New York has a new mayor, and it’s Zohran Mamdani. The win is a historic one as the 34-year-old became the youngest person to hold the title in more than a century. He is also the first Muslim and person of South Asian descent in the history of New York City.
Mamdani rose in popularity after he promised to tax the rich for expanded social programs, which resonated strongly with his voter base. He has, on multiple occasions, described himself as a democratic socialist.
Zohran Mamdani will become the next mayor of New York City. (NBC News) pic.twitter.com/9gBJIWKqq6
— Pop Base (@PopBase) November 5, 2025
The Ugandan-born emerged victorious in the race after winning over New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an Independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani started with very little public recognition when he entered the race as a lesser-known state assembly member representing Queens.
In less than a year after he entered the race, he quickly rose in popularity and won the June Democratic primary by a significant margin. The 12% points that he managed to gain over the other contenders foreshadowed his assured victory in the Tuesday elections.
Mamdani’s campaign strongly aligned with the public, as he promised to make the city bus fare free. His other campaign promises included freezing stabilized rents and universal child care, which likely played a key role in securing him the votes of a significant voter base.
The 34-year-old also emphasized the need for increasing the minimum wage and promised that he would bring about the change by 2030. Mamdani assured the people of the city that he would do everything to bring the cost of living down in New York City.
This was a massive undertaking, considering that NYC was ranked as the third most expensive city in the US to live in by a report from SG Analytics. He stayed firm on his promise of taking big corporations as well as the wealthy New Yorkers.
THE LANGUAGE OF SOCIALISM: Thousands of New Yorkers filled Forest Hills Stadium for Zohran Mamdani on Sunday, chanting “tax the rich” and embracing a vision of expanded government that the Democratic mayoral candidate credited Senator Bernie Sanders with popularizing.
“I speak… pic.twitter.com/d9KDneMirD
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 27, 2025
“The Mamdani administration will champion an increase of the top corporate tax rate to 11.5 percent—the same rate as New Jersey—which will raise $5 billion per year,” Mamdani noted during one of his speeches, while justifying his plan to impose the taxes.
The now Mayor quickly became the crowd favorite after showing promise of working in favor of public welfare. “I think that the Democratic Party must always remember what made so many proud to be Democrats, which is a focus on the struggles of working-class Americans across this country,” he noted in an interview with ABC.
