattan last Friday night, shaking hands with admirers and supporters, getting mobbed in Times Square and generally blending in with the city he wants to lead.

That Mamdani is on the precipice of potential victory is truly stunning. With more than $8 million in his campaign coffers, including public matching funds, his grassroots operation maxed the legal fundraising limit by March 24, a first for any candidate in the race.

While Mamdani’s fundraising prowess and enviable ground-level operation (more than 1.5 million doors knocked across the city) suggest a campaign full of vigor and hope, the well-funded opposition tarring him as antisemitic and dangerous underscores how the establishment views his candidacy as a direct threat.

Establishment Pushback

Obviously, after a humiliating election last year in which Democrats were forced to contend with the reality that voters generally dislike the party, you’d imagine that a party desperate for life (and new blood) would welcome Mamdani with open arms. Instead, many of the same people who condemned Cuomo’s actions as governor have thrown their full support behind the political scion’s candidacy. Not only did he receive a last-minute endorsement from former President Bill Clinton, whatever that’s worth, a super PAC called Fix the City has effectively allowed the campaign to bypass campaign finance restrictions.

As a separate entity (in theory), it can spend as much as it wants to demonize Mamdani and attempt to scare New Yorkers into voting against him. Fix the City has reported nearly $24.9 million in contributions, with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pouring in $8.3 million in June alone, and Trump supporter and lead agitator against the pro-Palestinian campus movement Bill Ackman giving $500,000 in total, including a quarter of a million on June 12.

Even as Mamdani’s opponents slander him as antisemitic for criticizing Israel’s genocide in Gaza—baseless accusations he routinely deflects from a position of empathy and understanding—little is made of the Islamophobic attacks he receives as the potential first Muslim mayor of New York City.

‘His Donors Want You To Fear Me’

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force launched an investigation into death threats directed at Mamdani, which prompted the campaign to issue this statement:

“While Zohran does not own a car, the violent and specific language of what appears to be a repeat caller is alarming and we are taking every precaution. While this is a sad reality, it is not surprising after millions of dollars have been spent on dehumanizing, Islamophobic rhetoric designed to stoke division and hate. Violence and racism should have no place in our politics. Zohran remains focused on delivering a safe and affordable New York.”

Among the most glaring examples was a reportedly rejected mailer from Fix the City that photoshopped Mamdani’s facial hair to make it appear more robust and darker, in addition to text that falsely claimed he “Rejects Jewish Rights.” Considering Mamdani’s ethnic and religious roots—a Ugandan-born Muslim—it screamed Islamophobia.

“Andrew Cuomo is afraid he’ll lose, so his donors want you to fear me,” Mamdani said in response.

You’ll recall we noted that the mayoral primary has a spending cap set by the New York City Campaign Finance Board, which is set at $8.3 million. As the Cuomo-aligned PAC intensified its attacks, Mamdani unsuccessfully asked the board to lift the cap. So while Mamdani is effectively cut off, Fix the City can do as it pleases. Of the nearly $25 million it received in contributions, $13.2 million has gone toward supporting Cuomo’s candidacy and $7.3 million to attack Mamdani. It is currently spending $5.3 million on a single video ad campaign dubbing Mamdani a “radical”—$3 million less than Mamdani can spend for his entire campaign.

Mamdani has already said he’s not a believer in “moral victories.” He is desperate to win, to uplift a city with a poverty rate of 25 percent, compared to 13 percent nationally. A city in which families with young children are reportedly “twice as likely” to leave due to child care costs and higher food prices. By promising a rent freeze, free bus service, city-owned grocery stores and free child care, among other proposals, Mamdani is ready to attack the real debilitating affordability crisis in the city—a crisis the well-compensated members of The New York Times editorial board don’t have to directly confront.

Mamdani seeks relief for the people who make New York City run. The billionaires funding Cuomo’s campaign want to extract more and more wealth and resources. Who’s the dangerous one?

Watch our April 2025 interview with Mamdani.

Image Source

• Moonlightonasnowynight, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Changes were made.